West defeats cross-town rival in double header
Both boys and girls basketball beat City High on Jan. 24 at City. Boys won 82-38 and the girls won 63-58.
Madi Ford ’17 hugs Rachael Saunders ’18 after their 5 point victory over City. Rachel said before the game that she wanted to break City’s record and tonight she was able to accomplish that goal.
When the top-ranked Trojans took the court last night at City High, the first few minutes of play weren’t as exciting as earlier in the season when the two teams faced off; On Dec. 13, when West won 78-27, Iowa commit Connor McCaffery ’17 grabbed four via a field goal and two free throws in the first minute. Last night, the first points on the board didn’t appear until a minute and a half in when Izaya Ono-Fullard ’17 got a three.
Three pointers were consistent in West’s offense last night. Junior Evan Flitz, who started playing varsity this year and is the three- point leader for West at 51.9%, racked in a three and two at the line before the first half. West led 56-16 at the end of the first half.
“Well, certainly the gym [at a City-West game] is packed and filled with a lot of excitement from both sides,” Flitz said, who grabbed two more threes in the second half for a total of 11 points. “Both City and West fans are really excited for the game and it creates a good atmosphere for the players.”
West fans, clad in all white for the game, contributed to the atmosphere with less than three minutes left in the third quarter when they chanted “Connor’s winning,” due to the fact that McCaffery made 25 of West’s 68 points compared to City’s 16.
West’s strong offense was fueled by as strong defense, according to senior Nate Disterhoft who started for his second-career time last time (the first being last Friday when West beat Prairie 74-50) and had three offensive and defensive rebounds.
“Our defense has really improved,” he said. “We focus a lot on it in practice, which really helped us last night.”
Jake Anderson ’18 brought in the final layup to total four points for the game and ten for the season.
The boys kept a six-game winning streak last night defeating City 82-38, their seventh season-sweep against City in eight years.
The Trojans will play Cedar Falls (9-3) at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Women of Troy got redemption last night after beating previously undefeated City High 63-58 at City.
City, currently ranked number two, beat third-ranked West in overtime at West on Dec. 20. Rachael Saunders ’18, who had 11 points last night, said before the game she was looking forward to a different outcome.
“I’m really excited because City High is always a really exciting team to play and the atmosphere is really fun,” she said. “We’re ready to ruin their record.”
City High had a steady lead against the Women of Troy in the first half of the game, but after five minutes of play, Ali Tauchen ’17, with one point at the line and a layup, gave West the one point lead at 25-24.
From that point on, the game stayed within six points. City freshman Aubrey Joens grabbed twelve in the second half and senior Sydney Schroeder grabbed two beyond the arc to keep the game close.
At 32.6 seconds left West led 60-56, and Cailyn Morgan ’18 was sent to the line after a foul on City’s lead scorer Ashley Joens ’17.
“I didn’t really think of the score at that point,” Morgan said. “I just did my regular routine and knew they were going in.”
Right when we knew we were ahead at the end, that got us going and we knew we just had to be smart and play together. That’s just how we do things.”
According to Coach BJ Mayer “how they do things” is getting many players on the court to contribute. Emma Koch ’19, Logan Cook ’19 and Morgan joined Saunders in the double-digits club at 16, 11 and 15 points, respectively.
“We haven’t had just one or two players. We were really concerned about Ashley Joens as well, but Kenya hurt us as well last time, she had like twenty something,” Mayer said. “We got her under control and nobody else really went off, so we were able to concentrate on those kids and give a lot of help.”
West went on to get three more points at the line to round a win at 63-58. They will travel to Cedar Falls next Friday.
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