Clear Creek Amana girls basketball wins Iowa state title with win over Waverly-Shell Rock

Clear Creek Amana and Waverly-Shell Rock—the last two unbeaten teams in Class 4A— were on a collision course during the state basketball tournament, and it finally came to blows Saturday afternoon. 

The top-ranked Clippers weren’t going to be denied, earning their first state title in program history with a 43-25 win over the 2-seed Go-Hawks.

Defense wins championships and the Clippers' defensive efforts were stellar--limiting the Go-Hawks to 7-of-49 from the field for the game.

"We knew coming in, it had to be defensive-focused," said. CCA's Ava Locklear. "They're a really good offensive team; their bigs are really skilled and so we knew coming in, we had to lock in on that."

CCA finishes with a 26-0 record--their best in program history. Locklear, Averie Lower and Bliss Beck were all named to the Class 4A all-tournament team, with Locklear earning team captain honors.

Here’s what we learned from the Clippers state title win over the Go-Hawks. 

CCA finds its footing in the second quarter

Following a close first quarter, the Clippers gained momentum in the second frame. After a basket by Beck, Locklear blocked a shot on the defensive end and, in transition, found Lena Evans, who pump-faked a 3-pointer and drove to the basket to give CCA a nine-point advantage.

A couple of possessions later, Waverly-Shell Rock's Brenna Bodensteiner drained a 3-pointer, but CCA quickly answered back with another layup by Beck. The Clippers forced a turnover on the Go-Hawks' next possession and Locklear was able to force contact and drain two free throws to give CCA its first double-digit lead. Locklear went on to finish the quarter with a put-back bucket to give CCA a 24-12 advantage at halftime.

"In the North Polk game...we [said], 'We can't let in, we can't give up now, we got to keep pushing' and I think we wanted to get one more stretch going into halftime, so I think mentally we knew we had to keep going, we couldn't let up," Locklear said.

The Clippers limited the Go-Hawks to four field goals in the first half. They had eight blocks in the first 16 minutes, with Beck and Locklear earning four each.

Averie Lower provides a spark, CCA opens things up in the second half

Lower--who scored nine first-quarter points-- found herself back in the scoring column and it started at the defensive end. At the start of the third frame, Lower got steals on back-to-back possessions--which led to a 3-pointer and transition bucket. It gave CCA a 32-12 advantage-- their largest of the game.

"[Averie] kind of got us going a little bit...I felt pretty good about our defense like, 'Okay now let's just play with the lead, get good stops, rebound the ball'," said CCA coach PJ Sweeney. "There was a couple of possessions there [in the third quarter] where maybe we didn't box out well enough and it kind of kept them alive but overall, they did phenomenal."

With help from their defense, the Clippers were able to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter to keep the Go-Hawks at bay. The Clippers finished with 10 blocks and six steals as a team.

Lower finished with a team-high 17 points and four 3-pointers. Locklear tallied 11 points and 19 rebounds while Beck added 11 points and eight rebounds.

"It's a dream come true. I've been wanting this forever and to have it come true, it's amazing," Lower said. "Definitely, our defense was what led us to win but all of us really stepped up this game [and] we trusted each other."

Waverly-Shell Rock girls basketball is still elite

Despite coming up short in the state title game, the Go-Hawks proved to be a tough team; defeating No. 7-seed Sioux Center and No. 3-seed Bishop Heelan Catholic to clinch a spot in the state championship game. 

"[Clear Creek Amana] were incredible defensively and the good looks we got, we couldn't finish...I don't feel like we defended poorly; It's really hard to defend when you're in transition the whole time but our kids battled," said Waverly-Shell Rock coach Greg Bodensteiner. "We weren't efficient, but we battled, and we just didn't have enough."

Brenna Bodensteiner finished with a team-high 10 points. Sydney Bienemann added seven points and 10 rebounds while Katelyn Eggena tallied four points and seven rebounds.

The Go-Hawks will return two of their starters, Bienemann and Lizzy Frazell. Eggena--a senior-- was named to the Class 4A all-tournament team.

Waverly-Shell Rock finished its season with a 25-1 record.