Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – During a state semifinal run last season Anna Quillin and her Solon teammates learned a valuable lesson in the importance of momentum.

“Here, at state, in his arena, momentum is everything,” Quillin said.

Midway through the third quarter of Tuesday’s Class 3A quarterfinal seventh-ranked Dubuque Wahlert had wrestled the momentum and the lead away from third-ranked Solon with a 10-3 run that tied the game at 39.

Quillin and classmate Hailey Miller wasted no time in getting both back.

Quillin scored on a putback following an offensive rebound and Miller beat the third quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 spurt that lifted Solon to a 58-45 win over Dubuque Wahlert at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“I think the panic set in really quick, we kind of had a holy crap moment it’s not over yet,” Quillin said. “We had to settle back in and get after the boards and do the things that we always do.”

Miller and Quillin combined to score the first 12 second-half points for Solon as the Spartans pulled away and advanced to the 3A semifinals for the second straight season.

Solon (22-3) will face second-ranked Des Moines Christian (24-1) in a 3A semifinal on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

“It got really close and we just didn’t want to lose,” Miller said. “This is our last chance to prove to everyone we can do this and play together so we don’t want to take anything for granted.”

Miller finished with 16 points, including nine in the second half and Quillin added eight points and 16 rebounds.

Solon was outrebounded 20-15 in the first half while allowing 11 offensive rebounds but held a 15-14 edge in the second half behind nine second-half rebounds by Quillin.

“(Anna) scoring eight is like someone scoring 40 or 30,” Solon coach Jamie Smith said. “16 rebounds doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t realize it was that high but nothing surprises me with her with rebounding. She had some big rebounds in the third and fourth quarters.”

Solon never trailed on Tuesday but couldn’t put away Dubuque Wahlert (19-6) until the final few minutes.

The Spartans outscored Dubuque Wahlert 19-6 over the final 11 and a half minutes.

“I think we just stepped it up on defense and were pressuring them,” Miller said. “That is what helped us get the lead back.”

Senior Callie Levin had 15 of her game-high 20 points in the first half as Solon built a 34-29 lead.

The Spartans led 36-29 after Miller scored off a Levin assist 10 seconds into the second half.

Then came the Wahlert run.

The Golden Eagles used a 6-0 spurt capped by back-to-back baskets by Claire Lueken to tie the game at 39 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter.

“You look up and it’s 39-39 and it went by fast,” Levin said. “We had to recuperate and refocus on what we needed to do. We had to play tough defense and move the ball around more and we started to do that.”

Quillin’s putback bucket with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter gave Solon a 41-39 lead.

Miller capped the quarter with a corner 3-pointer that splashed through as the horn sounded.

“They were doubling Callie because they obviously thought she was going to shoot the ball,” Miller said. “Callie did a great job of kicking it to Delainey (Durr) and the defense slid over and Delainey kicked it to me and it just went off my hand right.”

Quillin scored in the paint to open the fourth quarter and just like that the Solon lead was back to 46-39 with 7:01 to play.

Solon held Wahlert scoreless for more than four and a half minutes during the 7-0 run to close the third and start the fourth quarters.

“They were on that run and we had to get stops,” Quillin said. “We had to stop their momentum and get ours going.”

Wahlert got as close as 48-43 on a Lueken turnaround with 5:27 but Solon closed the game on a 10-2 run.

“I don’t think we were phased,” Smith said. “We may have been tired but I don’t think we were phased.”

Levin led three Solon players in double figures with 20 points and had five rebounds and four assists.

Junior Kobi Lietz added 11 points for Solon which shot 41 percent from the floor.

“These kids think they can win the whole thing,” Smith said. “I think we can too and everybody is coming back Thursday thinking they can win it. Our kids didn’t want to go home today.”

Dubuque Wahlert            11  18  10   6   –  47

Solon                                     18  16  10  14  –  58         

Dubuque Wahlert (47) – Claire King 2-4 2-2 7, Olivia Donovan 6-12 1-2 13, Maria Freed 5-10 0-0 11, Ruth Tauber 0-3 0-0 0, Claire Lueken 7-18 0-0 15, Ana Rivera 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Sieverding 0-4 1-2 1, Julia Busch 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 20-51 4-6 47.

Solon (58) – Kobi Lietz 3-9 5-5 11, Hailey Miller 6-13 1-4 16, Mia Stahle 0-3 0-0 0, Anna Quillin 4-5 0-0 8, Callie Levin 7-18 4-6 20, Delainey Durr 1-3 0-0 3, Laney Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 21-51 10-15 58.

3-point field goals – SOL 6-21 (Lietz 0-2, Miller 3-7, Stahle 0-1, Levin 2-10, Durr 1-1), DW 3-15 (King 1-2, Donovan 0-1, Freed 1-5, Tauber 0-2, Lueken 1-4, Sieverding 0-1). Rebounds – SOL 30 (Quillin 16), DW 34 (Donovan 11). Assists – SOL 8 (Levin 4), DW 7 (Donovan 2). Turnovers – SOL 11, DW 18. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.