Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

MARION – It seemed as if every player in the West High rotation had a hand in helping the Women of Troy take a 14-point lead over Linn-Mar on Monday.

When Linn-Mar mounted a rally that cut the lead to four in the third quarter West High got the ball in the hands of its best player and Audrey Koch delivered.

Koch scored eight of her game-high 17 points during a 10-3 run to end the third quarter as West High held off Linn-Mar 59-46 in a Mississippi Valley Conference makeup game in Marion.

“She didn’t play real well in the first half and got a couple of fouls and we didn’t want to get a third one but we need her to be a lot more aggressive and I thought you saw that late in that third quarter,” West High coach BJ Mayer said of Koch. “She started really getting to the rim, she made a couple of threes, got to the free throw line and we need that out of her.”

Koch had 12 of her 17 points after halftime, including 10 in a see-saw third quarter as West High improved to 6-4 with its third straight win.

The top scorer for the Women of Troy on the season at 18.3 points per game, Koch stopped a 12-2 third-quarter run by Linn-Mar that cut the lead to 34-30 with three consecutive points.  

Koch then pushed the margin back to double figures by scoring five points in the final 22 seconds of the quarter to give West high a 44-33 lead.

“They are a great team so we knew coming out the first three or four minutes was going to be super important,” Koch said. “They did start getting a little bit of a run so we knew we had to answer.”

Seven different players scored for West High in the first half that ended with the Women of Troy holding a 30-16 lead.

Cora Saunders hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter while sister Jenna Saunders and Koch each had one as West High went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc in the quarter.

“We are really flowing on offense right now and we really know each others’ strengths,” Saunders said. “We are able to hit each other when we are open.”

West High led 32-18 after Koch scored in the lane with 7:26 left in the third quarter.

Linn-Mar came charging back.

The Lions hit three 3-pointers in a little more than two minutes during a 12-02 burst that trimmed the West High lead to four.

Koch stopped the run with a free thrown with 1:49 left in the quarter and scored on a driving layup 30 seconds later.

A 3-pointer by Kaitlyn Brunson cut the West High lead to 39-33 but Koch answered again scoring the final five points of the quarter.

Her step-back, 25-foot 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer gave West High an 11-point lead that would never be cut to less than seven.

“It was definitely deeper than I was probably intending for but I was just trying to get some separation,” Koch said. “I was able to get it to go.”

Saunders finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range as West High went 8-of-15 from beyond the arc as a team.

Freshman Meena Tate had 10 points and was 2-of-2 from 3-point range while Jenna Saunders hit her only 3-point attempt.

“For those girls to hit those threes that’s big for us,” Koch said. “We have great shooters so I’m always confident they will knock down shots.”

Keegan Krejca had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead Linn-Mar but West High clamped down on the rest of the Lions.

Carly Printy had 10 points for Linn-Mar while leading scorer Alexis Beier was 3-of-17 from the field and finished with eight points as the Lions shot 33 percent from the floor.

“I thought we did a really good job of containing the drive for the most part and then finding shooters,” Mayer said. “Printy and Beier are pretty good shooters and for the most part they were all contested and that’s what we were trying to do.”

Linn-Mar        12   4   17  13  –  46

West High      16  14  14  15  –  59

West High (59) – Matayia Tellis 3-12 0-0 6, Cora Saunders 5-7 2-2 15, Avery Vest 1-1 0-0 2, Liv Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Meena Tate 2-5 4-4 10, Grace Schneider 1-2 0-2 2, Jenna Saunders 2-3 0-0 5, Audrey Koch 6-17 3-5 17, Team 21-50 9-13 59.

Linn-Mar (46) – Emma Casebolt 1-4 0-0 3, Keegan Krejca 5-11 5-6 15, Kaitlyn Brunson 2-5 0-0 6, Hallie Peak 2-5 0-0 4, Alexis Beier 3-17 0-0 8, Carly Printy 4-9 0-0 10, Team 17-51 5-6 46.

3-point field goals – ICW 8-15 (C. Saunders 3-4, Tellis 0-2, Tate 2-2, J. Saunders 1-1, Koch 2-6), L-M 7-24 (Casebolt 1-4, Brunson 2-3, Peak 0-2, Beier 2-8, Printy 2-7). Rebounds – ICW 37 (Koch 9), L-M 30 (Krejca 13). Turnovers – ICW 13, L-M 12. Total fouls – ICW 10, L-M 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.