Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Seybian Sims is more than halfway through his senior year at West High School and still doesn’t know how it feels to lose a basketball game at home.

The Class 4A top-ranked Trojans pounded rival City High 80-47 on Tuesday to extend their home winning streak to 80 games, which is the longest in state history for any class.

“That’s definitely not on us,” Sims said. “I want to say that’s on years past. It definitely helps with the two seasons when they went 26-0. We’re just getting it for those guys, pretty much.”

West High improved to 12-1 overall and 9-1 in the Mississippi Valley Conference, while City High fell to 3-10 and 2-7.

West High also has won 20 of the last 22 games against the Little Hawks.

“It’s a good rivalry game,” said Sims, a 6-foot-7 power forward. “When we get those wins, it definitely feels good.”

There was little doubt that West High would prevail on Tuesday after it bolted to a 14-3 lead and then led 40-19 at halftime.

West High simply had too much size, too much depth and too much experience to be denied.

Sims and 6-foot-8 small forward Patrick McCaffery led three West High players in double figures with 22 points, while junior point guard Dante Eldridge scored 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Eldridge also made three of West High’s six 3-point baskets.

West High coach Steve Bergman was proud and relieved to finally have set the record for the longest winning streak at home. Bergman demands a lot from his players and he doesn’t just hand out compliments without them being earned.

But he also knows how difficult it is to win 80 consecutive home games, especially in Class 4A

“Because of Twitter and all that, it’s kind of out there,” said Bergman, who grew up in Grundy Center. “For me, I just wanted it to be done. So it’s done.

“For me, I grew up in a 1A town. But I just think in 4A it’s amazing.”

Sims showed a nice shooting touch in Tuesday’s game, making 6-of-9 field-goal attempts, including one 3-point basket. He also made 9-of-10 free throw attempts.

“In practice, I shoot a decent amount (from the perimeter), to be honest, but I don’t usually do it in games because I’m shooting like 80 percent in the paint,” Sims said. “So there is no reason for me to go outside when we have other guys that can shoot.

“So I’m just trying more and more to show what I can do.”

Bergman has known for a while that Sims could shoot from the perimeter. Sims didn’t have to take perimeter shots last season because West High was led by star senior guards Connor McCaffery and Devontae Lane, and they took most of the perimeter shots.

But they have since moved on to college, leaving more opportunities for Sims to show his shooting prowess.

“He’s always had that, but with the kids we had last year there just wasn’t really a point,” Bergman said. “He can shoot. We do these shooting drills every day and we keep score every day and he hangs in there with the guys who do shoot it pretty well.”

Bergman said a number of factors have contributed to the winning streak, including luck.

“I can think of five or six times where we’re losing, and of course, I wasn’t thinking about the streak, I was just thinking about losing,” Bergman said. “Somehow, we figured out a way to win those really tight games.

“I don’t know that we have the most intimidating gym to play in. So I think it says a lot about the players.”

City High     8  11 16 12 – 47

West High   21 19 22 18 – 80

City High (47) – Keyshawn Christian 3-8 0-0 6, Ryland Threlkeld-Wiegand 2-6 0-0 5, DeAngelo McNeil 2-4 1-2 5, Antonio Turner 3-9 3-5 10, Luke Young 1-4 0-0 2, Carter Westlake 1-2 0-0 3, Malik Kimber 0-3 0-0 0, Jeremie Kambomba 5-6 0-0 10, Byron Benton 2-5 0-1 4, Liam McComas 0-0- 0-0 0, Jason Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Quincy Wells 1-1 0-0 2, Wyatt Streeby 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 4-8 47.

West High (80) – Patrick McCaffery 8-13 5-9 22, Seybian Sims 6-9 9-10 22, Dadrian Hoambrecker 4-9 0-2 8, Dante Eldridge 7-8 1-1 18, Evan Flitz 0-3 0-0 0, Jake Anderson 1-2 0-0 2, Jayson Barnes 1-1 0-0 3, Brayden Adcock 0-4 0-0 0, Paul McGee 1-1 0-0 2, Jalen Gaudet 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Klein 0-0 0-0 0, Dashawn Willis 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Mabry 1-2 0-0 3, T.J. Hillberry 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-51 15-22 80.

3-point goals – City High 3 (Threlkeld-Wiegand, Turner, Westlake); West High 6 (Eldridge 3, McCaffery, Sims, Barnes, Mabry). Fouls – City High 17, West High 11. Fouled out – Kambomba.