Another step closer to winning season for City High

CEDAR RAPIDS - They're almost there. That's in their record and with their program as a whole.

The Iowa City High Little Hawks took another positive step forward Thursday night, rallying from five points down in the fourth quarter to knock off Cedar Rapids Prairie, 66-65, in an entertaining MVC game.

That makes them 10-5 overall, which might not sound great or anything, though you've got to consider where they've been. City High hasn't had a winning season since 2008-09, with a 2-20 blooper thrown in there during that span.

In fact, the Little Hawks were just 7-16 last season. You can sense a corner being turned in Coach Don Showalter's fourth year on the hill.

'It's been kind of a long haul for us over the past four years,” said Showalter, known for his work with USA Basketball's youth teams and for the great job he did at Mid-Prairie. 'I said when I took this job that it was going to be four or five years. We were bringing our young kids up, getting the culture kind of where we want to. Where they're playing for each other and not being selfish. I like where we're at right now in our fourth year. I think we're getting better.”

City High led by as many as 13 points, only to see Prairie (6-9) go on a second-half run that gave it a 53-48 edge 1:31 into the fourth quarter. A trapping full-court defense helped the Little Hawks get back even, then senior guard Nile Ringen hit back-to-back dagger 3s that gave City High a 62-56 lead with 1:50 to go.

That was the ballgame. Prairie hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a one-point final.

'It was the whole team being resilient,” said Ringen, who'd made only one of his seven shots up to that point. 'No one just tried to take over or anything. At the end, we were just passing it around and trying to get good shots. The ball just happened to come into my hands.”

Five Little Hawks scored in double figures, led by 6-foot-9 center Micah Martin (14). He had an eight-inch size advantage on the two guys who guarded him most of the night (Logan Serbousek and Ryan Oxley).

Jalen Rima and Jake Eilers helped Prairie recuperate from its first-half predicament. Athletic and quick, Rima (a Northern Iowa football recruit) finished with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Eilers had five treys and 15 points.

'They just hit a couple of shots,” said Prairie Coach Jeremy Rickertsen. 'And this is on me, but we didn't recognize time and score on a couple of possessions there when we had the lead in the fourth quarter. We took a couple of quick shots. Again, that's on me.”

City High's road to a winning season won't be easy, as it runs the gauntlet with games to close the regular season against Dubuque Wahlert, Linn-Mar, Cedar Falls, Iowa City West, Dubuque Senior and Cedar Rapids Kennedy, in that order. The Little Hawks have clinched the second seed and a first-round bye in their Class 4A substate, one that includes West and Prairie.

The Hawks are the likely third seed. City High should be bolstered in the next week or so with the return of guard Nate Wieland, an all-MVC player a season ago who hasn't played, yet, because of a knee injury suffered during football season.

'We definitely felt like we should have had more wins last year,” said Ringen, who finished with three triples and nine points. 'We didn't finish out games. So this year, it's definitely been a goal of ours to finish a lot better and do better in the wins and losses. Then it's to finish out the season strong and try to make a run at state.”

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AT C.R. PRAIRIE

IOWA CITY HIGH (66): Jason Jones 4-5 5-6 13, Nile Ringen 3-9 0-0 9, Micah Martin 6-9 2-2 14, Naeem Smith 5-8 0-1 10, Henry Mulligan 2-8 4-6 10, Vance Dillon 0-2 0-0 0, Charles Johnson 5-6 0-0 10. Totals 25-47 11-15 66.

C.R. PRAIRIE (65): Jake Eilers 5-12 0-0 15, Jalen Rima 9-17 2-2 22, Logan Serbousek 1-1 2-3 4, Cal Clark 4-7 1-2 12, Max Smith-Drahos 2-7 0-0 4, Ryan Oxley 1-6 0-0 2, Ethan Copeland 0-2 0-0 0, Mason Hook 0-1 0-0 0, Griff Clark 1-1 0-0 3, Darren Kilpatrick 1-1 0-0 3, Cade Chadima 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 5-7 65.

Halftime – City High 35, Prairie 28. 3-point goals – City High 5-14 (Ringen 3-7, Mulligan 2-6, Dillon 0-1), Prairie 12-25 (Eilers 5-10, Rima 3-3, C. Clark 3-6, Smith-Drahos 0-1, Copeland 0-2, Hook 0-1, G. Clark 1-1, Kilpatrick 1-1). Rebounds – City High 35 (Martin 9), Prairie 22 (Rima 9). Total fouls – City High 13, Prairie 16. Fouled out – None. Turnvoers – City High 12, Prairie 8.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com