Lucy Wolf (early), Meena Tate (late) ignite Iowa City West girls’ basketball against Clear Creek Amana

TIFFIN — Lucy Wolf had taken her turn keeping Iowa City West in the game.

“Hero Ball 101,” Coach Nate Frese called it.

But when crunch time arrived, Frese beckoned Meena Tate.

“I told her, ‘It’s got to be you,’” Frese said. “You’re our senior leader. You’re the best player on our team.”

And Tate delivered. The Dartmouth College signee scored nine points in a game-breaking 14-0 run, and Class 5A seventh-ranked West topped 4A No. 8 Clear Creek Amana, 61-47, in a non-conference girls’ basketball encounter between the Corridor neighbors Tuesday night at Clear Creek Amana High School.

“I was really frustrated with myself at the beginning of the game,” Tate said. “My shots weren’t falling. Something had to change.”

Such as?

“I’ve got to get to the lane.”

Tate scored a game-high 25 points to pace the Trojans in their opener. But they wouldn’t have been in a winning position without the services of Wolf, who came off the bench to score 15 first-half points, hitting her first four 3-point attempts.

“Oh, man,” Frese said. “That was Hero Ball 101. She has no conscience. She thinks she’s going to make every shot.”

And for a while, she did.

“I came into the game super-excited,” Wolf said. “And my teammates were there to back me up.”

West (1-0) faced an early 12-4 deficit before Wolf went to work. Her fourth 3-pointer gave the Trojans a 22-21 lead. That margin grew to 40-32 before the Clippers (1-1) made a push.

Ava Locklear’s transition basket gave CCA a 41-40 lead late in the third quarter. It was tied 43-43 before Tate led West to its decisive run.

Locklear led the Clippers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, doing the majority of her damage in the first half.

“I thought I was going to have Tate on her, but we switched to Melae’ (Lacy), and she did a good job contesting (Locklear’s) shots,” said Frese, who won his first game as head coach after succeeding B.J. Mayer.

IOWA CITY WEST 63, CLEAR CREEK AMANA 43 (Boys)

Jack McCaffery registered 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the Trojans (1-0) led from start to finish.

Juju Manson and Brady Simcox added 11 points apiece, and Kareem Earl tallied 10.

The Trojans held a 17-8 lead after a quarter, 36-18 at halftime.

Cale Berry scored 16 points for the Clippers (0-1).

Iowa City West 61, Clear Creek Amana 47

At Tiffin

IOWA CITY WEST (61): Meena Tate 11-26 1-4 25, Carolyn Pierce 2-8 0-0 5, Melae’ Lacy 3-5 0-2 7, Keiko Ono-Fullard 1-1 0-0 3, Anna Prouty 2-4 0-2 4, Lucy Wolf 5-7 1-1 15, Grace Fincham 0-2 0-0 0, Zola Gross 0-0 0-0 0, Aly Skala 1-1 0-0 2, Elle Barnett 0-0 0-0 0, Laney Prelle 0-0 0-0 0, Krisha Kapoor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 2-9 61.

CLEAR CREEK AMANA (47): Sam Schrage 2-7 0-0 5, Olivia Miller 1-8 0-0 3, Bliss Beck 2-4 1-4 5, Reese Stockman 3-8 1-4 8, Ava Locklear 8-14 5-10 21, Averie Lower 2-4 0-0 5, Kaylee Stratton 0-0 0-0 0, Melissa Sweeney 0-0 0-0 0, Lena Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Kennedy Stratton 0-1 0-0 0, Kiera Rogers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 7-18 47.

Iowa City West 9 24 10 18 — 61

Clear Creek Amana 14 13 14 6 — 47

3-point goals: West 9-23 (Tate 2-7, Pierce 1-6, Lacy 1-2, Ono-Fullard 1-1, Wolf 4-5, Fincham 0-2), CCA 4-13 (Schrage 1-2, Miller 1-6, Stockman 1-3, Lower 1-2). Team fouls: West 12, CCA 10. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: West 30 (Prouty 12), CCA 38 (Locklear 10). Assists: West 9 (Tate, Wolf 2), CCA 7 (Schrage 3). Steals: West 9 (Tate, Wolf 3), CCA 8 (Schrage 3). Turnovers: West 11, CCA 17.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com