Iowa City West wins big-school, small-school Rivalry Saturday showdown over Garrigan

CEDAR RAPIDS — During a late-game break in the action, Audi Crooks and Meena Tate shared a quick word as they awaited free throws.

A quick smile.

“We were just telling each other, ‘Good game,’ Tate said. ”She was pretty cool.

“We all thought (Algona Garrigan was) good before. And they were.”

Iowa City West was a little better.

Tate scored 23 points, and Class 5A eighth-ranked West hit a Rivalry Saturday-record 11 3-pointers in a 60-50 conquest of the 1A No. 2 Golden Bears at Johnson Hall.

The Trojans (1-0) scored the final nine points to punctuate a great big-school/small-school showdown.

“I think Meena was nervous early,” West Coach B.J. Mayer said. “All of us were nervous early. I think we were 1 of 9 from the line and we missed eight to 10 2-footers.”

West led 25-22 at halftime and maintained the advantage afterward, but the Golden Bears (0-1) — 1A state runners-up in 2020 and 2021 — stayed right on their heels until the final 2 1/2 minutes.

Meredith Tigges’ 3-pointer got Garrigan within 51-50 at the 3:12 mark, but Tate scored the next seven points — on a 3-pointer, an inside move and a pair of free throws — then Malae Lacy drained two more fouls shots, and the final margin was the largest of the game.

In Crooks — a strong-bodied, 6-foot-3 junior post who is being recruited by all four of the state’s Division-I programs — and junior guard Molly Joyce, Garrigan has “two players that could play in (the Mississippi Valley Conference),” Mayer said.

Crooks posted 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Joyce added 17 points.

“She’s good,” Mayer said of Crooks. “She’s got great hands. She’s very physical. They threw it up, and she went up and got it. We tried to make it difficult, keeping two people around her.”

West compensated by keeping the pace fast when it could.

“We’re always going to push the ball. We want to get out and run,” said Tate, who also crafted four rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Emma Ingersoll-Weng and Avery Vest added nine points apiece for the Trojans.

Iowa City West 60, Algona Garrigan 50

At Johnson Hall

ALGONA GARRIGAN (50): Emma Grandgenett 1-3 0-0 3, Molly Joyce 5-14 4-5 17, Abbie Capesius 0-1 1-2 1, Meredith Tigges 1-2 2-2 5, Audi Crooks 8-11 6-10 22, Zoe Montag 0-1 0-0 0, Ashlyn Hovey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-41 13-19 50.

IOWA CITY WEST (60): Lucy Wolf 2-3 0-0 5, Emma Ingersoll-Weng 3-6 2-3 9, Meena Tate 9-21 2-5 23, Melae Lacy 2-5 2-4 7, Anna Prouty 2-8 0-2 4, Avery Vest 3-9 0-0 9, Carolyn Pierce 1-4 0-0 2, Keiko Ono-Fullard 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 22-58 5-13 60.

Algona Garrigan 12 10 17 11 — 50

Iowa City West 12 13 18 17 — 60

3-point goals: Garrigan 5-20 (Grandgenett 1-3, Joyce 3-7, Montag 0-6, Tigges 1-2, Hovey 0-1), West 11-25 (Wolf 1-2, Ingersoll-Weng 2-3, Vest 3-7, Tate 3-7, Pierce 0-1, Lacy 1-2, Ono-Fullard 1-3). Team fouls: Garrigan 16, West 13. Fouled out: Grandgenett. Rebounds: Garrigan 20 (Crooks 12), West 29 (Wolf, Ingersoll-Weng 6). Assists: Garrigan 7 (Grandgenett 2), West 13 (Tate 4). Steals: Garrigan 4 (four with 1), West 10 (Tate 4). Turnovers: Garrigan 11, West 12.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com