Best public-school girls basketball team in Iowa City? Still yet to be determined

NORTH LIBERTY — Iowa City? Split City!

And that’s not synonymous with mediocrity.

Class 5A 10th-ranked Iowa City Liberty seized command with a 14-0 second-quarter surge and held off No. 9 Iowa City High, 56-51, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game Friday night at Liberty High School.

And with that, the debate lingers:

Which of the three Iowa City public-school teams is best?

After all, Liberty split with City High, which split with Iowa City West, which split with Liberty.

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“Wow, I don’t know,” Liberty senior Janessa Mosley said. “All three teams are really good. They’ve all been really good games.”

Perhaps an answer will be provided in the postseason. Speaking of which, you’d have to think that Liberty (15-4 overall, 9-3 MVC) would stand a better-than-break-even chance of drawing one of the eight No. 1 regional seeds should it defeat Cedar Rapids Xavier at home on Tuesday.

“I don’t know. I try not to guess, because I’m wrong every year,” Liberty Coach Jaime Brandt said after the Bolts set a program record with their 15th victory. “All we can do is take care of ourselves.”

As the MVC season heads into the final week, Liberty is tied for second (with Iowa City West) in the Mississippi Division, one game behind Xavier.

So, yeah, Tuesday is huge for the Lightning, on multiple levels.

Meanwhile, City High’s loss wrapped up a title share for Cedar Rapids Prairie in the Valley Division.

The Little Hawks (13-6, 9-3) led 26-20 when Tessa Driscoll made a pair of free throws with 6:06 left in the second quarter.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Madeline Casey and Mosley capped that fateful 14-zip Lightning strike, then Liberty held on at the end.

Kaitlin Loria hit a basket to bring the Little Hawks within 52-51 with less than a minute to play, then Natalie Ramsey made two free throws and Casey added two more in the closing seconds.

Casey made four 3-pointers and led the Lightning with 14 points. Mosley added 13 points, and Ramsey tacked on 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Liberty got a big lift off the bench from freshman Natalie Schechinger (six points, seven rebounds, four assists and a late steal).

“She does everything,” Mosley said. “For her height, she’s our second-best rebounder. But defense is her best thing.”

Emmy McComas and Eve Vitense scored 12 points apiece for City. McComas also supplied eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

BOYS: City High 70, Liberty 51

Christopher Watkins scored 32 points, Jaxton Schroeder added 20, and the Little Hawks (5-12) pulled away in the second half.

Liberty fell to 2-15.

Iowa City Liberty 56, Iowa City High 51

At North Liberty

IOWA CITY HIGH (51): August Palmer 4-14 0-0 10, Hattie Galloway 1-7 0-0 2, Kaitlin Loria 3-9 1-5 7, Emmy McComas 5-12 2-2 12, Tessa Driscoll 2-9 3-4 8, Eve Vitense 4-7 1-2 12, Maybes Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 7-13 51.

IOWA CITY LIBERTY (56): Ava Casey 2-6 3-6 9, Janessa Mosley 5-8 1-2 13, Madilyn Meyer 0-2 0-0 0, Natalie Ramsey 5-16 2-2 12, Madeline Casey 4-12 2-2 14, Natalie Schechinger 2-4 2-2 6, Morgan Bennett 0-3 0-0 0, Sydney Van Heukelom 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 18-51 12-16 56.

Iowa City High 19 8 10 14 — 51

Iowa City Liberty 18 16 8 14 — 56

3-point goals: City 6-20 (Palmer 2-5, Galloway 0-1, Loria 0-1, McComas 0-2, Driscoll 1-5, Vitense 3-6), Liberty 8-23 (A. Casey 2-5, Mosley 2-3, Meyer 0-1, Ramsey 0-2, M. Casey 4-10, Schechinger 0-1, Bennett 0-1). Team fouls: City 14, Liberty 14. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: City 37 (McComas 8), Liberty 42 (Ramsey 13). Assists: City 11 (McComas 4), Liberty 13 (A. Casey, Schechinger 4). Steals: City 9 (McComas 4), Liberty 6 (Mosley, Schechinger 2). Turnovers: City 7, Liberty 13.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com