City High uses advantage from long range to prevail against West

IOWA CITY - Reserve guard Christina Hora was coming off the winning 3-point shot in the waning seconds against Cedar Falls. So what the heck, why not launch another 3 in a tight, emotion-packed rivalry game?

After Iowa City West erased a 12-point deficit and climbed into a tie in the third period, Sydney Schroder and Hora hit two big 3s to send Iowa City High on its way to a 57-41 victory at the City High gym.

'You can't really think about it or you'd miss it,” Hora said.

City bolted to a big lead behind the 3-point shooting of Ashley Joens, who finished with a game-high 23 points. But the Women of Troy settled in with a solid second quarter when they made 6-of-9 shots and cut the deficit to three at halftime.

West's Lauren Cook opened the second half with a bucket and foul shot to tie the game. City Coach Bill McTaggart wasn't happy with what had happened to his offense during West's run.

'When we start hitting 3s, we tend to settle for 3s,” he said. 'If we move the ball around and get a 3, we're better at 3s.”

City went three possessions without scoring as the tension mounted. Schroder broke the ice with her 3.

'We just stayed calm and worked the ball around and took some good shots,” she said. 'We stayed very calm.”

Hora's 3 came on the next possession and all of a sudden, the Little Hawks were ahead by six again. 'Huge,” McTaggart said of the two 3s from non-Joens country.

'The start really hurt us,” West Coach B.J. Mayer said. 'We fought hard to get back and tie it, but that takes a lot out of you. I haven't seen Ashley Joens hit 3s like that in a long time.”

Joens made 6-of-8 3s during the game and West had been more worried about her dribble penetration.

Cook led West with 13 points. Courtney Joens added 15 for City. The Little Hawks made 11 of 22 3-point shots, while West was 2 of 14. West finished the regular season 14-7 and City is 18-3.