The Class 2A 2016 Iowa High School Girls Basketball State Tournament championship game was a thriller. In the end, Unity Christian won its second consecutive state championship.

Josie Blankespoor hit the go-ahead basket with 2 minutes left and Unity held on through a hectic final minute to beat Western Christian 42-41.

The tense game came after Springville pulled out a 49-48 victory over Turkey Valley for the 1A title.

Blankespoor's shot, a jumper from the left baseline, gave Unity a 41-40 lead and was the fifth lead change of the fourth quarter. Unity's Anna Kiel then rebounded a Western Christian miss and the Knights had the ball most of the way from then on, coming up with two big offensive rebounds to keep possession.

Alyssa Fedders rebounded her own miss and teammate Chanda Zomermaand was fouled. Zomermaand missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but Blankespoor slipped in for the rebound and Zomermaand was fouled again. She made one and missed the second, giving Western Christian a chance with 27 seconds left.

Western's Ashtyn Veerbeek made the first of two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining and Blankespoor rebounded the miss. But she was tied up and Western Christian had the possession arrow, so the Wolfpack kept the ball.

They couldn't capitalize. Erika Feenstra missed a layup and the Wolfpack couldn't get off another shot before the buzzer.

Kiel led Unity with 13 points and had another monster effort on the boards, grabbing 15 rebounds. That gave her a record 53 for the tournament, breaking the old mark of 50 set by Exira's Hallie Christofferson in 2010. Christofferson is going into the Hall of Fame this weekend.

Kiel was voted captain of the all-tournament team. She played in nine state tournament games in her career and piled up 107 rebounds.

Deidra Noteboom added 10 points for Unity and Zomermaand scored seven.

Veerbeek led Western Christian with 13 points and nine rebounds. Feenstra scored seven points, while Payton Harmsen and Karsyn Winterfeld each scored six.

The two schools only 16 miles apart in northwest Iowa now have combined for the last five 2A championships. Western Christian won three in a row before
Unity captured last year's title.

Unity finished 25-1 and avenged its only loss, a 59-48 setback at Western Christian on Jan. 16. Western finished 24-3.

Class 2A All Tournament Team: Kaira Moss, Western Christian; Chanda Zomermaand, Unity Christian; Emily Wintz, Okoboji; Mary Crompton, Iowa City Regina; Ashtyn Veerbeek, Western Christian; and Anna Kiel, Unity Christian (Captain).

Story Courtesy of IGHSAU


Unity Christian vs Western Christian
Class 2A Championship Game
3/4/16 8:00 PM at Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA

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VISITORS: Unity Christian 25-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
11 Zomermaand, Chanda.. *  1-10   0-3    5-7    3  2  5   1   7  2  3  0  2  32
13 Fedders, Alyssa..... *  2-7    2-6    0-0    2  1  3   2   6  3  2  0  1  31
31 Kiel, Anna.......... *  4-9    0-1    5-6    2 13 15   2  13  1  2  3  2  32
35 Noteboom, Deidra.... *  4-8    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   4  10  1  2  0  1  22
41 Blankespoor, Josie.. *  3-8    0-0    0-0    2  3  5   2   6  1  5  0  0  31
23 Zevenbergen, Brooke.    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  1  1  1  12
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   14-44   2-10  12-15  11 24 35  12  42  9 15  4  7 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-21 38.1%   2nd Half:  6-23 26.1%   Game: 31.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6  16.7%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 20.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-10 90.0%   2nd Half:  3-5  60.0%   Game: 80.0%   1,1


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HOME TEAM: Western Christian 24-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 Feenstra, Erika..... *  3-6    0-2    1-2    1  1  2   3   7  1  1  0  2  29
05 Harmsen, Payton..... *  2-9    2-9    0-0    0  2  2   2   6  3  1  0  3  31
10 Moss, Kaira......... *  2-7    0-0    0-0    0  6  6   3   4  0  3  1  1  26
11 Bousema, Erica...... *  2-8    1-6    0-0    4  3  7   3   5  5  0  1  0  29
32 Veerbeek, Ashtyn.... *  3-13   0-0    7-8    4  5  9   3  13  0  3  1  0  31
23 Wynja, Janae........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
34 Winterfeld, Karsyn..    3-6    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   0   6  1  3  0  2  11
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   15-49   3-18   8-10  10 20 30  15  41 10 11  3  8 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  7-25 28.0%   2nd Half:  8-24 33.3%   Game: 30.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-12 25.0%   2nd Half:  0-6   0.0%   Game: 16.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  5-6  83.3%   Game: 80.0%   1,1


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Officials: Justin Stockdale, John Conlon, Ryan Eklund
Technical fouls: Unity Christian-None. Western Christian-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd  3rd  4th   Total
Unity Christian...............   12   14    6   10  -   42
Western Christian.............    8   12   14    7  -   41

Points in the paint-UNITY 16,WESTERN 20. Points off turnovers-UNITY 8,WESTERN 6.
2nd chance points-UNITY 3,WESTERN 9. Fast break points-UNITY 2,WESTERN 6.
Bench points-UNITY 0,WESTERN 6. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-8 times.
Last FG-UNITY 4th-02:00, WESTERN 4th-04:53.
Largest lead-UNITY by 10 2nd-04:45, WESTERN by 4 3rd-00:40.

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