Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Byron Benton didn’t know for sure exactly how long it had been since City High got the best of its cross-town hoops rival.

The senior guard just knew it had been a while.

“It’s been a long time,” Benton said with a smile. “Too long.”

It took an extra four minutes but Benton and the Little Hawks got their long-awaited win against West High on Friday.

Benton and Jamari Newson combined for 45 points as City High fended off a 41-point debut by West High junior Pete Moe in a 77-71 win over the Trojans at West High.

Newson and Benton had eight points in overtime as City High snapped a nine-game losing skid to West High with its first win in the series since February 12 of 2016.

“It’s been a long time so it feels great to get this win,” Benton said. “It’s been so many years and this year we knew we had the opportunity with them losing so many division one guys and with us having so many returning starters – we just took the opportunity.”

Benton had a team-high 23 points and Newson had 22 as City High won at West High for the first time since 2008.

The backcourt tandem accounted for five points during a 7-0 City High burst in overtime that gave the Little Hawks the lead for good.

“This means a lot,” Newson said. “We put in the work over the years and we fought for this. They are a good team and they fought back but we worked hard and fought through that adversity.”

It took everything City High had to overcome an impressive debut for Moe.

The son of former University of Iowa player Jeff Moe joined the West High program this season and poured in 41 points and grabbed 13 rebounds on Friday.

The 6-foot-8 Moe had 32 of his points after halftime, including 16 on 5-of-5 shooting in the fourth quarter as West High rallied from an 11-point deficit.

“We acknowledged that he’s a great player and he’s going to get his and there is nothing you can do about that,” City High coach Brennan Swayzer said. “What you have to do is not let the other guys hurt you.”

City High led 19-13 and maintained a 32-26 lead at the half.

The Little Hawks saw leads evaporate three times in the second half but battled back each time.

“That’s adversity and we’ve learned how to fight through adversity,” Newson said. “That’s just us and we are only going to get better from here.”

West High scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 36-33 lead but City High closed the quarter on a 15-5 run to take a 50-43 lead.

The Little Hawks led 60-49 with under five minutes to play when Moe went to work scoring 11 points during a 13-2 West High burst that tied the game at 62.

West High took the lead 65-64 on a Savion Taylor 3-pointer but Benton forced overtime by hitting one of two free throws with 7.7 seconds left.

“My trust is always in those guys and they know that,” Swayzer said. “They are going to make some mistakes, nobody is perfect but something I took away from coach (Don) Showalter is play the next play. Focus on the next one and I thought we did that tonight.”

Moe scored in the paint six seconds into the overtime period but City High scored the next seven points to take the lead for good.

Newson gave City High the lead with a free throw with 3:07 left and a Bram Suepple put back made it 70-67.

Benton then scored on a breakaway layup after a steal by Newson to make it 72-67 with 1:56 left.

“We are pretty quick and athletic out front and we can get out and pressure and speed them up and that gives us a chance to get to our best which is transition,” Swayzer said. “We just harped on the basics and what we have been doing since day one just holding your ground and playing to your strengths.”

Following the early overtime basket by Moe City High didn’t allow a point for more than two minutes and West High didn’t get another field goal until a Moe 3-pointer with 24 seconds left.

“Our goal is to get three stops in a row, that our motto is three stops in a row,” Benton said. “After that first basket we got three stops and after that we were just rolling.”

West High shot 58 percent from the field in the second half but was just 2-of-5 in overtime.

“Pete didn’t touch the ball, and he has to touch the ball, he doesn’t have to shoot but he has to touch the ball,” West High coach Steve Bergman said. “I liked the way we battled we just didn’t play very smart tonight but there are a lot of kids that have never been out there and we have to practice if we want to get better.”

Christian Barnes had 15 points and Taylor had nine for West High.

Raph Hamilton had eight points and Keyoun Agee seven for City High.

“A rivalry game it means a little more but I’m just happy for the guys because I ride them hard but I know what they are capable of,” Swayzer said. “The thing that means the most is seeing how happy they are right now.”

City High       19  13  18  15  12  –  77

West High      13  13  17  22   6   –  71

City High (77) – Keyoun Agee 3-3 1-2 7, Kolby Kucera 1-3 0-0 2, Andre Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Byron Benton 9-21 3-8 23, Gavin Koch 0-3 4-5 4, Darren Richardson 2-2 1-2 5, Jamari Newson 5-14 0-0 22, Taeshon McDaniels 0-1 0-0 0, Bram Sueppel 2-3 2-3 6, Raph Hamilton 3-5 2-3 8, Totals 25-57 22-34  71.

West High (71) – Christian Barnes 6-14 2-3 15, Andrew Tauchen 0-1 0-0 0, Mikey Brown 0-1 1-2 1, Pete Moe 13-19 11-13 41, Kareem Earl 0-1 1-2 1, Savion Taylor 3-9 0-0 9, Grahm Goering 2-3 0-4 4, Totals 24-48 15-24 71.

3-point field goals – ICH 5-14 (Kucera 0-1, Miller 0-1, Benton 2-5, Koch 0-2, Newson 3-5), ICW 8-18 (Barnes 1-3, Tauchen 0-1, Moe 4-6, Earl 0-1, Taylor 3-7). Rebounds – ICH 42 (Koch, Hamilton 6), ICW 28 (Moe 13). Turnovers – ICH 17, ICW 22. Total fouls – ICH 20, ICW 25. Fouled out – ICH (Richardson, Hamilton), ICW (Brown, Earl, Goering). Technical fouls – None.

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