The opponent was familiar, the outcome unpredictable. But when push came to shove, Linn-Mar junior Kiah Stokes and senior Kayla Klopfenstein took control, and the outcome was ultimately the one everyone in "Lion Land" desired and anticipated.

Class 4A top-ranked Linn-Mar went inside repeatedly to the standout Stokes and gave Klopfenstein ample opportunity to do her thing from the perimeter and the free throw line, and the Lions out-lasted No. 5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 58-53, in a state tournament semifinal Friday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Linn-Mar (25-0) advanced to play second-ranked Des Moines East (25-0) in Saturday night's 4A state championship game at Wells Fargo. The Lions reached the semifinals by beating unranked Johnston, 60-38, in a March 3 quarterfinal.

Linn-Mar had advanced to the state semifinals each of the last two seasons, but came up empty. This time, they took control and moved on.

"You always want to win those, you always want to get it, but I'm proud of these girls no matter what happens," Linn-Mar head coach Mike Brandt said. "This is the greatest group of girls the last few years that anybody can ask for. It just shows that kind of maturity and the experience, because it was a whole different attitude coming down this year. They've really stepped up and decided that this was what they wanted to do."

Linn-Mar beat Mississippi Valley Conference rival Kennedy in the teams' only regular-season meeting Jan. 19, 62-49, and these squads knew each other very well. A sizeable group of fans from the Cedar Rapids-Marion Metro area made the trip for the noon tip-off.

The Lions led the cold-shooting Cougars, 40-32, heading into the final quarter, but Kennedy refused to go away despite a dismal shooting effort. Linn-Mar led only 55-51 with 36.8 seconds to play and finally created a little bit of a cushion by making 3 of 5 free throws in the final 31.9 seconds.

"I know it's cliché, but we always just look at the one game, and we knew they knew us and we knew them, and we knew it was going to be 32 minutes," Brandt said. "(The Cougars) are an outstanding team and they have some great, great players. It was trying to keep our poise. We knew they'd make runs and they could make shots, and we knew they were never going to give up."

The game was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter and Linn-Mar led, 27-26, at halftime. The Lions used an 11-2 run late in the third quarter to build a 40-30 lead, and outscored the Cougars, 13-6, in the frame.

Linn-Mar shot 19 of 40 from the field (47.5 percent) and 17 of 24 from the free throw line (70.8). Kennedy (21-3) struggled mightily, hitting just 16 of 52 field goal attempts (30.8 percent), and 3 of 23 from 3-point range (13.0).

Stokes, one of the country's most highly recruited juniors, finished with game highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds, her second double-double of the tournament. She was 8 of 12 from the floor and 8 of 10 from the free throw line, and her teammates did a tremendous job of getting her the ball inside.

"We tried to play physical with them and get it in to the post, because there was a mismatch with the height," Stokes said.

"The girls did a great job of feeding her," Brandt said. "We just kept going at it and we had to go inside there to make things work right on the outside, so it was very important that we did that. The girls really executed that well."

Stokes out-dueled her nemesis and good friend Jade Rogers from Kennedy. Rogers, who will play at Iowa next year, was limited to 11 points on 2-of-14 shooting but did grab 11 rebounds.

Klopfenstein, a 5-foot-9 senior dynamo, scored eight of her 16 points in the pivotal fourth quarter. She hit four of her seven field goal attempts (2 of 4 from 3-point range) and was 6 of 8 from the line, including 3 of 5 in the game's final 2:23.

Klopfenstein was thrilled to advance to her first championship game.

"This is our third straight year, and the past two years previous to this we lost in the semifinal games, so it's nice to finally be able to get it," she said. "It's been our dream since I was little and a team goal the whole entire season."

D.J. Norman had her second solid tournament game with 10 points and four assists.

Linn-Mar started its state title quest with a 60-38 dismantling of Johnston in the March 3 quarterfinal. The Lions made 11 of 19 field goal attempts (57.9 percent) while building a 31-18 halftime lead, outscored the Dragons 16-6 in the final quarter, and cruised into the semis.

