City High wins a top-5 thriller in OT

IOWA CITY — Yeah, that was fun.

'Overwhelming,' Kenya Earl said. 'It's always a challenge with them.'

A challenge. And in this case, a thriller.

Earl's 3-pointer with 1:45 left in overtime gave Class 5A second-ranked Iowa City High the lead for good, and the Little Hawks edged No. 5 Iowa City West, 74-73, in a non-conference girls' basketball game Tuesday night at West High School.

City High (6-0) wasn't home free until West's Cailyn Morgan missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

'We could have lost our composure, but we didn't,' City Coach Bill McTaggart said. 'It was like neither team wanted to throw the knockout punch.'

The Little Hawks had an opportunity, leading by 11 points with 6:10 left in regulation. But West (5-1) rallied to take a 65-64 lead on Maddie Huinker's 3-pointer with 30 seconds left.

'They looked like they were ready to knock us out,' West Coach B.J. Mayer said. 'We fought through adversity and foul trouble. We showed a lot of guts.'

Ashley Joens made the first of two free throws with 19 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime.

West held leads of 67-65 and 69-67 in the extra session, but Earl's 3-pointer swung the advantage City's way. She added two free throws for a 72-69 lead.

Huinker's basket made it 72-71, then Rose Marie Nkumu hit a pair of foul shots to stretch City's lead back to three.

Lauren Zacharias scored on a drive with 20 seconds left to cut it to 74-73, then Nkumu missed a pair of free throws, giving West a final shot.

The Women of Troy were bottled up at the wing, but a couple of swing passes got Morgan a good look, but it rimmed out.

'Just a great basketball game,' McTaggart said. 'We can play better, and they can, too.

'But I'd rather be up by 30 and go home at halftime.'

Earl led the Little Hawks with 20 points (12 in the first quarter). Joens, a junior and an Iowa State recruit, added 18 points and 17 rebounds. Aubrey Joens tallied 13, Sydney Schroder 12.

Huinker paced West with 20 points, 18 after halftime. Rachael Saunders and Logan Cook tallied 19 apiece.

Tuesday's game did not count in the conference record for either team. The rematch will; it's Jan. 24 at City High.

The Little Hawks are at Dubuque Senior on Friday; West hosts Waterloo East.

IOWA CITY HIGH 74, IOWA CITY WEST 73 (OT)

At Iowa City West

IOWA CITY HIGH (74): Rose Marie Nkumu 2-4 5-8 9, Sydney Schroder 5-7 0-0 12, Ashley Joens 3-11 11-17 18, Aubrey Joens 5-13 0-0 13, Kenya Earl 7-11 2-2 20, Christina Hora 0-2 0-0 0, Mikayla Lacey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-49 18-27 74.

IOWA CITY WEST (73): Lauren Zacharias 3-7 0-2 8, Rachael Saunders 7-16 2-3 19, Maddie Huinker 8-14 1-1 20, Logan Cook 7-14 4-6 19, Emma Koch 2-7 1-2 5, Cailyn Morgan 0-4 0-0 0, Paige Beckner 0-0 2-2 2, Katie McGrane 0-1 0-1 0, Ali Tauchen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 10-17 73.

Halftime: City 31, West 24. Regulation: 65-65. 3-point goals: City 10-22 (Schroder 2-3, Ash.Joens 1-3, Aub.Joens 3-7, Earl 4-7, Hora 0-2), West 9-23 (Zacharias 2-4, Saunders 3-7, Huinker 3-6, Cook 1-1, Koch 0-2, Morgan 0-3). Team fouls: City 16, West 24. Fouled out: Cook. Rebounds: City 32 (Ash.Joens 17), West 38 (Cook 11). Assists: City 9 (Nkumu, Aub.Joens 3), West 8 (Morgan 3). Steals: City 7 (Nkumu 3), West 9 (Saunders, Huinker 2). Turnovers: City 17, West 17.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com