Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Successful teams know that sometimes you’ve got to win ugly.

City High doesn’t just know that, the Little Hawks own it.

“Hattie (Galloway) said after the game, ‘that’s City High basketball, a lot of misses and great defense’,” City High coach Lynsey Barnard said.

City High was at its ugly and beautiful best on Friday.

Class 5A eighth-ranked City High scored the final five points of the game to outlast fifth-ranked West High 33-30 in a cross-town defensive slugfest on Friday evening at West High.

City High limited West High (11-4) to 20 percent shooting, including 4-of-28 from 3-point range, while avenging a 60-51 loss to the Trojans in December at City High.

“It’s an amazing feeling especially when it’s the number five team and we’d lost to them at home not that long ago,” City High junior Kaitlin Loria said. “We had a chip on our shoulder going into this game and we didn’t have much to lose so we decided to come out and play as hard as we can and fight to the end.”

Loria scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the second half, including three during the 5-0 spurt to end the game as City High improved to 13-3 with its fourth consecutive win.

City High shot just 32 percent from the field while scoring a season-low 33 points but found a way to win.

“When you play these rivalry game it’s just always intense and it’s always going to be a battle no matter how good each team is it’s going to be close,” City High senior Tessa Driscoll said. “You go into it knowing it’s going to be a high-emotion, high-intensity game.”

It was high intensity and low scoring from the outset on Friday.

The two teams combined for 16 percent shooting (7-of-45) in a first half that ended with City High leading 12-9.

The biggest lead for either team was a six-point City High advantage in the third quarter.

“Two really good defensive teams I think, the first half we had what 12 points?,” Driscoll said. “We’ve had two games like that in a row but that just means defense is even more important so any buckets you can get are big ones.”

Grace Fincham gave West High its first lead since 3-2 with a runner that gave the Trojans a 30-28 lead with 4:40 remaining.

West High didn’t score again.

“We know their personnel so well, we know who we have to contest and who is going to take the majority of their shots,” Driscoll said. “I think it’s helpful when you know each other so well.”

City High took the lead on a Loria basket in the paint with 3:26 remaining.

In fitting the theme of the night there were only two points the rest of the way, a Driscoll layup with 18 seconds left that gave City High a 33-30 lead.

Driscoll was limited to four points on 2-of-9 shooting but sliced into the lane for a tough layup to give the Little Hawks late breathing room.

“Their defense was also great I just think in the second half we were finally able to find our gaps and really just push through those gaps and start scoring more,” Loria said. “We finally put the ball in the hoop.”

West High had a chance to tie late but Fincham’s deep 3-point was short and City High grabbed the rebound.

Fincham had 13 points to lead West High and Sasha Baldwin added 10 but the Trojans finished just 9-of-44 from the field.

“We gave them a scouting report but I don’t even know if they looked at because they’ve been playing each other since they were 10 years old,” Barnard said. “We told them it was more about us tonight.”
Thisbe Lewis had four points for City High and Hattie Galloway and three points and nine rebounds as City High held a 36-29 rebounding edge.

“That seems to be what City High basketball has been make some mistakes but still find a way,” Barnard said.

City High                   10  2  13  8  –  33

West High                   7   2  15  6  –  30

City High (33) – Eve Vitense 0-2 0-0 0, Maybes Miller 2-4 2-2 7, Hattie Galloway 1-6 0-0 3, Thisbe Lewis 2-6 0-1 4, Kaitlin Loria 5-11 2-3 13, Halle Larew 1-3 0-0 2, Tessa Driscoll 2-9 0-0 4, Totals 13-41 4-6 33.

West High (30) – Ava Frese 0-5 0-0 0, Savannah Mathias 0-2 2-2 2, Kate Van Waning 1-6 0-0 2, Abby Neumiller 1-12 0-0 3, Grace Fincham 4-12 4-4 13, Sasha Baldwin 3-7 2-2 10, Totals 9-44 8-8 30.

3-point field goal – ICH 3-15 (Vitense 0-2, Miller 1-2, Galloway 1-3, Loria 1-3, Driscoll 0-5), ICW 4-28 (Frese 0-3, VanWaning 0-4, Neumiller 1-8, Fincham 1-7, Baldwin 2-6). Rebounds – ICH 36 (Galloway 9), ICW 29 (Fincham 7). Turnovers – ICH 17, ICW 14. Total fouls – ICH 11, ICW 9. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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