Iowa City West survives Cedar Falls comeback

CEDAR RAPIDS — That’s one way to win a basketball game.

Not the easiest way. But a way.

Kareem Earl’s three-point play off a drive down the right side of the lane with 30.9 seconds left lifted Class 4A second-ranked Iowa City West to a 45-43 win Saturday afternoon over No. 8 Cedar Falls.

The senior forward’s heroics helped the Trojans escape what would have been an ignominious defeat, as they led by 17 points at the break. Somehow they found themselves needing a rally in the final minute.

“We called a play, our wing was supposed to come up and look for the back cut,” Earl said. “I saw an opening, so I just took it. Thanks to my teammates for trusting me. I’m always hoping to take the big shots at the end.”

That there needed to be a big shot at the end was the story here.

West (11-1) had a 22-point second quarter to assume a 32-15 halftime edge. The Trojans hit shots (13 of 20 from the field) and really got after it defensively.

The second half was the exact same, it was just the teams doing the shooting and defending changed. Cedar Falls (9-3) got back into it behind full-court pressure defense (which forced 22 West turnovers), taking its first lead midway through the fourth quarter.

“They pressed us, and we either turned it over or we sped up and never ran an offense,” said West Coach Steve Bergman. “That just can’t happen.”

A Logan Wroe 3-pointer put the Tigers on top 43-42 with a minute and a half to go, but two missed CF free throws with 49.5 seconds left kept the score as it was and allowed West its opportunity. West defended Cedar Falls’ final possession well, with guard Aiden Heth missing a 3-point look from the wing just before the final buzzer.

“In the first half, we came out firing early. Defensive stops, kept pushing the ball,” Earl said. “The second half, I think we just let off the gas a little bit. That’s not good. We need to keep pushing on the gas against teams, especially good teams like this. But we were lucky enough at the end to come up with a big defensive stop.”

Earl led West with 15 points, his only second-half points coming on the game’s decisive offensive play. Leading scorer Jack McCaffery was held to two points, those coming on free throws after a CF technical foul.

West had only 13 second-half points. Cade Courbat’s 12 points led Cedar Falls.

“What I’ll say is a month and a half ago, we couldn’t guard anybody. And now we’re winning games where we play pretty poorly on offense because we’re guarding people,” Bergman said. “That’s what we’ve been selling. We weren’t buying it in December, but over break, we really worked at it. They have really bought in.”

Iowa City West 45, Cedar Falls 43

AT IOWA CITY WEST

CEDAR FALLS (43): Cade Courbat 4-8 3-6 12, William Gerdes 2-5 4-4 8, Jake Peters 4-8 0-0 8, Logan Wroe 3-5 0-0 7, Aiden Heth 1-4 0-2 3, Keegan Steege 0-4 0-0 0, Leyton Wolf 1-2 0-0 2, Jordan Townsend 0-1 0-0 0, Jaydon Kimbrough 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 16-38 8-13 43.

IOWA CITY WEST (45): Jack McCaffery 0-5 2-2 2, Kareem Earl 6-7 2-3 15, Julian Manson 2-4 0-2 4, Jacob Koch 3-6 0-0 9, Canaan Barnes 2-2 0-0 4, TaeVeon Stevens 4-7 0-0 9, Mason Goering 1-3 0-1 2, Jack Wallace 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-34 4-8 45.

Halftime - West 32, Cedar Falls 15. 3-point goals - Cedar Falls 3-12 (Courbat 1-2, Wroe 1-3, Heth 1-3, Steege 0-1, Wolf 0-1, Townsend 0-1), West 5-12 (McCaffery 0-2, Earl 1-2, Koch 3-5, Stevens 1-3). Rebounds - Cedar Falls 18 (Gerdes 8), West 22 (McCaffery 7). Total fouls - Cedar Falls 16, West 16. Technical foul - Wroe. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Cedar Falls 16, West 21.

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