Solon tops Dubuque Wahlert to clinch spot in Class 3A Iowa state semifinals

The Solon girls basketball team walked into Wells Fargo for their 2024 state tournament debut on Tuesday and were faced with a familiar foe: Dubuque Wahlert, the 6-seed in Class 3A.

It was a rematch of last season's Class 3A state quarterfinal game and the result was the same. The Spartans (22-3) secured a 58-47 win over the Golden Eagles (19-6) to clinch a spot in Thursday's state semifinals.

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"It's an awesome feeling. This group of girls, I love them. They're amazing," said Solon senior Hailey Miller. "I'm going to miss it so much next year, so we know not to take anything for granted this year because (the seniors are) not going to get this opportunity next year."

Following a back-and-forth first quarter, the Spartans were able to get the upper hand in the second quarter. After a 3-pointer by the Golden Eagles cut Solon’s lead to just three points, the Spartans quickly responded with their own buckets from behind the arc.

Callie Levin answered with back-to-back 3-pointers then Miller contributed with her own 3-point bucket make to give the Spartans a 12-point lead. But the Golden Eagles clawed their way back, making it 34-29 at halftime.

A Levin pass to Miller started the scoring in the third quarter, but the Spartans went through a short dry spell soon after and the Golden Eagles capitalized. Wahlert was able to tie the score at 39 midway through the third quarter.

The message to Solon was simple: to grab more rebounds.

"We took a timeout and Coach (Jamie) Smith, he just railed into us, ' We got to get more boards," Levin said. "At halftime, he pushed on us. 'We got to get more boards' and that's what we did."

Anna Quillin--who finished the game with 16 rebounds-- heard her coach's plea and delivered. On the next possession, she scored a putback bucket to break the tie. With time expiring in the third quarter, Miller set her on the right corner and drained a 3-pointer that gave the Spartans a five-point lead.

It proved to be what Solon needed heading into the fourth quarter.

"I just felt like I needed to shoot that. I was open and it felt good," Miller said. "It was just awesome getting that as momentum in the fourth quarter."

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The Spartans pressed on the gas in the final frame, with help from Levin's scoring and great defense down the stretch. After the Golden Eagles called a timeout at the 3:30 mark, junior Kobi Lietz grabbed a steal and it led to a Quillin putback at the opposite end.

The Spartans had three starters score in double digits. Levin finished with a team-high 20 points and four assists. Miller tallied 16 points while Lietz finished with 11 points.

"They're a good team, like I've told everybody since the pairings came out that I thought that that was a team who could win a state title," said coach Jamie Smith. "We had to dig deep...we had to find something we didn't know we had.

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We're happy to be here and excited, something you'll remember forever, but if we don't win (state), it'll be a little bit of a letdown."

The Spartans will face second-ranked Des Moines Christian (24-1) in the Class 3A state semifinals on Thursday. That game is slated to tip off at 3:15 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Solon girls basketball earns trip to Iowa state Class 3A semifinals