Clear Lake, MOC-Floyd Valley advance to 3A state finals

Clear Lake takes care of ADM, MOC-Floyd Valley gets by Cedar Rapids Xavier

Thomas Meyer (51) and his Clear Lake teammates celebrate a win in the Class 3A semifinals over ADM. / Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The finals in Class 3A are now set, as unbeaten Clear Lake will take on MOC-Floyd Valley for the championship on Friday.

In the final four Thursday from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the Lions eliminated ADM, 66-57, while the Dutchmen took care of Cedar Rapids Xavier, 44-41.

Clear Lake and MOC-Floyd Valley will play at 3 p.m. 

As the top-seed, the Lions were expected to be here. University of Iowa football signee Thomas Meyer made sure they were, scoring 31 points on 13 of 17 shooting with eight rebounds and four assists. 

Jaxson McIntire, the standout quarterback for Clear Lake, added 15 points while Max Larson chipped in eight.

Despite all that, ADM was in control of the contest after an 18-7 second, leading by as many as 12 midway through the third. From there, the Lions took over, outscoring them in the fourth, 27-8.

Hudson Lorensen scored 22 with Trey Bryte adding 17 and nine rebounds. 

Cinderella MOC-Floyd Valley just keeps winning

Meanwhile, MOC-Floyd Valley entered as the No. 6 seed, knocking off Ballard earlier this week. 

Like they did in that game, the Dutchmen relied on Blake Aalbers, who scored 23 points with five rebounds and two steals. He got some help from Carter Van Gelder and Draeden Punt, who combined for 13 points, while Owen Vander Pol grabbed 11 rebounds with two blocks.

MOC-Floyd Valley led early, fell behind at the half and rallied with 26 points over the final 16 minutes to secure the win.

For Xavier, Zander Murray scored 19 and Kaleb Wilgenbusch added 16.

What’s on deck

The 2A and 1A semifinals will complete day four at the state tournament. Western Christian meets Grand View Christian while West Lyon takes on Unity Christian.

Just like in 2A, the 1A field features the Top 4 seeds, as Bellevue Marquette plays Gladbrook-Reinbeck and Madrid battles St. Edmond.