Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The game plan for City High in its showdown with cross-town rival West High was to get the ball into the paint.

A byproduct of strong execution of that plan was City High getting to the free throw line.

City High didn’t just get to the line, they converted those chances.

Class 5A second-ranked City High went 26-of-30 from the free throw line pulling away for a 65-52 win over fourth-ranked West High in a non-conference battle of top-four Mississippi Valley Conference foes in Iowa City.

“I like converting a lot more than I like getting there,” City High coach Bill McTaggart said of the free throws. “That’s what we wanted to do, we wanted to get more points in the paint because this team likes to shoot threes but that’s where I thought we could take advantage of West High was inside and when we did go hard to the basket good things happen to us.”

Junior Kelsey Joens led three Little Hawks in double figures with a game-high 22 points as City High (5-0) improved to 5-0 on the season with its second win over a top four ranked team in eight days.

Seniors Andie Westlake and Eviyon Richardson each had 15 points and combined to make 18-of-19 free throws helping City High snap a two-game losing skid to the Trojans.

“This is amazing,” Westlake said. “This is one of those games that we look forward to every year and to have everyone here it feels really great.”
West High (5-1) went 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the opening quarter and led 20-17 after eight minutes.

The Trojans matched their largest lead of the game at six points when Meena Tate hit a 3-pointer 25 seconds into the second quarter.

That was the final field goal for West High in the opening half.

West High missed its final 10 field goal attempts of the second quarter and City High closed the half on a 19-2 run to take a 36-25 halftime lead it would never give up.

“We just got up on them and took away their shots,” Joens said. “We worked together as a team and found the open player on offense and were able to get to the line.”

Oh yes, the free throws.

City High shot 12 free throws during its second quarter run that spanned the final 6:18 of the quarter, converting on 10.

The Little Hawks outscored West High 15-2 from the line in the first half.

“I think we are an all-around great team,” Westlake said. “They were really trying to keep Kelsey and Evi and I from shooting 3s so we have people that can drive, we have people that can play defense, get blocks, get rebounds. I just think all-around we played really well and that’s important.”

West High cut the lead to five in the third quarter but City High answered with a 7-1 run capped by a three-pointer from Joens and a Richardson put back.

“People stepped up when we needed them to and that’s very important,” Joens said. “If I draw attention that leaves other people open and they are confident taking those big shots and it really showed tonight.”

West High made one final push cutting the lead to 50-45 on a Keiko Ono-Fullard three-pointer with 6:58 left but City High put the game away with what else but free throws making 9-of-11 in the fourth quarter.

City High shot 34 percent from the floor compared to 37 percent for West High but outrebounded the Trojans by 10 (39-29 and committed just five turnovers.

“We’ve been pretty good at not turning the ball over,” McTaggart said. “I told our coaches that this week, we are in games because we don’t turn the ball over.”

Tate had 14 of her team-high 18 points after halftime while Anna Prouty had nine points and Ono-Fullard eight for West High.

Richardson had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Bella Cooley had 10 boards for City High.

“We did a good job of rebounding,” Westlake said. “One of the things that we were worried about the most was them beating us down the court and I think we did a good job of getting back and setting up.”

City High                   v17  19  12  17  –  65

West High                  20   5   15  12  –  52

City High (65) – Emmy McComas 0-2 0-0 0, Georgia Kimm 1-4 4-4 7, Kelsey Joens 8-21 2-3 22, Eviyon Richardson 3-10 8-9 15, Lauren Koch 0-0 2-4 2, Andie Westlake 2-5 10-10 15, Bella Cooley 2-5 0-0 4, Totals 16-47 26-30 65.

West High (52) – Lucy Wolf 1-2 0-0 3, Avery Vest 2-5 0-0 6, Meena Tate 6-18 3-4 18, Carolyn Pierce 0-1 1-2 1, Keiko Ono-Fullard 2-3 3-4 8, Melae’ Lacy 2-9 2-2 7, Anna Prouty 4-8 1-3 9, Totals 17-46 10-15 52.

3-point field goals – ICH 7-22 (Kimm 1-4, Joens 4-10, Richardson 1-6, Westlake 1-2), ICW 8-20 (Wolf 1-2, Vest 2-5, Tate 3-6, Pierce 0-1, Lacy 1-4, Ono-Fullard 1-2). Rebounds – ICH 39 (Cooley 10, Richardson 10), ICW 29 (Lacy 9). Turnovers – ICH 5, ICW 9. Total fouls – ICH 14, ICW 20. Fouled out – ICH (Cooley). Technical fouls – None.

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