By Mike Condon, Correspondent

MARION — State tournament appearances have been a way of life for Cedar Rapids Xavier girls basketball players.

The current crop of Saints seniors had never made the trip to Des Moines as players.

“We had this as a goal from the beginning of the season,” said Emily Walvoord, one of six seniors on the Saints roster. “We had never been and there was no way we wanted to end our careers without playing at state.”

Well, the Saints seniors will finish their careers at Wells Fargo Arena, but it didn’t come easily.

A short-handed Prairie team gave Xavier all it wanted, rallying from a 15-2 hole after losing sophomore sharpshooter Madison Dellamuth to a knee injury just 54 seconds into the contest. The Hawks eventually tied the game early in the fourth quarter, but faded down the stretch as the Saints prevailed, 50-43, in a Class 4A regional final Tuesday night at Linn-Mar High School.

No. 5 Xavier (18-5) advances to meet Ankeny (20-3) in a quarterfinal game at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 29.

Prairie closes its season at 12-10.

As his players celebrated the win, Saints Coach Tom Lilly heaped praise on Prairie. The Hawks had to adjust on the fly after Dellamuth went down clutching her knee after driving to the basket, There was no contact on the play. She was helped from the court and returned to watch the second half with a brace on her leg. Prairie Coach Steve Doser said Dellamuth suffered an MCL injury and the extent of the injury would be determined Wednesday.

“Prairie’s kids chose to battle rather than feel sorry for themselves,” Lilly said. “I knew Steve wasn’t going to let them fall by the wayside. It was a tough game for us.”

The Saints took advantage of Dellamuth’s injury early, jumping out to a 15-2 lead after eight minutes. With Dellamuth out, the Hawks turned to Courteney McCrary, who scored 10 points, including a pair of 3-point shots as Prairie cut the gap to 19-14 at halftime.

“We got away from we did in the first quarter,” Lilly said. “We missed some chippies and (McCrary) put the team on her back in the second quarter.

Prairie kept chipping away, eventually tying the game at 33-33 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-point basket from Alisa Weiland. But two things were piling up for Prairie, fouls and fatigue. Xavier kept working the ball inside, scoring just enough from the field and the line to keep Prairie at bay.

Walvoord led the Saints with 13 points. Kayla Armstrong and Katlyn Andersen added 11 apiece. McCrary led Prairie with 15 points before fouling out late. Weiland added 11 and Cyerra Hutchins finished with 10.

“I’ve never been more proud of a team,” Doser said. “We lost our leader on the floor and they gave the best effort they could possibly give.”

C.R. XAVIER (50): Kayla Armstrong 5 1-5 11; Annie Dale 3 1-4 7; Katlyn Andersen 2 6-10 11; Emily Walvoord 6 1-4 13; Alex Bartz 0 0-0 0; Lisa Boomgarden 0 0-0 0; Sarah Dickes 1 0-1 3; Ashley Stulken 0 0-0 0; Nicole Noonan 0 0-0 0; Maddie Bortsch 2 1-2 5; Hayley Deutmeyer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 10-26 50.

C.R. PRAIRIE (43): Katilyn Yanecek 0 0-0 0; Cyerra Hutchins 3 4-7 10; Alisa Weiland 4 0-0 11; Courteney McCrary 6 1-2 15; Madison Dellamuth 0 0-0 0; Emilie Rotter 0 5-8 5; Chrisandra Freeman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 10-16 43.

Halftime: Xavier 19, Prairie 14. 3-point goals: Xavier 2 (Andersen, Dickes); Prairie 5 (Weiland 3, McCrary 2) Total fouls: Xavier 15, Prairie 19. Fouled out: McCreary. Technical fouls: none. Turnovers: Xavier: 16, Prairie 18.