Despite graduation losses to girls’ basketball program, West Branch hasn’t gone away

Jarod Tylee would like to say he knew something you didn’t know.

But, instead, he’s just as surprised as you by his team’s 6-0 start.

“No, I wasn’t expecting this,” said Tylee, girls’ basketball coach at West Branch High School.

The Bears graduated more than 80 percent of their scoring punch from last year, when they enjoyed their best season in school history — 21-2 and a postseason run that stretched to the Class 2A state semifinals.

Among the departed was Sasha Koenig, 2021 Gazette-area player of the year.

The expected drop-off, though ... that hasn’t happened. Credit a new approach. A defense-based approach.

“We’re more of a Mike Sconsa-Cascade sort of team this year,” Tylee said. “We get after it on defense. We are grinding out wins instead of flying up and down the floor.

“We understand that we’re not going to be a run-and-gun team. We’re just not built that way.”

West Branch, which jumped into the Class 2A rankings this week at No. 9, is scoring at a modest 49.6-point clip, but yielding just 32.0 points per contest.

The eye-opening verdict was a 32-27 home win over Cascade last Friday, in which the Bears beat the Cougars at their own game — defending hard on one end, playing long possessions on the other.

Delaynie Luneckas is the lone returning starter from last year. The 6-foot-2 senior post is averaging 14.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, and is among the state’s blocked-shot leaders with 5.8 swats per contest.

The other main contributors consist of two juniors, three sophomores and freshman guard August Palmer, who leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game, and adds 7.3 rebounds and 4.2 steals per contest.

“I knew Augie was going to be a good player,” Tylee said. “(At 5-9), she’s long for a point guard, and she’s starting to figure things out.”

Sophomore Kylie Pickett averages 9.3 points per game.

The Bears, without a doubt, are ahead of schedule.

“My goal at the beginning of the year was to become that team in February that nobody wanted to play, that team that nobody wanted to see in their (postseason) bracket,” Tylee said.

City-West, Chapter I

It’s the top girls’ basketball rivalry in the area. And, like usual, it’s a virtual tossup.

Class 5A second-ranked Iowa City High (4-0) welcomes No. 4 Iowa City West (5-0) for the first of their two battles this season. Tipoff is 6 p.m. Friday at City’s new gymnasium.

West will be without senior guard Emma Ingersoll-Weng for the rest of the season, due to a torn ACL suffered last week. Ingersoll-Weng was the Trojans’ second-leading scorer at 10.8 points per game.

Junior Meena Tate paces the Trojans at 15.2 points per game.

City High has three players in double figures: junior Kelsey Joens (22.3 ppg), senior Eviyon Richardson (12.5) and Andie Westlake (11.3).

Joens is an Iowa State commit.

West won both games last season, by scores of 75-63 and 57-52. City High swept the series in 2019-20. Both teams have outscored their opponents this season by about 12 points per game.

Friday’s battle does not count in the MVC standings. The counting game is Jan. 21 at West.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com