Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – For the past three seasons Ashley Joens has been the focal point of nearly every opponents game plan.

Considering Joens ranks among the top players in the country commanding an extra defender or sometimes too makes a lot of sense.

With Joens scoring at a state-best clip of 29.7 points per game this season the double teams and gimmick defenses the City High standout has seen throughout her career make more sense than ever.

Thanks to her Little Hawk teammates those defensive game plans focused on Joens are also less successful than ever at shutting down the Little Hawks.

“We have other girls stepping up and that is keeping more teams from gimmicking us this year because we have more kids that will hit the open shot,” City High coach Bill McTaggart said. “That’s why we’ve been successful is we’ve had other girls step up when teams try to take Ashley out.”

With Joens as the unquestioned catalyst top-ranked City High (17-0) ranks second in the state averaging 76.9 points per game, up nearly 10 points from last season.

Joens has had plenty of help from her supporting cast with three other players averaging 9.9 points per game or more.

“We’ve all been working during practice and outside of practice so when we get in big games other people can step up,” Ashley Joens said. “Everybody’s confidence level has gone up so that helps.”

Most of the help for Joens has come from underclassmen, mainly four sophomore starters that surround the senior in the starting lineup.

Rose Nkumu (13.6 ppg), Aubrey Joens (12.3 ppg), Paige Rocca (9.9 ppg) and Samantha Greving 5 ppg) are all averaging career highs.

“There has been a lot of improvement, we definitely know our roles on the team and what people can do,” Aubrey Joens said. “When someone is hot we get them the ball and then we just know what each other can do in their roles.”

Nkumu and Aubrey Joens each had key roles last season but Rocca and Greving have made the leap from seldom used bench players to starters.

A year ago Greving and Rocca combined to average 5.3 points per game.

This season they are providing nearly 15 points per game.

Greving ranks second on the team with 3.6 rebounds per game and Rocca is third with 2.7 assists per contest.

“Coach has really been working with Sam in the post and she has been working really hard to get those rebounds,” Nkumu said. “Paige has done a great job of knocking down big shots when we need her.”

Rocca is shooting better than 50 percent from the field including 47 percent from 3-point range.

“We have improved but I think it’s more of our team meshing together,” Rocca said. “Sam and I didn’t play a lot last year so we didn’t have a lot of experience playing with Ashley and Rose and Aubrey and we’ve totally meshed and everything is falling into place.”

Koenig Cracks 1,500-point Mark

Tatum Koenig is already a 1,000-point scorer and the top scorer in West Branch history.

The senior guard continues to add milestones to her list of career achievements.

Koenig cracked 1,500 points in her career with 25 points in a win over North Cedar last Friday.

The 5-foot-7 senior has 1,542 career points and currently ranks 12th in the state averaging 21.6 points per game.

Wiese Sets Regina Rebounding Mark

Alex Wiese has had a lot of big games over the past two seasons.

No performance has been more impressive than the one Wiese turned in on Tuesday against West Branch.

Wiese had 23 points and grabbed a Regina single-game record 25 rebounds in a 55-38 win.

The 5-foot-11 Wiese is averaging 16 points and 11.4 rebounds per game this season and has 10 games with double digit rebounds.

Postseason Pairings Released

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released regional pairings for all five classes in the last week.

In Class 5A top-ranked City High is the top seed in Region 3 and would host a regional final with a win.

No. 9 West High is the number two seed in Region 2 and would travel to No. 8 Pleasant Valley in the regional final if seeds hold.

West Branch and seventh-ranked Regina both landed in Class 2A Region 5 and could meet for a third time this season in the semifinals.

Liberty High and Clear Creek Amana face a potential regular season rematch in the Class 4A Region 4 semifinals.

Performances of the Week

City High senior Ashley Joens had 32 points and 12 rebounds in a 79-70 win over West High.

West High senior Logan Cook had 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a 79-70 loss to City High.

Regina junior Alex Wiese had 24 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in a 62-49 win over Wilton.

Clear Creek Amana sophomore Karsyn Stratton had 28 points and six rebounds in a 52-21 with over Vinton-Shellsburg.

West Branch senior Tatum Koenig had 25 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 62-41 win over North Cedar.