DES MOINES, Iowa – Dubuque Wahlert Catholic freshman Emily Tanny has Hall of Famein her bloodlines and it shows.
Tanny scored 30 points and was money at the free throw line to help fourth-seeded Wahlert turn back No. 5 seed Williamsburg 56-47 to move into the Class 3A semifinals. The Golden Eagles (19-5) won for the fourth time in 15 state tournament games and will play top-seeded Mount Vernon at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Mount Vernon (23-2), the defending state champion, advanced with a 55-44 win over Cherokee, its 21st straight victory. The Mustangs beat Wahlert 47-36 in last year’s championship game.
Tanny, the daughter of IGHSAU Hall of Famer Amy Herrig, made an impressive state tournament debut. She set the tone for her big game by scoring 14 of Wahlert’s first 16 points and her shots kept finding the bottom of the net as the game wore on.
Long and lean at 6-feet-1, Tanny finished 8-for-19 from the field with two 3-pointers, sank 12 of her 13 free throws, grabbed nine rebounds, made three steals and blocked a shot. Senior Ruth Tauber helped out with nine points, five rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Celia Scherr added eight points and eight rebounds.
Williamsburg (20-6), in the tournament for the second straight year, got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Zoe Allen and 10 points and seven rebounds from Kennedy Skaggs. The Raiders also have a strong Hall of Fame connection. They’re coached by Stephanie Rich Dacey, who was enshrined after a brilliant career at Washington.
Even with Tanny’s scoring and a 15-point lead in the first half, Wahlert never could shake off the Raiders. Williamsburg got the lead down to 27-18 by halftime, fell behind by 12, then kept coming back again and again. The Raiders would get within seven or nine and Wahlert would answer with a basket or timely free throws. The Golden Eagles’ final eight points of the third quarter came at the free throw line, four of them by Tanny.
Down 43-34 heading in the fourth quarter, the Raiders kept at it and drew to 47-41 when Taylor Sanchez hit her only shot of the game, a 3-pointer, with 3:17 remaining. Consecutive layups by Tanny and Scherr countered the threat, but Williamsburg came back one more time, drawing to 53-47 on Allen’s putback with 35 seconds left.
The Raiders got the ball right back on a turnover, but Channing Becker’s 3-ball bounced off the rim and Wahlert finished it off with two final free throws from Tanny and another by Scherr.
The two teams also met in last year’s state tournament, Wahlert winning 52-34 before losing to Mount Vernon in the title game.
