PURCHASE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – For most of the season it was the duo of Kelsey Joens and Eviyon Richardson that carried City High on offense.

With its season on the line on Tuesday it was the rest of the Little Hawks that took over.

Seniors Andie Westlake and Georgia Kimm and freshman Emmy McComas combined to score 18 straight points as fifth-ranked City High rallied past No. 11 Linn-Mar (15-8) in the Class 5A, Region 6 title game at City High.

“Obviously it’s hard to stop Evy and Kelsey but for everyone else to step up, that’s amazing,” Westlake said. “They can’t guard all five of us consistently so to know that we have other people that can step up is a great feeling and we just have to trust each other like we did tonight.”

Joens had a game-high 19 points to lead City High (19-4) but didn’t attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter and scored her only points of the quarter with 6.1 seconds left.

It was McComas, Westlake and Kimm that sent City High to the state tournament for the fifth time in six seasons.

Westlake and Kimm each had six points in the fourth quarter while finishing with 14 and 12 points respectively.

McComas had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in her third career start.

“I felt confident,” Kimm said. “We really focused on making sure we took good shots and getting everybody good shots. I know at the end of the day we all trust each other on the team and when it’s there, it’s there.”

The game followed an eerily similar script to the regular season meeting between the two teams 11 days ago won by Linn-Mar 49-40 on the same floor.

Just as it did in the first meeting on February 11 City High jumped ahead early but Linn-Mar chipped away and led late.

This time it was City High that made the plays in the fourth quarter.

“Especially in the fourth quarter we were focused on staying up, we couldn’t let ourselves get down at all,” Kimm said. “We knew we had this in the bag we just had to keep our confidence up and really make sure we were passing the ball well and making smart decisions on the court.”

City High jumped to a 10-0 lead just more than two minutes into the game but Linn-Mar outscored the Little Hawks 32-16 over the rest of the half to take a six-point halftime lead.

The Lions led 42-39 after three quarters.

McComas provided the fourth-quarter spark City High needed with a three-pointer that tied the game at 42 with 5:07 remaining.

“I’m so proud of our team and how we came back,” McComas said. “We were all working together. Sometimes we get down but we know how to find our way back.”

The three-pointer by McComas started an 8-2 City High run that included a cutting layup by Westlake and a three-pointer by Kimm.

Linn-Mar cut the lead to 47-46 on a Taylor Brunson bucket with 2:48 left but Kimm answered with perhaps the play of the game – a conventional three-point play that put City High up 50-46 with 2:11 left.

“I could feel the fans, the bench, the whole team, everybody in the stadium was lifted up,” Kimm said. “You could really feel that spark.”

Westlake followed with a basket in the paint and Joens found McComas all alone for a transition layup with 52 seconds left that gave City High a 54-47 lead.

“I think we knew we wanted it,” McComas said. “We want to go to state, we want to win this whole thing and we want to work as a team and show that we can play together.”

Brunson had 16 points, Zoe Kennedy had 11 and Caelynn Obleton had 10 for Linn-Mar.

After shooting 68 percent from the field in the first half that included going 6-of-7 from three-point range the Lions shot 32 percent in the second half.

“This was one of our hardest fought games all year,” City High coach Bill McTaggart said. “Linn-Mar did not miss from three in the first half. That’s what we said is they aren’t going to keep shooting that way.”

Linn-Mar                   17  15  10   9   –  51

City High                   19   7   13  20  –  59

City High (59) – Emmy McComas 4-9 2-4 11, Georgia Kimm 4-7 1-1 12, Kelsey Joens 6-14 5-6 19, Eviyon Richardson 0-8 1-2 1, Andie Westlake 4-10 5-6 14, Bella Cooley 1-3 0-2 2, Totals 19-51 14-21 59.

Linn-Mar (51) – Ellie Daubenmier 1-4 0-0 2, Sofia Bush 2-5 0-0 4, Tessa Casebolt 1-3 0-2 2, Taylor Brunson 6-9 3-5 16, Caelynn Obleton 4-5 0-0 10, Ella Grove 3-4 0-0 6, Zoe Kennedy 3-11 2-2 11, Totals 20-41 5-9 51.  

Three-point field goals – ICH 7-25 (McComas 1-3, Kimm 3-5, Joens 2-5, Richardson 0-5, Westlake 0-7), L-M 6-11 (Bush 0-2, Brunson 1-1, Obleton 2-2, Kennedy 3-6). Rebounds – ICH 35 (McComas 10), L-M 24 (Kennedy 7). Turnovers – ICH 10, L-M 14. Total fouls – ICH 12, L-M 17. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.