West bounces back, clips Mason City

CEDAR RAPIDS — If there was a hangover from the previous night's loss, B.J. Mayer made sure it wasn't going to be an extended one.

'We were getting outhustled. We were getting outworked. I think we were feeling sorry for ourselves,' Mayer said.

But not for long.

Iowa City West got back in the game by halftime, then ruled the second half and downed Class 4A No. 4 Mason City, 53-39, at Rivalry Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

The Women of Troy (8-2) lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to Iowa City High on Friday, then had to climb back on the proverbial horse about 22 hours later.

'After last night, we wanted to show that we were still here,' said Maddie Huinker. 'We were tired, but we still really wanted it.'

West clamped down on University of Iowa signee Makenzie Meyer in the second half, holding her to two points. She finished with 12 on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor.

'She's a great outside shooter and can drive the ball, too,' Huinker said. 'We had good help-side defense. That's important to slowing her down.'

The Women of Troy cashed in on their inbounds play under the basket several times in their third-quarter run, a 9-0 surge that broke a 26-26 tie and put West in the driver's seat for good. Emma Koch scored all of her eight points in that stretch.

Mason City (6-5) got within 40-36 with 6:55 left, but West closed with a 13-3 surge, mostly from the line.

Rachael Saunders led the Women of Troy with 12 points. Huinker added 11, Maddie Fay nine.

Mason City, which knocked off 5A No. 1 Johnston on Friday, led the Women of Troy, 21-10, early in the second quarter. But West rallied from long range and got even, 24-24, by halftime.

IOWA CITY WEST 53, MASON CITY 39

At U.S. Cellular Center

MASON CITY (39): Rachel Danielson 1-5 0-0 3, Makenzie Meyer 5-16 0-0 12, Jenni King 0-1 0-0 0, Jacqueline Rier 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Faktor 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Till 2-4 0-0 6, Kiki O'Neill 0-1 0-0 0, Olivia Pederson 1-5 0-0 3, Bailey Baker 2-5 1-2 5, Kaylee Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Marci Wolters 1-4 0-0 2, Megan Meyer 2-12 2-2 8. Totals 14-53 3-4 39.

IOWA CITY WEST (53): Cailyn Morgan 2-4 1-2 6, Lauren Zacharias 0-3 0-1 0, Maddie Fay 3-4 0-0 9, Rachael Saunders 3-9 5-7 12, Katie McGrane 0-3 1-2 1, Maddie Huinker 3-5 5-5 11, Logan Cook 3-8 0-0 6, Jessie Harder 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Koch 2-7 4-4 8. Totals 16-44 16-21 53.

Halftime: Mason City 24, West 24. 3-point goals: Mason City 8-29 (Danielson 1-3, Mak.Meyer 2-9, Till 2-4, O'Neill 0-1, Pederson 1-3, Wolters 0-2, Meg.Meyer 2-7), West 5-14 (Morgan 1-1, Zacharias 0-2, Fay 3-4, Saunders 1-4, McGrane 0-1, Huinker 0-1, Harder 0-1). Team fouls: Mason City 16, West 8. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Mason City 28 (Mak.Meyer 6), West 36 (Cook 9). Assists: Mason City 11 (Danielson 6), West 9 (Saunders, Huinker 3). Steals: Mason City 10 (Meg.Meyer 4), West 7 (Morgan, Saunders 2). Turnovers: Mason City 12, West 14.

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