Rebounding
and defense can do a lot for a basketball team and those two areas were
critical in a big upset for Cedar Falls.
The
fifth-ranked Tigers controlled the boards and contained Indianola's two stars
in beating the No. 1-ranked Indians 48-44 to reach the Class 5A championship
game.
It will
be the fifth time in the finals for Cedar Falls, which won titles in 1991 and
2001. The Tigers will try for No. 3 at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The
victory comes two weeks after Cedar Falls lost to Indianola 57-47 in the
regular season finale.
Ally
Conrad led Cedar Falls with 11 points, six rebounds and five steals. Cynthia
Wolf also scored 11 and did a good job defensively on Indianola junior Grace
Berg, who has committed to Missouri. Hailey Paup
scored 10 for the Tigers, who built a 32-23 rebounding edge and outscored the
Indians 12-0 on second-chance points.
The
Tigers held Berg and sophomore Maggie McGraw, an Iowa State commit, to a
combined 19 points -- half what they usually produce. Berg scored 11 and McGraw
finished with eight. Madie Sorensen also had 11 for
the Indians, who lost for the first time in 25 games.
Cedar
Falls went ahead for good late in the first quarter, stretched its lead to 10
with a 5-0 second-quarter burst, then fended off every Indianola challenge.
Indianola
cut the lead to one in the third quarter, only to have the Tigers go back up by
nine. The Indians made one more charge and twice got within two points, the
second time at 46-44 when Berg drove for a hoop with 2:01 remaining.
But Cedar
Falls, now 23-2, choked off the Indians the rest of the way. The 6-foot-3 Wolf
blocked Indianola's final shot and Conrad sank two free throws with nine-tenths
of a second left to finish it off.