Johnston women’s basketball coach Chad Jilek broached the idea of an undefeated season to his team during their first practice in November.
Jilek saw the team he came back from a season ago and the work they did in the offseason. He told his players that a historic season could be on the horizon if they put in the effort.
“You have to work hard by the end of the season to make it happen, but we are good enough to do it,” Jilek told his team.
The Dragons got to work. And Jilek’s prediction came true.
Johnston ended his undefeated season on Friday with a 51-31 win over Waterloo West in the Class 5A State Championship game at Wells Fargo Arena. Johnston finished 26-0, the first undefeated campaign for a 5A school since the class celebrated its first state champion in 2013.
“It’s a bit of a burden on my shoulders,” Jilek said. “Expectations have grown bigger and bigger.”
The Dragons have now won two of the last three 5A titles. They made it through the regular season and the playoffs without a problem. Johnston is the first Iowa team to complete a perfect season since Class 1A Newell-Fonda went 27-0 in 2020. The last major school to accomplish the feat was Des Moines East in 2011, when there were four classes.
“I definitely knew we had the potential to do it,” Johnston’s Anna Gossling said.
The Dragons have been in the news since last year’s tournament. This ended with the Dragons falling to Waukee 71-43 in the championship game. Despite the sour end, there were high hopes for Johnston as he returned the majority of his roster, including Iowa rookie Jada Gyamfi and Iowa State rookie Aili Tanke. Gossling is a Grand View rookie and Zoey Buchan will play at Wisconsin-River Falls.
Jilek said his assistant coaches broached the idea of a perfect season shortly after the loss to Waukee in the 2021 Finals. Jilek was convinced when he saw his players’ work in the offseason . Instead of running away from high expectations, he faced them head-on in that first practice. The whole team joined.
“They didn’t really have a reaction because I think they just knew,” Jilek said.
The Dragons played with confidence throughout the season and their dominance only grew. Johnston defeated Dowling Catholic in the state quarterfinals and then Pleasant Valley in the semifinals. The final wasn’t really a challenge either. There was a brief scare when Waterloo West came on at half-time just four points behind. But it was as close as possible.
Johnston used a 13-0 run to take a 37-20 lead. Tanke, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds, connected a pair of 3-pointers on the run. From there, the rout was open. Waterloo West finished the quarter with just one field goal and was outscored 16-2. Sahara Williams scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Waterloo West, but it wasn’t enough.
“We played a really good first half and weathered the storm but it just slipped away from us in the second half,” said Waterloo West coach Anthony Pappas.
This was a problem that many opponents faced. Waterloo West shot just 26.2 percent (11 for 42) from the field and 18.2 percent (2 of 11) from 3-point range. By the end of the third quarter, Johnston was well on his way to celebrating his championship.
“We left the state tournament last year embarrassed and motivated,” Gyamfi said. “I think everyone thought about this this year: we’re not going to go this far just to lose. We came and I think we definitely got our revenge.
And made history along the way.
“They showed they were the best team,” Pappas said.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports entrepreneur and featured reporter, has worked at the newspaper since 2008. He is Iowa’s 2018 and 2020 Sports Writer of the Year. Join it at [email protected] or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.
