What we learned from Dallas Center-Grimes' thrilling 33-32 Iowa state semifinal win over Ballard

With 1.5 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter of the Class 4A semifinals, Dallas Center-Grimes (22-3) senior Emma Miner stood on the foul line with her team deadlocked in a 32-32 tie with rival Ballard at the Iowa girls state basketball tournament.

Miner had just missed the first of two free throws after getting fouled on a drive. She needed to make the second to avoid overtime.

Swish.

More:Here are the top 15 recruits at the Iowa state girls basketball tournament

Top-seeded DCG prevailed, 33-32, in an instant classic between the two best defensive teams in 4A.

"This is something everybody dreams of," said Miner as she held back tears following the game. "I'm just so happy. I've always just wanted to get to this moment. There was never a dull moment."

Here is what we learned from the Mustangs' victory that landed them in Saturday's 4A state championship game.

Emma Miner gets DCG within one win from a state title

Miner admits she was pretty nervous after missing the first free throw in the final seconds of regulation.

"I was a little anxious," Miner said. "I was kind of looking for that support and I got it from everybody."

She calmly regrouped to sink the second shot and send her team into the championship game.

"I kind of dug deep there and got it," Miner said. "I'm just really proud of my team."

More:How to watch, stream and follow 2023 Iowa high school state girls basketball tournament

Vanessa Bickford led DCG with 7 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds while dishing out four assists. Losie Lampe and Sydney Miller both hit two 3-pointers and scored 6 points, Miner had 5 points and four rebounds while Finley Fitzgerald scored 5 points.

Ballard girls basketball shows some moxie

Ballard trailed the entire game until the final 13 seconds.

The No. 4 Bombers didn't score in the first quarter. They fell behind 12-0 and spent the rest of the afternoon gradually clawing their way back.

"I told the girls before it's like we're playing our sister," said DCG coach Adam Jones. "They defend like crazy, and they're very fundamentally sound."

Ballard was down 30-18 late in the third quarter and then they went on a 14-2 run to tie the game with 13 seconds left.

"We didn't start out our best offensively, but that's what we do best ― claw our way back into it," said Ballard senior guard Lily Beall. "I'm so proud of all of us."

More:Iowa high school girls basketball state tournament scores and schedule

Kiley Clavert hit two free throws, Beall and fellow senior guard Lily Hillebrand each hit clutch 3-pointers and Hillebrand also scored off a drive to get Ballard within 2 with 1:54 left. Neither team could do anything against the other's stout defense for the next minute. Then the Bombers got possession on a jump ball.

After running some clock, leading Bombers scorer Alliyah Thompson drove the line and missed a shot, but she instinctively followed it up and the ball went through the net to tie the score.

"We really focus on getting those second shots on the offensive end," Thompson said. "We really focus on getting those rebounds and it just kind of happened that way."

Thompson, Hillebrand and Calvert each scored 8 points and Beall finished with 6. Thompson also had nine rebounds and two assists and two blocks, Hillebrand four assists and Beall posted six rebounds.

"I'm really proud that we were able to fight back and make it a close game and fight to the end," Hillebrand said. "At the beginning of the season, a lot of people didn't think we were going to make it this far. I was really proud that we were able to show what we had. It's a misfortunate end to the season, but I'm really proud of these girls and how hard they fought."

Ballard ended the season with a 19-4 record.

DCG playing for a championship

After such an exhaustive semifinal game, Jones said he's glad his team gets a day off before playing for the 4A state championship.

"It will be good to have a day off to regroup a little bit," Jones said. "We just have to be ready to go. Defense has carried us the entire year and we're going to have to defend and we've had some role players hit some big shots. We're excited to play."

The 4A state championship game is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

"The last four years I've wanted to get there," Miner said. "I'm just really happy to be there."

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Emma Miner's last-second free throw gets DCG past Ballard in 4A semis