Early 3-point barrage sends Iowa City West past Washington, 55-45

CEDAR RAPIDS -- For Iowa City West, the green light is universal.

“We’re undersized, so we need to spread people out,” Coach Nate Frese said. “We don’t tell anybody not to shoot.”

Class 5A 12th-ranked West took 24 shots behind the 3-point arc, made 10 and defeated Cedar Rapids Washington, 55-45, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game Friday night at Washington High School.

“This summer, I decided I wanted us to take 30 threes per game,” Frese said. “We’re not quite there. But outside shooting was one of our focal points. If teams are going to sag off of us, I want us to shoot it.”

As West (8-3 overall, 4-0 MVC) reached the midpoint of the regular season, it had hoisted 253 3-point attempts (23 per game) and was hitting at 32.8 percent.

“We’re not the biggest team. We’re not going to do a lot of post-ups,” West junior Grace Fincham said. “We shot well (from outside) in the first quarter.”

The Trojans nailed three triples in the first 2 1/2 minutes on their way to a 9-2 lead, and played from in front throughout.

Washington (2-6, 1-2) was within 24-22 early in the third quarter, then West blew it open with an 18-5 surge through the rest of the period.

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The largest margin was 52-31 on Ava Frese’s 3-pointer with 3:22 left in the game before Washington closed with a flurry to make the final outcome much more respectable.

Fincham paced the Trojans with 15 points and seven rebounds, making 3 of 6 from distance. Abby Neumiller was 4 of 9 behind the ace and added 12 points and seven boards, and Ava Frese registered 11 points and four steals.

Washington’s 45 points came from four double-digit scorers. Tashi Fields came off the bench to score 13 points, including the Warriors’ final nine of the first half.

Samantha Becker and Lily Belle Barker added 11 points apiece (Becker grabbed eight rebounds), and Sira Doumbia tallied 10 points.

Iowa City West 55, Cedar Rapids Washington 45

At C.R. Washington

IOWA CITY WEST (55): Ava Frese 4-5 1-2 11, Kate Van Waning 3-6 0-0 7, Abby Neumiller 4-10 0-0 12, Grace Fincham 6-18 0-0 15, Sasha Baldwin 2-2 3-6 7, Lauryn Hynek 0-1 0-0 0, Savannah Mathias 0-0 0-0 0, Makayla Bryant 0-1 1-4 1, Elle Barnett 1-3 0-0 2, Sophie Bodin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 5-12 55.

C.R. WASHINGTON (45): Samantha Becker 4-16 3-4 11, Gabi Pedroso 0-3 0-0 0, Jamiah Malone 0-1 0-0 0, Sira Doumbia 5-9 0-0 10, Hailey Becker 0-0 0-0 0, Lily Belle Barker 4-7 0-0 11, Tashi Fields 6-11 1-1 13, Lillie Dostal 0-1 0-0 0, Jayla Strong 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 4-5 45.

Iowa City West 13 11 18 13 -- 55

C.R. Washington 9 11 7 18 -- 45

3-point goals: West 10-24 (Frese 2-3, Van Waning 1-2, Neumiller 4-9, Fincham 3-6, Hynek 0-1, Bryant 0-1, Barnett 0-2), Washington 3-14 (S. Becker 0-2, Pedroso 0-1, Barker 3-6, Fields 0-3, Strong 0-2). Team fouls: West 9, Washington 14. Fouled out: H. Becker. Rebounds: West 26 (Neumiller, Fincham 7), Washington 32 (S. Becker 8). Assists: West 12 (Baldwin 4), Washington 8 (S. Becker 3). Steals: West 8 (Frese 4), Washington 9 (Barker 3). Turnovers: West 10, Washington 14.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com