What a wild sequence.

An Iowa high school basketball player stole the show on Thursday with a crazy sequence to beat Norwalk in the first Class 4A semifinal at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Tournament.

Ava Smid, a sophomore center of Dallas Center-Grimes, starred in a wild moment with 32 seconds left in regulation, scoring four unanswered points to turn a two-point deficit into a two-point lead for her squad. She hit a layup from a baseline inbound. Right after, she stole the inbound and scored with another layup.

Her opponents didn’t take care of the ball, and Smid stole the inbound again, making another layup to turn the game around.


In 14 seconds, Smid gave her team the first lead of the game, 44-42. They ended up winning 47-42 after the Dallas Center-Grimes center put up a show. The Mustangs close out the game at the free-throw line with a technical foul.

Ava Smid Explains Mindset Before Incredible Sequence To Beat Norwalk

Ava Smid. Ava Smid. Credit: Sean Cordy/Special to Dallas County News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dallas Center-Grimes only led for just 21 seconds. They only needed a third of a minute to win their matchup, with Smid having a strong performance. The Mustangs outscored Norwalk 19-11 in the fourth quarter, with Smid scoring eight in the final period.

“I was just guarding,” Smid said after the game, via The Des Moines Register. “You don’t want them to get the ball inbounds, and I was able to get some deflections and some steals, and I was able to translate them to buckets.”


Ava Smid scored a team-leading 16 points. The Mustangs will compete for the Class 4A state championship on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.