West High sophomore Patrick McCafferyBy Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The consensus from West High players was that the Trojans got better on Monday night against Keokuk.

Considering how good the Trojans have been in their opening two games that’s a frightening thought for future opponents.

Class 4A top-ranked West High followed up a 30-point win over Marian Catholic (Illinois) in its season opener with an 84-34 victory over Keokuk (0-2) in a non-conference contest on Monday at West High.

“I think we got better tonight,” West High senior Connor McCaffery said. “I think any time, whether it’s practice or a game, regardless of the opponent and the drill there are ways to get better.”

Connor McCaffery led four players in double figures with a game-high 19 points as West High shot 53 percent from the floor.

Devontae Lane added 14 points and Patrick McCaffery had 13 points and seven rebounds as West High improved to 2-0 with a second straight lopsided win.

“I think the main things is games like this is just trying to keep focused,” Patrick McCaffery said. “We wanted to make sure we kept a level head and just played our game.”

Patrick McCaffery had seven of his 13 points in the opening quarter with six coming on a trio of impressive dunks.

The parade of dunks by Patrick McCaffery started with a one-handed tip dunk off miss by brother Connor.

Just 20 seconds later Patrick McCaffery threw down a two-handed slam in transition that put West High up 9-3 less than four minutes into the game.

The third dunk of the quarter by McCaffery, a one-handed flush on a fast break gave the Trojans a 14-5 lead with 2:50 left in the opening quarter.

“I thought we came out with a lot of energy,” West High coach Steve Bergman said. “We did not run early the last game so we wanted to run and I thought we did that.”

West High led 22-9 after the opening quarter and put the game out of reach in the second quarter, outscoring Keokuk 21-3 to take a 43-12 halftime lead.

The Trojans opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run that started with back-to-back 3-pointers by Connor McCaffery and sophomore Dante Eldridge.

“Coach really wants us to develop that killer instinct to put teams away,” Patrick McCaffery said. “That’s what we’ve done the past two games and I’m proud of our team.”

Senior Nate Disterhoft added 10 points for West High, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the 43-point first half.

Junior Seybian Sims added nine points and six rebounds while Jake Anderson came off the bench to added six points.

“I’m hoping we become deeper,” Bergman said. “They are going to get opportunities and whether they take advantage of them or not it’s up to them.”

Everyone in a West High uniform saw action on Monday as the running clock was in effect for the entire second half.

“I think some of the new guys that really have no experience I thought they looked a lot more comfortable coming out tonight,” Connor McCaffery said. “These are the types of games where those guys can get settled in and then that’s when they feel comfortable enough to play in the big games because they are talented enough.”

West High      22 21 23 18 – 84
Keokuk           9   3  14  8  – 34

West High (84) – Devontae Lane 5-7 4-4 14, Evan Flitz 1-4 0-0 2, Seybian Sims 4-5 1-2 9, Jake Anderson 3-6 0-0 6, Nate Disterhoft 4-6 0-1 10, Patrick McCaffery 5-7 3-4 13, Connor McCaffery 6-14 4-6 19, Dante Eldridge 1-3 0-0 3, Izaya Ono-Fullard 0-1 0-0 0, Mulhim Nasr 2-2 0-0 4, Raijad Lee 0-2 0-0 0, Marsean Rhodes 0-0 0-2 0, Timothy Hillberry 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Van Roekel 2-4 0-0 4, Team 33-62 13-19 84.

Keokuk (34) – Brendan Plate 0-8 0-0 0, Gavin Thompson 3-4 0-0 7, Tristan Kirk 0-1 0-0 0, Damon Wolter 4-12 0-0 8, Eddie Lee 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Anthony Moody 2-8 0-0 4, Komonnie Moody 1-2 0-0 2, Nick Huston 0-1 0-0 0, Isaac Dunlap 5-11 3-5 13, Team 15-50 3-5 34.

3-point field goals – ICW 5-18 (Lane 0-1, Flitz 0-2, Anderson 0-2, Disterhoft 2-2, P. McCaffery 0-1, C. McCaffery 2-6, Eldridge 1-2, Ono-Fullard 0-1, Lee 0-1) KEO 1-13 (Plate 0-4, Thompson 1-1, Kirk 0-1, Lee 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Wolter 0-3). Rebounds – ICW 39 (P. McCaffery 7) KEO (Moody 7). Turnovers – ICW 7, KEO 20. Total fouls – ICW 8, KEO 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.