4th-quarter surge sends Iowa City High to girls’ state basketball tournament

IOWA CITY — Supporting cast? Not this night.

Emmy McComas and Georgia Kimm stepped out of the shadows, into the spotlight.

It was a necessary transformation, one that sent Iowa City High to the girls’ state basketball tournament. The fifth-ranked Little Hawks rallied past Linn-Mar, 59-51, in a Class 5A regional final Tuesday night at City High.

“I’m so proud of us,” said McComas, a freshman. “At halftime, the locker room was very positive. There’s a lot of love on this team.”

City High (19-4) advances to the state tournament for the 12th time, the fifth in six years. The 5A brackets will be assembled after Wednesday’s games are complete; five were postponed Tuesday due to inclement weather.

On a team generally dominated by Kelsey Joens (a junior and an Iowa State commit) and Eviyon Richardson (a senior and an Omaha signee), it was McComas, Kimm and Andie Westlake who made the plays in the clutch.

That trio scored 18 of City’s 20 fourth-quarter points.

“I felt confident,” Kimm said. “In the fourth quarter, we really did a good job in staying hyped. We knew we had this, it was just a matter of making strong decisions on the court.”

The Little Hawks lost to Linn-Mar (15-8) here 11 days ago, and for a while, it looked like the same script. City trailed by nine points in the second quarter and still faced a 42-39 deficit entering the fourth.

McComas drilled a 3-pointer to open the final period, tying the game at 42-42, then Kimm hit another to put the Little Hawks in front for good, 47-44, with 3:10 left.

Kimm converted a three-point play to make it 50-46 at the 2:11 mark, and McComas hit a layup that pushed the lead to 54-47 with just over a minute to go.

“We wanted it. We wanted to go to state,” said McComas, who posted a career-high 11 points and 10 rebounds. “Everyone boosts everyone’s confidence.

“Like the coaches say, I’m not a freshman anymore. I can step up and make shots.”

McComas was one of four Little Hawks in double figures. Joens led all scorers with 19 points. Westlake tallied 14, Kimm 12.

Richardson managed just one point, but contributed six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

“We didn’t want to get beat by their (best) players,” Linn-Mar Coach Chad Tompkins said. “Their other kids stepped up.”

City scored the first 10 points of the game, then Linn-Mar was the superior team through the rest of the first half. The Lions hit 6 of 7 shots behind the 3-point arc, took their largest lead at 32-23 and took a 32-26 advantage into the locker room.

The Little Hawks scored the first six points of the second half to tie it, then the Lions tallied the next six. The fourth quarter belonged to City.

Taylor Brunson led Linn-Mar with 16 points. Zoe Kennedy added 11 points and 10 boards, and Caelynn Obleton scored 10.

“It’s always disappointing to lose, but we had a really nice season,” Tompkins said. “Our staff thought we could be a sneaky good team because the girls play so hard.”

Iowa City High 59, Linn-Mar 51

Class 5A Regional Final, at City High

LINN-MAR (51): Ellie Daubenmier 1-4 0-0 2, Tessa Casebolt 1-2 0-2 2, Taylor Brunson 6-11 3-5 16, Caelynn Obleton 4-6 0-0 10, Zoe Kennedy 3-10 2-2 11, Sofia Bush 2-5 0-0 4, Ella Grove 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 20-42 4-8 51.

IOWA CITY HIGH (59): Emmy McComas 4-9 2-4 11, Georgia Kimm 4-6 1-1 12, Kelsey Joens 6-16 5-6 19, Eviyon Richardson 0-8 1-2 1, Andie Westlake 4-10 5-6 14, Bella Cooley 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 19-52 14-21 59.

Linn-Mar 17 15 10 9 — 51

Iowa City High 19 7 13 20 — 59

3-point goals: Linn-Mar 6-11 (Brunson 0-2, Obleton 2-2, Kennedy 3-5, Bush 0-2), City 7-25 (McComas 1-3, Kimm 3-5, Joens 2-5, Richardson 0-5, Westlake 1-7). Team fouls: Linn-Mar 15, City 12. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Linn-Mar 27 (Kennedy 10), City 35 (McComas 10). Assists: Linn-Mar 7 (Brunson, Kennedy, Bush 2), City 10 (Richardson 5). Steals: Linn-Mar 4 (Kennedy 2), City 9 (Richardson 3). Turnovers: Linn-Mar 15, City 8.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com