Mount Vernon, three others move into 3A semis

Top-seed Mustangs joined by E-LC, Dubuque Wahlert, Williamsburg in final four

Haylee Stokes and Estherville-LIncoln Central advanced to the Class 3A semifinals Monday night. / Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Three of the four Class 3A quarterfinals hit the floor inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Monday night.

Mount Vernon showed why many consider them to be heavy favorites to claim the title at the end of the week, as Estherville-Lincoln Central and Dubuque Wahlert will join them in the semifinals.

• Johnston, top seeds advance to 5A semis with wins

Williamsburg and Des Moines Christian began the day Tuesday with the fourth and final quarterfinal matchup.

Class 3A Quarterfinals

Mount Vernon 75, West Marshall 19

It was over from the start, as Mount Vernon jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, eliminating West Marshall, 75-19 for the 23rd straight win this year.

Savanna Wright had 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting with five 3-pointers in her state tournament debut. The freshman also had four steals and a pair of assists.

Sydney Huber, a future Evansville player, added 16 points while Quinn Pershing had eight. Taylor and Courtney Franck combined for 14 with Courtney grabbin eight rebounds. 

West Marshall was done in by a 25-0 run from the Mustangs that spanned the first and second quarters. Bella Borgos had seven to lead the Trojans.

Estherville-Lincoln Central 57, Cherokee 33

Haylee Stokes and Estherville-Lincoln Central secured the season series with Lakes Conference rival Cherokee while also punching a ticket to the semifinals with a 57-33 victory.

Stokes, who will play at Minnesota State in the fall, scored 23 points with seven assists and six rebounds as E-LC recorded 16 steals and scored 21 points on 22 Cherokee turnovers.

Hillary Ruschy added 16 points and Rylee Yager had 11 with 10 rebounds. Estherville-Lincoln Central has now reached the final four three times in the last four years, winning it all in 2022 while placing second last year.

Deidra Doeden had 18 points and 15 rebounds for Cherokee with Addy Wolfswinkel scoring nine.

Dubuque Wahlert 51, Spirit Lake 46

For just the second time in program history, Dubuque Wahlert secured a win at the state tournament, besting Spirit Lake, 51-46.

The only other time the Golden Eagles earned a win at state was in 2004, losing the last six since. Claire Lueken scored 26 points with Caroline Freed adding eight and Ruth Tauber six.

Spirit Lake, who led early, made a late run at Wahlert. Claire Turner scored 18, Abby Scott had 14 and Reese Kennan scored 10 with 13 rebounds.

Williamsburg 52, Des Moines Christian 49

Needing a rally, the Raiders got one, earning a 52-49 victory over Des Moines Christian on Tuesday morning.

Winners of 17 in a row, Williamsburg received a 19-point effort from Carly Rich, who scored eight of the final 10 points in the game. Zoe Allen had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Ava Hocker added seven points with 10 rebounds.

Des Moines Christian could not overcome 20 turnovers which led to 20 points by the Raiders. Addy Oetker had 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals.