DES MOINES -- Iowa City West found its long-range shooting touch just in time to turn back its biggest rival.

The second-ranked Women of Troy hit six 3-pointers during a key five-minute stretch in the second half and held on to beat No. 7 Iowa City High 55-52 in a first-round Class 4A game at Wells Fargo Arena.

West defeated City High by margins of eight and 15 points during the regular season, but this one wasn't decided until West's Ally Disterhoft blocked City High's final 3-point shot just before the buzzer.

Tatum Klein led West with 18 points, including three huge 3-pointers to help her team get the lead for good. Mckenzie Piper added 12 points for West, Brianna Sturtz scored 10 and Disterhoft finished with seven points, six rebounds and five blocks. (Boxscore)

City High got 12 points from Kiera Washpun and 11 each from Mickey Hansche and Haley Lorenzen. Sierra Chambers contributed eight points, nine rebounds and four blocks for the Little Hawks, while Washpun made four steals.

West struggled from the perimeter against City High's zone defense until Klein started connecting late in the third quarter. She buried a 3 from the left corner to erase City High's 34-33 lead, knocked down a 3 from the right corner to break a 36-36 tie, then hit another 3 at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 44-36, which turned out to be enough of a cushion for the Women of Troy to move on.

Disterhoft, Sturtz and Piper later hit 3-pointers to keep the Women of Troy ahead. Six of their last seven field goals came from behind the arc.

Lorenzen hit a turnaround shot to pull City High to 53-51, and her free throw with 17.6 seconds left cut the lead to 53-52. But Sturtz sank both ends of a 1-and-1 after rebounding Klein's missed free throw, meaning City High had to try a 3-pointer. Disterhoft leaped to knock it away and the Women of Troy had their victory.

West, the state runner-up last year, will take a 23-1 record into a semifinal game against Waukee at noon on Friday. City High finished 17-7.

WAUKEE 49, MASON CITY 47 -- Amy Nestingen's only basket of the second half was the biggest of the game for Waukee.

Nestingen drove down the right side of the lane and banked in a layup just before the buzzer to give sixth-ranked Waukee a victory over No. 3 Mason City.

Waukee fell behind by nine points at halftime, rallied to take a four-point lead, then fell behind by five before making its final charge. The Warriors improved to 20-5 and will play No. 2 Iowa City West in a semifinal game at noon on Friday. Mason City, which beat Waukee 63-53 during the regular season, finished 21-3.

Mason City tied the score at 47 on Jadda Buckley's two free throws with 39.2 seconds left and got the ball back when Waukee lost it out of bounds. But the Mohawks turned it over with 11.1 seconds remaining, just enough time for the Warriors to bring the ball up the floor and get it to Nestingen for the game-winner.

Her bucket capped a hot-shooting second half for the Warriors, who were 13-of-14 in the half, or 93 percent.

Britney Boland led Waukee with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Megan Shryack scored 10 points, Megan Goodson eight and Nestingen seven. Nestingen made her only two field goal attempts and led the Warriors with seven rebounds. (Boxscore)

Buckley, a junior guard who has committed to Iowa State, led Mason City with 21 points and five assists and Cortni Rush scored 16.

Waukee used runs of 6-0 and 12-2 to rally from a 27-18 halftime deficit and take a 40-36 lead early in the fourth quarter. Mason City came right back with a 9-0 burst that Rush capped with a steal and layup, giving the Mohawks a 45-40 lead with 5:52 left. But Waukee held Mason City without a field goal the rest of the way and pulled out the victory in its fifth straight state tournament appearance.

SOUTHEAST POLK 56, AMES 37 -- Top-ranked Southeast Polk is on its way to the Class 4A semifinals and a showdown with the only team that beat the Rams this season.

Southeast Polk held unranked Ames to just two field goals in the first half and cruised to a victory to complete the opening round of the 2012 tournament. It was the second victory over Ames this season for the Rams, who'll take a 24-1 record against fourth-ranked Ankeny in a semifinal game at 1:45 p.m. Friday.

Ankeny beat Southeast Polk 33-29 at midseason, a loss the Rams avenged with a 55-31 victory in the regular-season finale.

Southeast Polk had good balance against Ames, getting 12 points from Whitney VanWyk, 11 from Megan Bianchi and 10 from Caitlin Ingle. Ingle also notched five assists with some alert passing, while VanWyk grabbed six rebounds and knocked down a couple of 3-pointers. (Boxscore)

Jenna Power's 12 points led Ames, which made the tournament for the fifth time in seven years. Shaya Kellogg added eight points and nine rebounds and Cheyenne Pritchard scored seven for the Little Cyclones, who finished 16-8 in a season that included victories over Ankeny and another state tournament qualifier, Waukee.

Southeast Polk hit Ames with a 17-0 run in the first half to open a 23-4 lead and was in control the rest of the way. The Rams led 25-11 at halftime and increased their lead to 20 when VanWyk hit a 3-pointer from the left corner midway through the third quarter.

Ames fought back with a 12-2 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Power to cut the lead to 37-27 at the start of the fourth quarter. But the Rams scored seven of the next eight points to stretch the lead to 44-28 and end the Little Cyclones' comeback hopes.