Mason City Wins 1st Girls Basketball Championship, All Tourney Team
Mason City beat Pella 51-44 to win the Class 4A 2016 Iowa High School Girls Basketball State Tournament championship.
Makenzie Meyer and her Mason City teammates have something huge to celebrate as Meyer heads off to the University of Iowa -- a state championship.
Meyer scored 25 points and the Mohawks got back on track after losing a 10-point lead in beating Pella 51-44 to win the Class 4A title.
It's the first state championship for the Mohawks, who had never made it to the state tournament until 2011. They had just a 1-4 record in state tourney games before putting together three solid games to claim the title.
Meyer scored 10 of her team's final 12 points, including five free throws to wrap it up. The Iowa basketball recruit was steady at the line all week, making 29 of 31 shots. She was 13-for-14 in this one and added five rebounds.
Marci Wolters, who will play at North Iowa next season, chipped in with nine points for Mason City. Freshman Megan Meyer, Makenzie's sister, scored five points, including a 3-pointer that put the Mohawks ahead to stay at 39-37 with 6:57 left.
Ciara Buchheit led Pella with 14 points and Katie Vander Molen added 11.
Pella clawed back after training 27-17 late in the first half. The Lady Dutch scored seven straight points to grab a 32-31 lead late in the third quarter and led twice more, but never by more than one.
Annika Pingel gave Pella its final lead at 37-36 on a layup in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Megan Meyer then hit her big 3, Makenzie followed with a jumper in the lane and then added a long 3 of her own from the top of the key.
That made it 44-37 and Pella never got closer than five points after that before Makenzie Meyer finished things at the free throw line.
Mason City was toughened by a Class 5A schedule so the Mohawks were ready at tournament time. They finished 18-8 after facing five teams that qualified for the 5A tournament, including top-ranked Johnston, a team the Mohawks beat 51-50.
Pella, also the state runner-up in 2008, had a 21-game winning streak broken and finished 23-3.
Class 4A All Tourney Team: Megan Meyer, Mason City; Kiara Bradley, Pella; Makenzie Pezley, Keokuk; Chloe Rice, Marion; Katie Vander Molen, Pella; and MaKenzie Meyer, Mason City (Captain).
Story Courtesy of IGHSAU
Pella vs Mason City
4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
3/5/16 6 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena - Des Moines, Iowa
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VISITORS: Pella 23-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 Pingel, Annika...... * 3-7 0-2 1-2 1 2 3 4 7 1 1 0 1 30
12 Bradley, Kiara...... * 1-9 0-4 0-0 2 7 9 4 2 2 0 0 2 25
14 Buchheit, Ciara..... * 5-13 3-9 1-1 0 5 5 4 14 2 2 0 0 28
24 Vander Molen, Katie. * 4-11 2-6 1-2 2 0 2 2 11 1 1 0 2 32
32 Van Vliet, Chloe.... * 2-5 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 4 0 1 0 0 16
20 Lambert, Kloe....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 9
22 Wichhart, Kara...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
50 Dingeman, Lydia..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
52 Holterhaus, Emily... 2-6 0-0 2-3 2 0 2 3 6 2 0 0 1 19
54 Dingeman, Alexa..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 17-52 5-23 5-8 9 16 25 21 44 9 7 0 6 160
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-26 34.6% 2nd Half: 8-26 30.8% Game: 32.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-12 16.7% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 21.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 62.5% 0
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HOME TEAM: Mason City 18-8
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Danielson, Rachel... * 1-3 1-3 0-1 0 3 3 4 3 0 2 0 0 19
10 Meyer, Makenzie..... * 5-13 2-4 13-14 0 5 5 2 25 1 4 2 1 32
34 Pederson, Olivia.... * 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 3 0 0 10
44 Wolters, Marci...... * 4-6 1-2 0-0 0 3 3 0 9 0 1 0 1 24
50 Meyer, Megan........ * 2-2 1-1 0-1 0 5 5 1 5 2 2 0 0 28
20 Rier, Jacqueline.... 1-2 0-1 2-6 1 4 5 2 4 2 1 0 2 22
22 Faktor, Hannah...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 10
30 Till, Kayla......... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 5
40 Baker, Bailey....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 1 2 0 1 0 1 10
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 15-30 6-12 15-22 4 28 32 12 51 7 15 2 5 160
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-17 41.2% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 50.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3% 2nd Half: 5-10 50.0% Game: 68.2% 2,1
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Officials: Dave Schonrock, Royce Ranniger, Jason Slaughter
Technical fouls: Pella-None. Mason City-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Pella......................... 9 11 15 9 - 44
Mason City.................... 15 12 9 15 - 51