Pella's
Ciara Buchheit never has to
worry about getting enough arch on her shots. She gets plenty.
The
5-foot-9 senior hit two rainbow 3-pointers during a second-half run that turned
the game around and enabled fourth-ranked Pella to beat No. 5 Lewis Central
47-43 to complete the quarterfinal round in Class 4A.
Pella
outscored Lewis Central 12-1 during the burst, erasing a 26-24 deficit and
building a 36-27 lead late in the third quarter. The Lady Dutch had to battle
the Titans throughout the fourth quarter, but they had the cushion they needed
to stay ahead.
Buchheit finished with nine points and eight rebounds for Pella, the state
runner-up a year ago. Kiara Bradley led the Lady Dutch with 18 points and Katie
Vander Molen added nine.
Lewis
Central, in the tournament for the third time in five years, got 17 points and
eight rebounds from freshman Megan Witte. Maegan Holt scored 11 for the Titans
and Alissa Pomrenke had seven.
Down 10
early in the fourth quarter, Lewis Central ran off six straight points to cut
the lead to 39-35 but could not get any closer. Vander Molen
sank two free throws and Chloe Van Vliet got loose for
two fastbreak layups, stretching the lead to 45-36
with 1:30 left.
Lewis
Central again got within four with just under a minute to play before Bradley
came up with a key steal in the closing seconds to help thwart the Titans, who
had won 18 straight.
Pella
improves to 20-4 heading into a semifinal game at 11:45 a.m. Friday against
top-ranked Marion. Lewis Central finishes 22-2.