Des Moines, Iowa — Unity Christian has quite a sister act going.
Gracie Schoonhoven scored 24 points and her sister Janie had 23 to lead third ranked Unity Christian past Roland-Story 70-42 to complete the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A tournament.
Gracie, a sophomore, made 10 of 14 shots, grabbed four rebounds, handed out five assists and made four steals. She got several baskets by driving through Roland-Story’s zone defense and a couple of others after steals. Janie, a senior, shot 10-for-19 and collected 10 rebounds for a double-double. She added an assist and a steal for good measure.
That combination was too much for Roland-Story, which knocked down 8 of 10 shots in taking a 21-20 lead after one quarter but could not maintain that pace. Unity outscored the Norsemen 50-21 over the final three quarters and held them to six field goals in that span.
Jenna Bouma added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Knights, who moved the ball with crisp passes and crashed the boards when they missed shots. Twenty-two of their 42 rebounds came on the offensive end, helping Unity to a 22-2 advantage on second-chance points.
Reagan Barkema led eighth-ranked Roland-Story with 14 points and five rebounds. She went 5-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Madison Martindale added eight points and six rebounds for the Norsemen, who lost for just the second time in their last 15 games and finished 17-5.
Unity Christian won state titles in 2015 and 2016 and is looking like a championship contender again. The Knights have won 12 straight and will play second-ranked Clear Lake in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Thursday
