Cedar Falls prevails at West in OT

IOWA CITY — If there's a collective chip on the Cedar Falls Tigers' shoulders, it's unspoken.

Underrated? They're cool with it.

'We don't mind it,' Emma Gerdes said after the Class 5A 10th-ranked Tigers outlasted No. 14 Iowa City West in overtime, 64-60, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball game Tuesday night at West High School.

'We like being an underdog. We have all the confidence in the world that we can compete with anybody in the state.'

It's hard to argue. The Tigers (15-1 overall, 9-0 MVC) knocked off No. 1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Friday and are riding an eight-game winning streak.

'They're so balanced,' West Coach B.J. Mayer said. 'That makes them hard to defend.'

So balanced that five Tigers reached double-figures. Kiana Barney led the victors with 15 points. Gerdes posted 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Cedar Falls had an opportunity to win in regulation, but didn't get a shot on its final possession. No worries; the Tigers scored the first five points of overtime and maintained the lead throughout.

'It seemed they had the momentum going to overtime, but we were able to push through and get it done,' Tigers Coach Gregg Groen said.

So ... underrated?

'I don't know about that,' Groen said. 'We just try to control what we can control.'

West (10-6, 6-3) trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, and nine points in the third quarter. The Women of Troy rallied and took a one-point lead on three occasions in the fourth quarter.

Ally Conrad scored six points in an 8-2 Tigers run that put them up, 51-46, with 1:30 left. Lauren Zacharias' 3-pointer got West even at 51-all with 1:10 left, then Maddie Huinker hit a pair of free throws to make it 53-53 with 17 seconds left.

West was 20 of 22 from the line.

'We're close,' Mayer said. 'But we're not quite there yet.'

Logan Cook paced West with 17 points and six rebounds. Huinker added 13 points and four assists.

CEDAR FALLS 64, IOWA CITY WEST 60 (OT)

At Iowa City West

CEDAR FALLS (64): Reilly Johnson 0-3 0-1 0, Emma Gerdes 5-14 3-3 13, Ally Conrad 4-10 2-5 11, Kiana Barney 4-8 6-7 15, Cynthia Wolf 5-7 2-2 12, Calli Johnson 4-7 0-1 11, Hailey Paup 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-42 13-19 64.

IOWA CITY WEST (60): Lauren Zacharias 3-9 0-0 7, Rachael Saunders 1-4 1-2 4, Maddie Huinker 2-7 8-8 13, Logan Cook 5-9 7-8 17, Emma Koch 2-3 0-0 4, Jessie Harder 2-2 2-2 6, Katie McGrane 0-1 2-2 2, Cailyn Morgan 2-6 0-0 4, Maddie Fay 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Beckner 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 18-43 20-22 60.

Halftime: Cedar Falls 26, West 23. End of regulation: 53-53. 3-point goals: Cedar Falls 5-13 (R.Johnson 0-1, Gerdes 0-1, Conrad 1-3, Barney 1-4, C.Johnson 3-4), West 4-15 (Zacharias 1-5, Saunders 1-2, Huinker 1-3, Cook 0-1, Morgan 0-3, Beckner 1-1). Team fouls: Cedar Falls 20, West 18. Fouled out: Wolf, Saunders. Rebounds: Cedar Falls 29 (Gerdes 12), West 30 (Cook 6). Assists: Cedar Falls 9 (four with 2), West 9 (Huinker 4). Steals: Cedar Falls 10 (R.Johnson, Gerdes 3), West 9 (three with 2). Turnovers: Cedar Falls 17, West 19.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com