Meena Tate leads pivotal surge; West edges Liberty, 42-40

NORTH LIBERTY — Familiarity breeds intrigue, that’s for sure.

“There’s a lot of talk that goes on,” Iowa City West senior Meena Tate said. “Not during the game, really, but leading up to it.

“People can say whatever they want, but we’re going to make sure we come out on top.”

Quiet through much of the second half, Tate scored six points in a pivotal 8-0 fourth-quarter run, and Class 5A seventh-ranked West edged No. 13 Iowa City Liberty, 42-40, in a non-conference girls’ basketball game Friday night at Liberty High School.

“I challenged her a little bit,” West Coach Nate Frese said. “She shouldn’t be deferring with 8 seconds left on the shot clock. She needs to be aggressive, and she started doing that and knocked down a couple of really big jump shots.”

West improved to 4-0 this season and 8-0 all-time against its new intra-district rival.

The Trojans aren’t blowing opponents out, but they’re stacking wins.

“We’re definitely a work in progress,” said Tate, who led the Trojans with 15 points. “We’re only going to get better.”

Down 25-18 at halftime, Liberty (3-3) rallied to take a 33-32 lead by the end of the third quarter, then had its largest advantage of the game at 35-32 with 6:37 to play.

But Tate led the Trojans back. She hit a pair of free throws, then added a pair of mid-range shots in that telling surge that put West in front, 40-35.

Liberty got within 42-39 on Ava Meyer’s free throw with 26 seconds left.

Kennedy Daugherty was fouled on a shot with 0:01.9 to go. She made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second. West’s Grace Fincham secured the rebound, and the victory.

Neither team shot particularly well: West hit 15 of 55 shots (27.3 percent), Liberty was 12 of 46 (26.1 percent).

Again, familiarity.

“A lot of these kids play together in the summer,” Frese said. “They know each other’s tendencies, so it’s not always pretty.”

Anna Prouty added seven points and 14 rebounds (11 in the first half) for the winners.

Jasmine Barney paced the Lightning with 17 points; Meyer added 12.

The teams meet again Feb. 3 in a game that will count in the Mississippi Valley Conference standings.

BOYS: Iowa City West 68, Iowa City Liberty 51

Sophomore Jack McCaffery scored 27 points -- 18 in the second half -- and West ruled the final 2 1/2 quarters.

Trailing 31-21 midway through the second period, the Trojans (3-0) outscored the Bolts (1-1) by a 47-20 margin the rest of the way.

Kareem Earl added 14 points for the Trojans, Julian Manson tallied 10.

Da'Shon Fisher paced Liberty with 17 points.

The Bolts turned an early 12-4 deficit into a 31-21 lead, but the Trojans got within 33-29 by halftime, and controlled everything after intermission.

Iowa City West 42, Iowa City Liberty 40

At North Liberty

IOWA CITY WEST (42): Meena Tate 5-13 3-4 15, Carolyn Pierce 2-9 0-0 6, Melae' Lacy 1-10 1-2 3, Keiko Ono-Fullard 2-8 0-0 5, Anna Prouty 2-8 3-4 7, Lucy Wolf 1-3 0-0 2, Grace Fincham 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 15-55 7-10 42,

IOWA CITY LIBERTY (40): Avery Gaudet 0-5 0-0 0, Jasmine Barney 5-12 7-10 17, Kennedy Daugherty 0-1 1-4 1, Ava Meyer 4-12 1-2 12, Madeline Casey 1-7 0-0 3, Haley Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0, Janessa Mosley 1-5 2-4 4, Bella Tafolla 1-4 1-1 3. Totals 12-46 12-21 40.

Iowa City West 13 12 7 10 — 42

Iowa City Liberty 11 7 15 7 — 40

3-point goals: West 5-27 (Tate 2-4, Pierce 2-9, Lacy 0-3, Ono-Fullard 1-6, Prouty 0-1, Wolf 0-2, Fincham 0-2), Liberty 4-19 (Gaudet 0-2, Barney 0-2, Meyer 3-7, Casey 1-6, Mosley 0-1, Tafolla 0-1). Team fouls: West 12, Liberty 6. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: West 42 (Prouty 14), Liberty 40 (Barney 7). Assists: West 9 (Ono-Fullard, Fincham 3), Liberty 7 (Barney 3). Steals: West 6 (Ono-Fullard 2), Liberty 8 (Gaudet 3). Turnovers: West 13, Liberty 14.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com