Four Items of Interest from Class 4A State Semifinals

Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code: howe30 in the coupon code area   The final four became the last two Thursday night when the Class 4A state tournament semifinals were contested in Des Moines. First, second-seeded Dallas Center-Grimes mounted a furious comeback against No. 3 Norwalk, and then No. 5 Carlisle kept its underdog tail wagging in an upset of top-seeded and previously unbeaten Bishop Heelan.   Here are four items of interest from Thursday's 4A action:   DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?   The situation appeared dire for Dallas Center-Grimes. The Mustangs trailed Norwalk by six points with :46 remaining in their Class 4A semifinal on Thursday.   That's when [player_tooltip player_id='891985' first='Ava' last='Smid'] took over, providing a stretch of basketball sure to go down in state tournament lore. The DCG sophomore started the surge with a defensive rebound leading to her lay-up. The deficit was cut to four points.   After Norwalk committed a turnover, Smid scored another lay-up off of a [player_tooltip player_id='1302233' first='Leah' last='Brauch'] in-bound pass. That's when the craziness rose to another level.   Smid swiped consecutive Warrior in-bound passes under the basket, laying them in the hoop. Somehow, someway, the Mustangs were ahead, 44-42, with :21 left.   Ten seconds later, Norwalk missed a shot, which was rebounded by Smid. DCG then closed out the comeback from the foul line.   Smid's eight points in :19, particular the last six coming in an 11-second flurry, will be a sequence talked about forever.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/dcgdistrict/status/2029740067808268522?s=46 </div></figure>   BIG-GAME BIRMINGHAM   Smid's heroics and the DCG comeback overshadowed another stellar performance by [player_tooltip player_id='883552' first='Braylyn' last='Birmingham']. The Norwalk sophomore matched the 26 points she notched in Tuesday's quarterfinal victory against Central DeWitt.   Birmingham ended up scoring 52 of her team's 92 points at the state tournament. She also tallied 15 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks, and sank 15 of 16 free-throw attempts.   Smid ended up with a team-high 16 points to go with six steals, five rebounds and two assists in Thursday's victory. [player_tooltip player_id='686901' first='Tessa' last='Jones'] added 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the floor for the winners. Brauch contributed nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal for DCG, while teammate [player_tooltip player_id='686900' first='Addie' last='Abens'] converted both of her field-goal tries and pulled down six boards.   GIANT SLAYER   Carlisle opened eyes with a 14-point victory against higher-seeded Clear Creek Amana in Tuesday's quarterfinals. After Thursday's semifinal performance, everyone is wide awake from the fifth-seed's impressive 73-60 victory against a Heelan outfit that was challenged very little this season.   Wildcat senior [player_tooltip player_id='502100' first='Macy' last='Comito'] blistered the nets with a Class 4A state tournament record 42 points. The Iowa State commitment connected on 5 of 9 shots from behind the arc and sank all 13 of her free throws.   Carlisle looked determined from the opening tip. Comito drilled a trey for the game's first points. [player_tooltip player_id='880909' first='Kami' last='Clark']'s jumper gave the underdog's a 5-0 lead a minute into the action.   Heelan star [player_tooltip player_id='777232' first='Melina' last='Snoozy'], who set a new 4A record with 39 points in Tuesday's quarterfinals, then scored two baskets and assisted on a third as her team went ahead, 6-5. The lead changed hands three more times before the Wildcats took a 15-11 lead after one quarter.   They extended the lead to eight when a pair of Comito treys were sandwiched around a Snoozy hoop. The Carlisle star then sank five free throws in a row in pushing the advantage to 13 two minutes into the second period.   The Crusaders trimmed their deficit to eight points when [player_tooltip player_id='1305404' first='Ella' last='Otten'] scored a quick five points at the beginning of the second half. However, an [player_tooltip player_id='1211364' first='Ella' last='Smith'] lay-up off of a Comito assist made it, 39-29, at the 6:29 mark of the third quarter, and Carlisle would lead by double figures the rest of the way.   On paper, it was called an upset. However, anyone that watched this game or Tuesday's win against Clear Creek Amana understands Carlisle has emphatically shed its underdog label.   Clark finished with 12 points, four assists, two rebounds and a block, while Smith scored nine on 4 of 5 shooting from the field. [player_tooltip player_id='1795454' first='Mallie' last='Stoner'], a Cyclone softball pledge, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the winners to go with six points and a pair of blocks.   Snoozy was brilliant once again. The junior poured in 27 points, making 11 of 14 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 6 from behind the arc. She added six rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Otten and [player_tooltip player_id='582806' first='Trishelle' last='Miller'] each scored 12 for Heelan.   REAQUAINTED NEIGHBORS   Despite only being separated by 30 miles, Des Moines-area schools Carlisle and Dallas Center-Grimes have met just once this decade. It was a 31-30 DCG victory in last year's 4A regional finals.   The programs were regular foes between 2010-19. The Mustangs controlled the series, winning 11 of 15 meetings during that time. They hold a 15-5 all-time advantage.   The teams should be well supported during Saturday's title game tilt considering their close proximity to the Casey's Center. That they share an identical 23.3 point differential to date adds to the intrigue.

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