West escapes for 25th straight win

IOWA CITY - The game turned not on a dunk or a 3-pointer, but on a foul.

In this case, Micah Martin's fifth.

Class 4A top-ranked Iowa City West pounced after Martin went to the bench for keeps, escaping with a 66-63 Mississippi Valley Conference boys' basketball triumph over Iowa City High Friday night at West High School.

'We didn't do a good job until it was damn near over,” said West Coach Steve Bergman. 'The guys showed some courage and heart, but if we keep putting ourselves in these situations, we're not going to win them all.”

The Trojans (19-0 overall, 15-0 MVC) have won them all for quite a while. Friday's win was West's 25th in a row.

But they had to sweat it out. Profusely.

Nate Wieland's layup gave City High (7-13, 3-11) an unlikely 55-48 lead with 7 1/2 minutes to go. But Martin, the Little Hawks' 6-foot-9 junior post, was whistled for his fifth foul on the next possession, and the Trojans rallied quickly.

Alex Henderson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the comeback, then Devontae Lane hustled to pick up his own free throw miss and scooped it in to put West in front, 60-59, with 5:20 to go.

The Trojans led the rest of the way, but missed the front end of three straight one-and-one opportunities that could have clinched it at 66-63.

Instead, Wali Parks blocked Naeem Smith's 3-point try in the final seconds.

West prevailed despite shooting 10 of 23 from the line.

Lane led all scorers with 17 points. Tanner Lohaus added 15 for West.

Martin posted 14 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out to lead City High. Wieland scored 12 points, Henry Mulligan 11.

Down by four at halftime, City went on a 16-4 run to start the second half for a 48-40 advantage. West got within 50-48 by the end of the third quarter, but Nile Ringen's 3-pointer and and Wieland's layup pushed it to seven before West's final surge.

IOWA CITY WEST 66, IOWA CITY HIGH 63

At Iowa City West

IOWA CITY HIGH (63): Emmanuel Hooper 0-1 3-3 3, Nate Wieland 4-8 2-2 12, Charles Johnson 3-4 3-3 9, Nile Ringen 2-3 0-0 6, Micah Martin 6-12 2-2 14, Evan Grace 0-0 0-0 0, Henry Mulligan 4-8 0-0 11, Jason Jones 0-1 0-3 0, Naeem Smith 3-5 2-2 8. Totals 22-42 12-15 63.

IOWA CITY WEST (66): Wali Parks 2-6 5-8 9, Devontae Lane 7-10 2-7 17, Tanner Lohaus 7-9 1-3 15, Connor McCaffery 3-6 2-3 9, David DiLeo 3-8 0-2 7, Alex Henderson 3-3 0-0 9, Dallas Majors 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-43 10-23 66.

Halftime: West 36, City 32. 3-point goals: City 7-10 (Wieland 2-2, Ringen 2-2, Mulligan 3-5, Smith 0-1), West 6-11 (Lane 1-1, McCaffery 1-4, DiLeo 1-3, Henderson 3-3). Team fouls: City 15, West 13. Fouled out: Martin. Rebounds: City 28 (Martin 11), West 22 (DiLeo 7). Assists: City 6 (Wieland 5), West 14 (McCaffery 4). Steals: City 4 (four with 1), West 8 (Henderson 2). Turnovers: City 11, West 6.

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