City High boys knock off West for first time in last 15 tries

IOWA CITY - Did you hear it? That chirp from outer space, the ripple in the fabric of time-space?

The City High boys basketball team is the culprit, defeating No. 2 Iowa City West, 63-53, Friday night at the City High gym. It was the Little Hawks' first win in the last 15 games between the rivals.

'We were really prepared for this game,” City point guard Naeem Smith said. 'We wanted to come out and make a statement.”

'As a team this has been a goal of ours since the very beginning, since day one,” City's Nile Ringen said. 'It was a great team effort.”

'I told our guys to take it all in; you had to watch them celebrate,” West Coach Steve Bergman said.

West (15-4) fell behind early as Smith used his speed to penetrate the defense, and Ringen hit three 3-pointers and Henry Mulligan two. The Little Hawks (11-8) held the Trojans to 15 first-half points and only one field goal in the second quarter, that coming in the final 20 seconds.

'Our guys were ready to play,” City High Coach Don Showalter said. 'I thought our defense was outstanding. Our zone's been pretty good to us.

'(West) is the best team in the state. They've been the best team in the state for five years. But our kids didn't back down.”

City led 23-15 at halftime and West never really recovered. The Trojans shot 35 percent and only 25 percent from behind the arc. They tried to press and City ended up with a number of Micha Martin dunks at the other end.

Mulligan and Ringen scored 14 while Martin led all scorers with 15.

'Generally we lacked a lot of focus,” Bergman said. 'And they played great.

'We didn't run anything; you practice certain things and then you get in a game and you lose your cool and you don't run what you practice, it's just that simple.”

The crowd was loud and the atmosphere was electric ... or maybe cosmic.

'I've been involved with seven gold medal games (for USA Basketball) and six or seven state-tournament appearances and this game might be one of the best I've ever been involved with,” Showalter said.