Boys basketball loses second straight to Cedar Falls
Head Coach Steve Bergman and the Trojan basketball team faced off with Cedar Falls on Jan. 15 after being postponed due to weather last night.
Pete Moe ’22 gets double teamed in the paint against Cedar Falls on Jan. 15.
January 15, 2022
Coming into the week ranked and undefeated the Trojan basketball team had two chances to really prove themselves as one of the top teams in the state. After falling to Dubuque Hempstead on Jan. 11 54-71 in their first test of the week, Steve Bergman’s squad faced off with Mississippi Valley Conference foe Cedar Falls in hopes of getting back on track. The boys basketball team picked up their second loss of the season on Jan. 15 after falling to the Tigers 57-71.
Senior point guard Christian Barnes got things started for the Trojans when he knocked down a three to make it 6-4 Trojans two minutes into the first quarter. Future Northern Iowa Panther and current Cedar Falls guard Trey Campbell ’22 hit a wide-open three in transition to make it 18-11 Tigers and force a West High timeout with 2:26 left in the first. Pete Moe ’22 couldn’t connect on the other side of an and-one and the Trojans went into the second down 13-18.
The boys basketball team’s transition defense continued to struggle when Campbell found Cedar Falls’ Cade Courbat ’24 for an easy two-handed slam on the other end to extend the Tigers’ lead to seven with 6:38 left in the first half. The Trojans strung together five consecutive points with help from a Moe and-one and forced a Cedar Falls time out. Moe went on to hit a corner three with under a minute left in the half and send West into the break down 28-32.
A costly turnover that led to a transition layup extended Cedar Falls’ lead to eight two minutes into the third quarter. Jacob Koch ’24 responded with a corner three to make it 33-38 Tigers with 5:46 left in the third. Campbell’s backdoor cut for an and-one put Cedar Falls up by 12 with two minutes left in the third. A Barnes and Moe lay in sent the Trojans into the fourth down 41-53.
Jack McCaffery ’25 knocked down a big three and cut the Cedar Falls lead to seven to keep the Trojans’ hopes alive with 6:38 left in the game. The Tigers picked off Koch’s cross-court pass and pushed to the other end of the floor for two free throws to make it 50-65 Cedar Falls with 3:10 left. Moe led the Trojans in scoring with 34 points and added eight rebounds but Cedar Falls was too much and went on to hand the Trojans their second loss of the year 57-71.
The boys basketball team will be back in action on Jan. 19 at Cedar Rapids Prairie.
