Audrey Koch scores 34 points to lead Iowa City West to girls’ state basketball tournament

IOWA CITY - Seniors Audrey Koch and Matayia Tellis both had expectations, although slightly different, before they helped No. 6 Iowa City West defeat No. 13 Davenport North 69-54 Tuesday night in a Class 5A girls' basketball regional final.

'I expected Audrey and I to step up as seniors,” Tellis said. 'We've been to the state tournament and we want to go back.”

Tellis was 5-for-6 from the foul line and tallied 15 points. Koch lead all scorers with 34 points, including an 11-for-12 performance from the charity stripe.

'I was not expecting to have that many points,” Koch said. 'My teammates did an amazing job of getting me open, so a lot of credit to them.”

'I expected her to have that many points, I don't know what she's talking about,” Tellis said. 'We knew we needed to get it done now and everyone stepped in and did their thing. I was so proud of Audrey.”

Koch learned the game from parents Nathan and Bethany, former players themselves, and will take her game to Providence College next season. She showed why she'll continue her career at the next level, hitting a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to break a tie and then driving hard to the hoop to draw a foul with no time remaining in the third. Koch then hit both free throws to give the Trojans a 46-41 lead with eight minutes remaining.

'I think that's just where we've done a lot of situational plays,” Koch said. 'So, that's helped me feel good shooting those shots.”

The Trojans (13-3) feel focused entering a state tournament quarterfinal against No. 3 Waterloo West on Monday.

Koch said, 'just coming out with the right mentality and coming out strong and confident,” will help the Trojans get as far as they can in Des Moines.

'There's a lot of great competition but we're going in strong and wanting to win,” Koch said.

'If we can win it all,it will be with communication, defense and having it all together,” Tellis said. 'Then I feel like we got it.”