Number 3 seed DCG girls basketball fought their tails off in Class 4A semifinals action Thursday night in Des Moines, fighting tooth and nail with the Ballard Bombers before falling short 32-26. DCG concludes their season at 21-3 while Ballard moves to the state championship game at 23-1.

In a low scoring defensive battle, both teams slowed down the pace of the game for the majority of the night. Ballard lead 10-2 after one quarter but DCG was strong in the second to trim the lead 15-12. The third quarter, the Mustangs played great, grabbing the lead for the first time on the night, and got a big three late in the third from freshmen Vanessa Bickford to give them a 24-20 lead going into the fourth.

DCG tried to melt clock but couldn’t get buckets to go, and Ballard got a three to trim it to one and then a bucket to take the lead 25-24 with under 5 minutes to go. DCG couldn’t score for the quarter until under a minute to go, as Ballard was able to get stops down the stretch and hit free throws as well.

Sophomore Emma Miner lead the Mustangs with nine points as this team reached the furthest in state playoffs in program history. They will graduate three key players in Julia Reis, Lexi Protzman, and Kylie Merical, all who put together great careers in the DCG uniform.