The girls’ Class 5A state basketball tournament–also known as the CIML Conference Invitational–resumes on Thursday morning with a semifinal doubleheader at Wells Fargo Arena.
All four of the highest seeds from the CIML Conference posted victories in Monday’s quarterfinals by an average of 16 points. That means that Friday’s championship game will be an all-CIML affair, and it could be a rematch of last year’s final between Johnston and Dowling Catholic.
Here are Ankeny Fanatic’s predictions for Thursday’s games:
No. 1 Johnston (24-0) vs. Ankeny Centennial (17-7): The Dragons won both meetings during the regular season by scores of 55-43 and 68-49. They are riding a 50-game winning streak and seeking their fourth title in six years. Centennial coach Scott DeJong has pulled off some big upsets in his career, including a win over the top-ranked Dragons in the 2016 championship game. But this Johnston team is deeper and more talented than that squad. Junior guard Jenica Lewis is one of the best players in the country. She averages 18.3 points and 3.5 steals per game while maintaining a 4:1 assist/turnover ratio. In the last meeting against the Jaguars on Feb. 4, Lewis scored 28 points and went 7-of-9 from 3-point range. Ava Martin had three treys and scored 16 points for Centennial, and she is coming off a dazzling shooting performance on Monday–when she made her first six shots from deep and tied a career-high with 20 points in a 51-47 victory over No. 5 Pleasant Valley. The Jaguars will need another big game from Martin in order to have a chance, but even that may not be enough. Prediction: Johnston 62, Ankeny Centennial 54.
No. 2 Dowling Catholic (21-3) vs. No. 3 Waukee Northwest (19-4): The Maroons won both meetings during the regular season by scores of 55-42 and 83-50. After getting off to a 5-2 start, Dowling has won 16 of its last 17 games–dropping only a 64-62 decision to Johnston on Jan. 24. Junior forward Ellie Muller has blossomed into one of the state’s best players for the Maroons. On Monday, she racked up 15 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a 64-38 rout over No. 7 Davenport North, which features a pair of Division I recruits. In the last game against Northwest on Feb. 7, Muller was even more productive–finishing with 22 points and 20 rebounds. Muller averages a double-double, but she’s not even the Maroons’ top scorer. That would be senior guard Ava Zediker, a Creighton recruit who averages nearly 19 points a game and scored twice that many last month against the Wolves, when she went 7-of-10 from behind the arc. Look for the Maroons to earn another shot at the title. Prediction: Dowling Catholic 65, Waukee Northwest 48.
