The defending champs keep moving along in Class 2A. Unity Christian beat West Branch in Class 2A Quarterfinals action. Unity moves to the 2016 Class 2A Iowa High Girls Basketball State Tournament semifinals.

Third-ranked Unity Christian struggled early, then regrouped and rolled past No. 6 West Branch 52-33 in a quarterfinal game. As usual, seniors Chanda Zomermaand and Anna Kiel led the way.

Zomermaand made all 10 of her free throws and scored 19 points. Eight of those free throws came as the Knights pulled away in the final 1:25. Kiel, the team's athletic post player, turned in a solid double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Paige Miller led West Branch with eight points and Trystin Luneckas scored seven.

Looking for its second consecutive championship, Unity will take a 23-1 record into a semifinal game at 3:15 p.m. Thursday. West Branch, which made the tournament for the first time since 1972, closes a fine season with a 21-4 record.

West Branch caused Unity some problems early and led 13-8 midway through the second quarter. At that point, Unity had made only two field goals.

But Zomermaand got free on the perimeter and hit a 3-pointer less than a minute later, triggering a 9-0 run that put the Knights on top 17-13. They held the lead the rest of the way.

Leading 28-23 late in the third quarter, Unity worked at getting the ball to Kiel inside and she delivered. Kiel scored four times in a 5 1/2-minute span as Unity built its lead to 41-31. The Knights then did the rest at the free throw line to keep their repeat hopes alive.

Story Courtesy of IGHSAU

West Branch vs Unity Christian
2-29-16 8:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena - Des Moines

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: West Branch 21-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
00 Simpson, Allyson.... *  2-9    0-3    0-0    0  1  1   0   4  1  3  0  0  28
11 Koenig, Tatum....... *  2-9    1-3    0-0    0  2  2   4   5  2  2  0  2  27
15 Luneckas, Trystin... *  3-5    0-0    1-2    1  5  6   1   7  0  1  0  1  28
25 Mullinix, Haley..... *  1-4    1-1    0-0    0  1  1   3   3  3  3  0  0  23
31 Poula, Haley........ *  3-10   0-1    0-0    1  6  7   3   6  0  1  1  1  25
03 Gould, Kim..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0  0+
13 Fountain, Kara......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
21 Jarrett, Courtney...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
33 Murry, Jenae........    0-0    0-0    0-0    3  0  3   1   0  2  1  0  0  12
35 Bridges, Claire.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
41 Milder, Taylor......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0  0+
45 Miller, Paige.......    3-4    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   1   8  0  2  0  0  13
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   14-41   2-8    3-4    7 15 22  14  33  8 14  1  4 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  7-22 31.8%   2nd Half:  7-19 36.8%   Game: 34.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-3   0.0%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  2-2  100 %   Game: 75.0%   1,2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Unity Christian 23-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
10 Zomermaand, Chanda.. *  4-12   1-5   10-10   0  1  1   2  19  1  2  0  2  32
12 Fedders, Alyssa..... *  1-4    1-3    2-2    1  2  3   2   5  3  0  0  4  32
30 Kiel, Anna.......... *  7-15   0-0    2-3    4 10 14   1  16  2  1  1  3  32
34 Noteboom, Deidra.... *  1-3    0-0    1-2    0  3  3   1   3  1  3  0  0  29
40 Blankespoor, Josie.. *  3-4    0-0    1-2    2  3  5   1   7  3  4  0  0  31
02 Malenke, Justine....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
04 Hofmeyer, Haley.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
14 Timmermans, Corrina.    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
20 Turek, Mikayla......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
22 Zevenbergen, Brooke.    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   4
24 Bronner, Jori.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
32 Franken, Cori.......    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  1  0+
44 Kroeze, Danielle....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   16-39   2-8   18-21   8 20 28   7  52 11 10  1 10 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  5-15 33.3%   2nd Half: 11-24 45.8%   Game: 41.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-4  25.0%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-6  100 %   2nd Half: 12-15 80.0%   Game: 85.7%    1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Pete Peterson, Steve Bebout, Scott Maine
Technical fouls: West Branch-None. Unity Christian-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd  3rd  4th   Total
West Branch...................    7    8   10    8  -   33
Unity Christian...............    8    9   15   20  -   52

Points in the paint-WBRANCH 18,UNITY 28. Points off turnovers-WBRANCH 6,UNITY 16.
2nd chance points-WBRANCH 5,UNITY 3. Fast break points-WBRANCH 2,UNITY 6.
Bench points-WBRANCH 8,UNITY 2. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-WBRANCH 4th-02:44, UNITY 4th-03:34.
Largest lead-WBRANCH by 5 2nd-04:49, UNITY by 19 4th-00:01.

>

More From K92.3