Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The challenges for City High in its Saturday afternoon non-conference contest against Muscatine were plentiful.

A quick turnaround for an early tip coming off a tough loss.

The biggest upside to Saturday’s matinee for the Little Hawks was an opportunity to put Friday’s 12-point loss to 4A seventh-ranked Clear Creek Amana behind them.

That is precisely what City High did with a 66-30 win over Muscatine in a non-conference contest in Iowa City.

“Sometimes these Saturday games are hard to play but after a game like last night,” City High sophomore Emmy McComas said. “Playing a game and having a chance to show we are better than what we showed yesterday is always good.”

August Palmer poured in 30 points and McComas had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds as City High (2-2) snapped a two-game losing skid with the win over the Muskies.

Muscatine dropped to 2-5 with the loss.

“It feels nice to get back on our feet,” Palmer said. “We feel a lot better now getting a win today.”

A night after scoring 14 first-half points in a 56-44 loss to Clear Creek Amana the Little Hawks were sharp from the outset.

Or almost from the outset.

Muscatine sophomore Macy Reno hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening three minutes as the Muskies jumped to an early 8-3 lead.

After a timeout from head coach Lynsey Barnard City High responded with a 19-0 run that featured eight points from McComas.

“It was just communication and getting up on the shooters,” McComas said. “We made some adjustments, switched some things around we were good to go.”

After the slightly slow start City High was impressive.

City High shot 48 percent from the floor and made 10 3-pointers with Palmer make 10 triples.

“Mentally it’s tough as well to turn around after last night so between the preparation time and just our bodies I am impressed with how we responded today,” Barnard said. “We aren’t a team that is going to make excuses we are going to go out there and see what we’ve got.”

City High used a combination of full-court pressure and a half-court trapping defense to force Muscatine into 19 first-half turnovers.

Many of the Muskies miscues resulted in easy transition baskets for City High which built a 38-15 halftime lead.

“Our spirit was a little down after last night,” McComas said. “It’s a Saturday morning, it’s tough to get going sometimes but I think we really came together well and wanted to show that yesterday wasn’t what we are about.”

Freshman Tessa Driscoll made three 3-pointers and joined McComas and Palmer in double figures with 13 points.

Freshman Halle Larew added five points and three rebounds for City High.

The Little Hawks host Dubuque Senior on Tuesday and travel to No. 13 Liberty High on Friday.

“We have a totally different coaching staff, a totally different squad and we are finding out who we are going to be and number one that has to be a team that is going to outwork everyone,” Barnard said. “We are getting there and that’s our hope that no matter what the score is we work.”

Muscatine      10    5    9   6   –  30

City High       22  16  18  10  –  66

City High (66) – Augie Palmer 12-21 1-5 30, Mia Driscoll 0-3 0-0 0, Lauren Koch 0-2 0-0 0, Emmy McComas 7-11 2-3 18, Halle Larew 1-4 3-4 5, Tessa Driscoll 5-12 0-0 13, Totals 25-53 6-12 66.

Muscatine (30) – Ysabel Lerma 2-8 0-1 4, Ella Schroeder 0-2 0-0 0, Avery Schroeder 2-10 1-2 5, Taylor Green 1-2 1-3 3, Jazzy Jones 1-2 2-2 4, Macy Reno 2-5 0-0 6, Totals 11-34 5-9 30.

3-point field goals – ICH 10-28 (Palmer 5-11, M. Driscoll 0-1, Koch 0-2, McComas 2-5, T. Driscoll 3-9), MUS 3-17 (Lerma 0-4, E. Schroeder 0-2, A. Schroeder 0-5, Green 1-2, Jones 0-1, Reno 2-3). Rebounds – ICH 32 (McComas 10), MUS 26 (Jones 7). Turnovers – ICH 9, MUS 25. Total fouls – ICH 13, MUS 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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