STATE CHAMPS: St. Albert Claims 1st Girls’ BB Title w/ 2OT Win over Newell-Fonda, 61-58

St. Albert Coach Dick Wettengel (3-8-25)

St. Albert's Avah Underwood (3-8-25)

St. Albert's Molly Wise
(3-8-25)

St. Albert's Ellie Monahan
(3-8-25)

St. Albert's Eleanor Coughlin
(3-8-25)

STATE CHAMPS: St. Albert Claims 1st Girls’ BB Title w/ 2OT Win over Newell-Fonda, 61-58 -

(3-8-25) – The Saintes marched out of the Well having achieved their season goal… a State Championship.

St. Albert battled their way to 61-58 double overtime victory over Newell-Fonda in Class 1A Girls’ State Basketball Championship game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Saturday in a game that was a classic.

Neither team scored in the 2nd overtime until Molly Wise hit a 3-ptr with 1:04 left.

“Coach (Dick Wettengel) was telling us that we need to wait for a good shot opportunity and right when I saw that, I knew that was a good opportunity and that my teammates would trust me with that shot,” said Wise following the game.

Ellie Monahan came up with a key block with :03 seconds left to cap off the victory. The senior goes out as a champion.

“We knew going into the game we were gonna do it for each other and gonna do it for all of our coaches and Coach Wettengel’s first girls’ State Title. We were like, ‘Let's go!’ and I wouldn't want it to end any other way and I wouldn't want to do with any other team.”

Sophomore Eleanor Coughlin tied the game in regulation with :09 seconds left and send the game in overtime. She echoed Monahan’s sentiment about winning a state title.

“It means so much. Honestly, we do it for each other. We work every day in practice because we have such a good bond as a team and we do it for our coach.”

The Saintes Avah Underwood had a double double-double with 20 pts and 24 reb. She said her and her teammates left it all on the floor.

“We just went out there and told ourselves we need to do everything we could. We need to leave it all out on the floor. It’s the last game of the season and that's really what we did tonight.”
St. Albert had an 8-pt lead after starting the 2nd qtr on a 6-0 run, but Newell-Fonda immediately responded with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 1.

Saintes were able to win the game on the boards again, outrebounded the Mustangs 53 to 40. For the tournament, St. Albert outrebounded their opponents 132 to 102.

It’s the first championship for Wettengel, as his team used their season theme and “rode the wave” to victory.

“It was a great philosophy for us this year. You know, that was a great theme. Just fit us perfect, the way our team played, the style that we played.

“That’s our team philosophy. Just a great effort by everybody.”

The Mustangs got 22 points from Kinzee Hinders. Newell-Fonda finishes 2nd in 1A for a 3rd consecutive season.

Saint Albert finishes their championship season 25-1.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats