Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – When a team is struggling to get wins there are more than a few ways to get things rolling in the right direction.

A win over a rival can produce a spark.

Or a victory over a ranked opponent.

Maybe a player or two stepping up with big games or someone coming off the bench to hit a big shot.

Liberty High got all of those in one swoop on Friday evening.

Natalie Ramsey and Bella Tafolla had big games, Morgan Bennett and Ava Tague hit big shots off the bench and Liberty High beat 5A No. 14 City High 59-52 on Friday in a cross-town showdown at City High.

“I think we just wanted a win so bad, I’m not saying the other games we didn’t want to win but something clicked in our minds,” Tafolla said. “We’ve been preparing for this game and I think this can be a turnaround for our team.”

Ramsey had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Tafolla had 13 points as Liberty High (2-5) snapped a two-game losing skid with its third consecutive win over City High.

The Lightning played without a pair of starters on Friday in junior Janessa Mosley and leading scorer Madeline Casey.

Mosley has missed the first seven games while Casey missed her second straight game on Friday.

Liberty High had a long list of players step up in the absence of Casey on Friday.

“We knew were we getting better and better and it showed tonight,” Liberty High co-coach Jeff Printy said. “We are dinged up a little bit but we played four quarters of gritty basketball and I think that’s what was most rewarding tonight.”

Freshman Ava Casey had eight points while Sydney Van Heukelom and Kenneyd Goodheart each had six for the Lightning.

Bennett hit a crucial 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer and Tague had four points and six rebounds off the bench.

“It feels really good, our team has been dealing with a lot of injuries, a couple of our starters are out right now and we just knew that we had to go out there and fight, grit and win,” Tafolla said. “Everybody was ready to win tonight. We wanted it.”

The teams played to a 14-all tie after one quarter and City High (3-4) led 16-14 following a Kaitlin Loria layup with 6:54 remaining in the opening half.

Liberty High responded with an 8-0 run and never trailed again.

“I thought we played really well as a team today,” Ramsey said. “Everybody went out and played hard, everybody was hitting big shots and we played four really good hard quarters.”

City High got as close as 37-36 on a 3-pointer by freshman Maybes Miller with 2:54 left in the third quarter but the Lightning scored the next nine points.

Ava Casey started the 9-0 burst with a 3-pointer and Tague followed with a 3-pointer before a Ramsey layup.

“Natalie is just making strides offensive and defensively and she is so athletic,” Printy said. “She has a really, really high ceiling.”

City High made a final push, cutting the lead to 55-52 on an Augie Palmer jumper in the lane with 1:40 remaining.

Liberty High held the Little Hawks scoreless the rest of the way and put the game away with four free throws in the final 1:16.

“This game changes who we are today as a team,” Tafolla said. “We know the season is a growing experience and we are getting better every game.”

Palmer led City High with 20 points but City High shot just 32 percent from the floor and was 7-of-28 from 3-point range.

“Our girls have really bought in on the defensive side,” Liberty High co-coach Tom McGrane said. “They really aren’t allowing teams to score and that’s been a big focus in practice and they have translated that the last couple of weeks into games and it’s been exciting to watch them grow.”

Liberty High             14  14  21  10  –  59   

City High                   14   8   17  13  –  52                 

Liberty High (59) – Ava Casey 3-11 0-0 8, Bella Tafolla 5-12 0-3 13, Sydney van Heukelom 3-5 0-0 6, Ava Tague 1-3 1-2 4, Morgan Bennett 2-2 0-2 5, Madilyn Meyer 0-1 0-0 0, Natalie Ramsey 4-11 9-12 17, Kennedy Goodheart 2-9 1-2 6, Totals 20-54 11-21 59.

City High (52) – Avyana Lindsey 1-2 0-0 3, August Palmer 6-21 6-7 20, Maeve Obermueller 1-2 0-0 2, Maybes Miller 1-2 0-0 3, Kaitlin Loria 6-11 0-2 13, Emmy McComas 2-6 2-2 7, Tessa Driscoll 1-12 1-2 4, Totals 18-54 9-13 52.

3-point field goals – ICH 7-28 (Lindsey 1-2, Palmer 2-10, Miller 1-2, Loria 1-3, McComas 1-3, Driscoll 1-8), ICL 8-28 (Casey 2-7, Tafolla 3-8, Tague 1-3, Bennett 1-1, Meyer 0-1, Ramsey 0-2, Goodheart 1-6). Rebounds – ICH 43 (Loria 11), ICL 36 (Ramsey 11). Turnovers – ICH 13, ICL 7. Total fouls – ICH 18, ICL 14. Fouled out – ICH (McComas, Driscoll). Technical fouls – None.

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