City High girls rally to beat No. 6 Linn-Mar

IOWA CITY - Kenya Earl made two clutch free throws with a minute left, and the ninth-ranked Iowa City High girls' basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit last night to defeat No. 6 Linn-Mar, 48-42.

The loss was the first of the season for the Lions (5-1), who bolted to a 20-6 lead after one quarter thanks to 8-of-11 shooting, including four 3-pointers. The Little Hawks (6-1) committed 10 first-quarter turnovers and missed several close shots.

'We weren't ready to play mentally,” City senior Sarah Plock said. 'Physically we were there most of the time, but mentally we weren't ready.”

But City High slowly chipped away at the lead.

It wasn't until 6 minutes, 57 seconds were left in the game that City took the lead again, 37-36, on a Courtney Joens drive in transition.

'Right after that happened you could feel the momentum push to our side,” Plock said.

'They put a little bit more pressure on us and we started to turn the ball over a bit more,” Linn-Mar senior Nikita Sharma said. 'Once we got it past half court (against City's press) they double-teamed us and we need to work on avoiding the trap.”

Part of City's inability to score came from top-notch defense against leading scorers Courtney and Ashley Joens, who together average 43 points per game. Kamryn Finley did a great job on fellow freshman Ashley Joens, and Sharma and others helped slow down Courtney. The two Joens girls combined for 22 points.

In the fourth quarter Courtney Joens scored three big baskets by posting up inside despite double and triple teams.

Still it was Earl's two foul shots on a one-and-one with 1:09 left to play that gave City a 45-40 lead and some mild level of comfort.

'Free throws are important in games like that, so I knew I had to make them,” Earl said.

Finley led Linn-Mar with 13 points, Megan Murphy had 12.