Stokes finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds despite uncharacteristic foul trouble. Norman added 14 points and Klopfenstein 11.

It was the first step toward a championship game berth, which the Lions accomplished after their win over Kennedy.

"I'm excited for it and I just can't wait," Stokes said after the Kennedy game. "We just have to come at them, and we just have to play our style of basketball and get it done."



Box scores:

At Des Moines

(Wells Fargo Arena)



Class 4A State Quarterfinal

JOHNSTON (38): Jennifer Ross 3-6 4-4 10, Madison Thompson 0-4 1-2 1, Sammie Hildreth 1-2 0-2 2, Emily Parker 6-12 3-4 15, Rachel Chapman 4-8 0-0 8, Erica White 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Sandquist 0-3 0-1 0, Alex Hawks 0-0 0-0 0, Andi Cameron 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Kristin Riley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 15-37 8-13 38.

LINN-MAR (60): Kayla Klopfenstein 3-4 3-3 11, Kiley Haines 2-3 0-0 4, D.J. Norman 6-9 0-0 14, Kiah Stokes 7-15 3-5 17, Morgan Terpstra 1-2 0-0 2, Leandra Martins 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney Rissi 0-0 0-0 0, Kailee Karr 2-2 3-4 8, Jenna Eells 2-3 0-1 4, Erin Hutchins 0-1 0-0 0, Noor Amr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-41 9-15 60.

Halftime: Linn-Mar 31, Johnston 18. 3-point goals: Johnston 0-7 (Ross 0-2, Thompson 0-4, Sandquist 0-1), Linn-Mar 9-15 (Klopfenstein 2-2, Norman 2-3, Karr 1-1, Hutchins 0-1). Rebounds: Johnston 21 (Parker 7), Linn-Mar 26 (Stokes 13). Team fouls: Johnston 16, Linn-Mar 12. Assists: Johnston 7 (Thompson 3), Linn-Mar 14 (Terpstra 4, Stokes 3). Steals: Johnston 6 (Ross 3), Linn-Mar 8 (Stokes 3, Terpstra 3). Turnovers: Johnston 14, Linn-Mar 13.



Class 4A State Semifinal

LINN-MAR (58): Kayla Klopfenstein 4-7 6-8 16, Kiley Haines 2-5 0-0 4, D.J. Norman 3-9 3-6 10, Kiah Stokes 8-12 8-10 24, Morgan Terpstra 1-3 0-0 2, Megan Young 0-0 0-0 0, Kailee Karr 0-2 0-0 0, Jenna Eells 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-40 17-24 58.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY (53): Kristen Hahn 2-10 4-5 8, Jade Rogers 2-14 5-8 11, Haley Brightwell 2-5 1-2 5, Mariah Duke 3-10 2-3 8, Laura Boenish 5-9 2-5 13, Oliva Meier 2-3 0-0 4, Courtney Strait 0-0 0-0 0, Kassi Nunnikhoven 0-0 0-0 0, Shauna Happel 0-1 4-4 4. Totals 16-52 18-27 53.

Halftime: Linn-Mar 27, Kennedy 26. 3-point goals: Linn-Mar 3-7 (Klopfenstein 2-4, Norman 1-3), Kennedy 3-23 (Hahn 0-5, Rogers 2-8, Duke 0-6, Boenish 1-3, Meier 0-1). Rebounds: Linn-Mar 28 (Stokes 14), Kennedy 33 (Rogers 11, Brightwell 6). Team fouls: Linn-Mar 19, Kennedy 18. Assists: Linn-Mar 11 (Norman 4), Kennedy 6 (Duke 3). Steals: Linn-Mar 6 (Norman 2, Karr 2), Kennedy 5 (Rogers 3). Turnovers: Linn-Mar 12, Kennedy 11.