—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Bishop Garrigan’s Audi Crooks shoots over Martensdale St. Mary’s Skylyr Stewart in a Class 1A quarterfinal on Wednesday inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

DES MOINES — Audi Crooks flashed a sheepish grin when someone asked about her statline following Bishop Garrigan’s Class 1A girls state quarterfinal win on Wednesday night.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know I had a (double-double),” the striking Golden Bear freshman said following her 25-point, 14-rebound debut inside Wells Fargo Arena.

Garrigan had just posted a 55-40 victory over Martensdale St. Mary’s, and as was the case during the game, everyone seemed to flock to the 6-foot-3 post talent in the media room afterward.

“How many points do you think you had?” one reporter asked.

“I don’t know. About twenty?” Crooks responded.

“And rebounds?”

“I’d say like nine?” Crooks guessed.

She shrugged off both the questions and the attention. The daughter of 1985 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Jimmie Crooks and former Golden Bear standout Michelle (Vitzthum) Cook may stand out in a crowd both on and off the court, but she quickly shifted the attention away from herself and toward her squad.

“I feel like we have unlimited potential,” Crooks said. “It’s not about me. I’ll score if I need to, but I’m not worried about the points or the shots. Knowing that the program was here two years ago but didn’t make it (to the semifinals), this is a big step for us.

“I think that (on any given night), we can go toe-to-toe with anyone.”

Garrigan (24-1 overall) dominated in the paint accordingly, scoring 34 of its 55 points from that coveted area. With Crooks towering over her opponents — the overmatched Blue Devils (18-9) didn’t have a single player taller than 5-8 — the Golden Bears held a 38-28 advantage on the glass and pulled away after sputtering out of the gates.

“It took a little while, but once we got our nerves out, we (settled into a rhythm),” said junior Kaylyn Meyers, who started as a freshman at state two years ago and contributed 12 points and five assists on Wednesday. “I think that helped us both for now and when we get into the semifinals on Friday — just to get calmed down and used to the environment again.”

Garrigan and MSM played to a 12-12 draw in the first quarter, but the Bears went up 26-17 by halftime and never looked back. Crooks — whose aunt, Barb Crooks, was a first team all-state selection for the Dodgers in 1989 — had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, as Garrigan held a 16-8 point advantage in the paint and an 8-2 edge on second-chance points.

The Golden Bears also held a 9-2 cushion in points off turnovers during the opening 16 minutes, as the team committed only four turnovers while coming up with five steals defensively.

“I think we started to move the ball better after (the first quarter),” Garrigan head coach Brandon Schwab said. “We were one pass and done early on, but we made the adjustments and did a better job of working to find a better look from that point on.

“With Audi, it’s not just the scoring and rebounding. She’s one of our defensive catalysts, and is great at communicating with her teammates. I thought Kaylyn Meyers really stepped up in the high post, too. We’re trying to concentrate ourselves and focus on what we can control down here.”

Senior Katie Noonan pulled down 11 rebounds of her own in the win. Jensen Archibald led the Blue Devils with 14 points, but it took her 23 shots to get there. Anna Parrott finished with 12 points and 12 boards for MSM.

The Golden Bears will now meet second-seeded Bellevue Marquette (24-1) on Friday at 3:15 p.m. A win could potentially set up an all-Messenger area final, as top-ranked Newell-Fonda (25-0) advanced into the other semifinal earlier Wednesday.

BISHOP GARRIGAN 55, MARTENSDALE ST. MARY’S 40

Bishop Garrigan — Audi Crooks 11-19 3-6 25, Kaylyn Meyers 6-15 0-0 12, Katie Noonan 2-3 0-0 6, Molly Joyce 2-12 0-0 4, Madison Meister 1-3 1-4 3, Gracie Elsbecker 1-2 0-0 3, Anna Berke 0-0 2-2 2, Kelly Baade 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Fogarty 0-0 0-0 0, Reese Rosenmeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Meredith Tigges 0-0 0-0 0, Ashlyn Hovey 0-0 0-0 0, Ella Muller 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-56 6-12 55.

Martensdale St. Mary’s — Jensen Archibald 7-23 0-0 14, Anna Parrott 5-7 2-5 12, Skylyr Stewart 3-6 0-0 9, Jackie Kleve 1-3 0-0 3, Maddy Scott 1-7 0-0 2, Kylie Keller 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Hart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-47 2-5 40.

Quarter scores: Tied 12-12; Garrigan led 26-17, 45-34. Three-point goals: Garrigan 3-13 (Noonan 2-3, Elsbecker 1-2, Joyce 0-4, Meyers 0-2, Meister 0-1, Baade 0-1); MSM 4-11 (Stewart 3-4, Kleve 1-3, Stott 0-2, Archibald 0-2). Turnovers: Garrigan 12, MSM 16. Total rebounds: Garrigan 38 Crooks (14), MSM 28 (Parrott 12). Assists: Garrigan 11 (Meyers 5), MSM 10 (Stott 4). Steals: Garrigan 8 (Meister 3), MSM 4 (Stott, Parrott 2). Total fouls: Garrigan 12, MSM 8. Points in the paint: Garrigan 34, MSM 22. Second-chance points: Garrigan 15, MSM 10. Points off turnovers: Garrigan 16, MSM 4.