The Indianola Indians girls basketball team survived a pulse pounding final play to upset #2 Cedar Falls and advance to the class 5A state semifinal game 64-63.

Indianola fell down big early, down 25-11 at the end of the first quarter, and saw the lead to balloon to 17 at one point in the second, but battled back on a late run just before halftime to trail 29-38 going into the break. The Indians made a concerted effort to drive to the hoop in the second half, as well as switch up their defenses constantly, and it worked to the tune of outscoring the Tigers 18-10 to make it a one point contest heading into the fourth.

The teams swapped the lead back and forth before the Indians gained a one point advantage heading into the final play, when the Tigers missed a game-winning turnaround shot. Maggie McGraw and Grace Berg put up 28 and 27 points respectively, and the team as a whole shot an astounding 21/21 from the free throw line. Assistant coach Ken Bean told KNIA/KRLS Sports he thinks the team’s ability to focus on their task was they key to their perfection at the foul stripe.

The Indians now move on to the state semifinal game where they will face six-seeded Iowa City West, who upset Dowling Catholic in the quarterfinals.