Your Prep Sports

There will be a new champion in Class 5A this season.

Second-ranked Waukee made sure of that with a 69-63 win over defending 5A champion West High in the Region 7 title game on Tuesday at Waukee Field House.

Jori Nieman scored 18 points and Paityn Rau added 15 to pace four Warriors in double figures as Waukee returned to the state tournament for the sixth consecutive season.

Waukee led 37-27 at the half and held off several second-half charges by fifth-ranked West High as the Women of Troy had a nine-game winning streak snapped.

The Warriors bring a nine-game winning streak into the state tournament and will face No. 11 West Des Moines Dowling (16-7) in a Class 5A quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at Wells Fargo Arena while West High closed the season 17-4.

Audrey Koch had a game-high 24 points for West High and Cailyn Morgan added 17 but it wasn’t enough for West High to earn a third consecutive trip to the state tournament.

With the loss misses the state tournament for the first time since 2016 when it lost at regional final 70-68 in overtime at Waukee.

Waukee (69) – Jori Nieman 18, Paityn Rau 15, Lindsey Kelderman 12, Katie Dinnebier 12, Anna Brown 7, Peyton Kelderman 3, Megan Earney 2

West High (63) – Audrey Koch 24, Cailyn Morgan 17, Matayia Tellis 8, Lauren Zacharias 7, Sydney Allen 5, Emma Ingersoll-Weng 2