City High feasts at the free-throw line

IOWA CITY — Free-throw quantity. And free-throw quality.

Class 5A second-ranked Iowa City High feasted at the foul line, hitting 26 of 32 freebies in a 65-52 girls’ basketball victory over No. 5 West on Friday at City High.

“Good things happen when you go hard to the basket,” City Coach Bill McTaggart said.

The Little Hawks (5-0) were foul magnets in the second quarter. They hit 10 of 12 from the stripe in a 17-0 run in a 5-minute spree that turned the game upside down, and led the rest of the way.

“We were doing a lot of driving in the first half,” Andie Westlake said. “We attacked the basket, when they were probably expecting us to shoot 3-pointers.”

That surge turned a six-point deficit into a 34-23 lead, and it was 36-25 at halftime.

West (5-1) got within five points on two occasions — once in the third quarter, once in the fourth — but the Little Hawks thwarted the Trojans both times.

Westlake had a big 3-pointer that gave the Little Hawks some breathing room at 53-45.

“I’ve been focusing more on taking shots this year. I’m taking shots I normally wouldn’t have,” said Westlake, who has developed into a nice third option for City High. “I’ve figured out my role, and I think that helps.”

A junior and an Iowa State commit, Kelsey Joens paced the Little Hawks with 22 points. Westlake and Eviyon Richardson added 15 apiece.

Westlake made all 10 of her free-throw tries, Richardson was 8 of 9.

City High enjoyed a 41-30 rebounding advantage, and committed four turnovers all game.

“They’ve got long and lanky girls, so we needed to make a lot of ball fakes and take care of the ball,” Joens said. “No easy baskets for them.”

West made 4 of 5 shots behind the 3-point arc in the first quarter, and Meena Tate’s triple gave the Little Hawks a 23-17 lead. But City’s 17-0 run flipped everything.

Tate led West with 18 points.

The teams meet again Jan. 21 in a game that will count in the Mississippi Valley Conference standings.

“We’re nowhere near where we need to be,” McTaggart said. “We have a lot of improvement to make.”

Iowa City High 65, Iowa City West 52

At Iowa City High

IOWA CITY WEST (52): Avery Vest 2-4 0-0 6, Meena Tate 6-17 3-4 18, Melae Lacy 2-11 2-2 7, Keiko Ono-Fullard 2-3 3-4 8, Anna Prouty 4-8 1-3 9, Carolyn Pierce 0-1 1-2 1, Lucy Wolf 1-2 0-0 3, Krisha Kapoor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 10-15 52.

IOWA CITY HIGH (65): Georgia Kimm 1-4 4-4 7, Kelsey Joens 8-23 2-3 22, Eviyon Richardson 3-10 8-9 15, Andie Westlake 2-5 10-10 15, Bella Cooley 2-6 0-2 4, Lauren Koch 0-0 2-4 2, Emmy McComas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-50 26-32 65.

Iowa City West 20 5 15 12 — 52

Iowa City High 17 19 12 17 — 65

3-point goals: West 8-20 (Wolf 1-2, Vest 2-4, Tate 3-6, Lacy 1-5, Ono-Fullard 1-2, Pierce 0-1), City 7-22 (Joens 4-10, Kimm 1-4, Richardson 1-6, Westlake 1-2). Team fouls: West 21, City 14. Fouled out: Cooley. Rebounds: West 30 (Lacy 9), City 41 (Cooley 10). Assists: West 10 (Lacy 3), City 7 (Joens 3). Steals: West 2 (Lacy, Ono-Fullard), City 5 (Kimm, Cooley 2). Turnovers: West 10, City 4.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com