DES MOINES — It was hard for players like Myah Mellman and Jadda Buckley to put into words what had just transpired.
“I can’t even describe how great of a feeling it is,” Mellman said.
For Mason City High, this was close to perfection.
In 5-player games at the state girls basketball tournament, no team has ever shot the ball like this from the 3-point line.
The second-seeded Mohawks connected on a tournament record 14 3-pointers and won their first state tournament game in school history thanks to a lethal shooting performance in a 72-53 win over seventh-seeded Iowa City West on Wednesday night inside Wells Fargo Arena.
Six players made at least one three-pointer with Mellman’s team-high five and team-best 25 points leading the way.
It was one of those magical nights for a Mason City team that exorcised past disappointments to reach a Class 5A semifinal round that features four teams from the CIML. Mason City plays West Des Moines Dowling, an overtime winner over Des Moines East, at 11:45 a.m. Friday.
Mason City connected on 14 of 22 shots from beyond the arc, ripping past the old state record of 12 made 3s set by Cedar Falls in 1998.
“I knew we had 14, but I didn’t know we set a record,” Buckley beamed in postgame interviews. “That’s awesome. Good for us.”
It was good for Mason City (21-3) and bad for an Iowa City West team that was led by Ally Disterhoft’s 31 points on 12 of 23 shooting.
Things were so good for the Mohawks that Mellman, who had two made 3-pointers wiped out due to traveling calls, could laugh about those calls.
Mason City set a school record of 15 made 3-pointers in a game at Johnston in December.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” senior Cortni Rush said. “It was insane. We are known for our shooting. We are just going to come down here and shoot.”
It wasn’t just shooting, it was about burying shots for a Mason City team that blistered the nets at a 63.6-percent clip from deep.
It was a 3-point onslaught from the start. The only question was how many treys the second-seeded Mohawks would hit.
Mason City was 10 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half and the lead was 40-27 at the half.
In those opening 16 minutes, Buckley was fantastic as she scored all 16 of her points and was 4 of 4 from 3-point range. She finished with 16 points, seven assists and four steals.
The final tally for made 3-pointers read like this: Mellman 5, Buckley 4, Allison Scott 2, Morgan Vorba 1, Makenzie Meyer 1, Rush 1.
Vorba’s three in the third quarter tied the state record before Mellman connected from the corner with 2 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter to break the mark that had stood for 15 years and pushed Mason City’s lead to 53-40.
Had Disterhoft, an Iowa recruit, ever seen a team shoot like this?
“Not that I can think of,” she said.
A performance like this wasn’t exactly a surprise to Mason City coach Curt Klaahsen.
He’s witnesses the shooting prowess of this team every day in practice. On Wednesday, it was on full display on the state’s biggest stage. Mason City had a Class 5A best 175 made 3-pointers entering Wednesday.
“Once the first couple went in you could see our kids had confidence,” Klaahsen said. “I thought warming up and before the game we were loose and relaxed.”
Rush’s 3-pointer early in the second quarter pushed Mason City’s lead to 10 at 25-15. It stayed at double digits from that point on.
“We were ready to go,” Mellman said. “We’ve been ready to go. You could tell we’ve been focused.”
A spot in the Class 5A finals is on the line Friday when Mason City plays Dowling. The Mohawks won at Dowling 58-52 in the final game of the regular season.
Dowling used a 3-pointer at the end of regulation from Audrey Faber to force overtime before beating Des Moines East 47-41 on Wednesday.
For Mason City, this made up for the disappointment of being one- and-done at the state tournament the past two seasons.
“Everyone is like, ‘Mason City curse. We can’t get past the first round.’ We got past it,” Buckley said. “Now it’s no school Friday, the crowd was chanting that. We are so excited right now, couldn’t be happier.”
MASON CITY 72, IOWA CITY WEST 53
Iowa City West 13 14 17 9 — 53
Mason City 22 18 15 17 — 72
IOWA CITY WEST — Ally Disterhoft 12-23 6-7 31, Laynie Whitehead 1-2 0-0 2, DanI Craig 4-11 0-0 10, Lauren Larson 1-1 0-0 2, Mikaela Morgan 2-2 1-2 5, Grace Tafolla 1-2 0-0 3, Mollie Mason 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Fairfield 0-1 0-0 0. Totals — 21-43 7-9 11 53.
3-point goals (4-15): Disterhoft 1-6, Craig 2-6, Morgan 1-2.
MASON CITY — Morgan Vorba 1-2 0-0 3, Jadda Buckley 6-10 0-0 16, Makenzie Meyer 3-6 0-2 7, Myah Mellman 6-10 8-8 25, Cortni Rush 2-8 2-2 7, Tricia Notermann 0-0 0-0 0, Kendall Cornick 1-1 0-0 2, McKenna Whitehill 0-0 0-0 0, Nicolle Hewett 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Scott 2-4 2-2 8, Rachel Danielson 0-0 0-0 0, Mari Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Marci Wolters 0-1 0-0 0, Lexy Pederson 1-2 0-0 2, Molli Koehler 1-1 0-0 2. Totals — 23-45 12-14 15 72.
3-point goals (14-22): Vorba 1-1, Buckley 4-5, Meyer 1-3, Mellman 5-8, Rush 1-1, Scott 2-4.
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