City High holds off late Dubuque Hempstead run

IOWA CITY — With just less than two minutes to go Friday night, the Iowa City High boys' basketball team looked like it had a win wrapped up, with just a few possessions and free throws left to ice it.

Visiting Dubuque Hempstead wasn't about to go down easy, however. The Mustangs hit a couple shots and got the benefit of some missed free throws from the Little Hawks. But thanks to what City High Coach Don Showalter called 'senior leadership,' a 7-2 run over the final 1:44 of game time wasn't enough for Hempstead to leave Iowa City with a win.

The Little Hawks held on for the 48-43 victory, and pushed one step closer to a top-two seed in their substate.

'I think that's just where you throw it out to your guys and say, 'Hey, listen, you guys finish the game. It's all in your hands.' If you have good senior leadership, that sure helps,' Showalter said. 'The kids learn (in that situation) that they have to make plays, whether it's free throw line or getting it in bounds. They just have to make plays. I thought overall that we executed pretty well, for the most part. We had a couple times under the basket we didn't get the ball in very well, but for the most part we got organized with it.'

City High (8-5) was led by senior guard Henry Mulligan, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds, as well as by senior center Micah Martin, who had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

It was Mulligan, though, who sparked the Little Hawks in the second half.

A back-and-forth stretch that saw Hempstead (5-7) tie it once and come within one another time was stopped on a four-point play from Mulligan. He curled off a screen and hit a 3-pointer while falling to the ground. His teammates seemed energized by the and-1, four-point play and Showalter thought that helped extend the lead to 12 at one point before the Mustangs' late run.

Showalter had almost pulled Mulligan before the play, too. He was glad in retrospect he didn't.

'Just before that stretch happened, we were about to take Henry out because we thought he was getting a little tired and wanted to get him a break,' Showalter said. 'Then he comes off that curl and hits a 3, and then made two more layups or something like that. He's a senior, and if your seniors don't come through for you in games like this, you're probably not going to win them. Fortunately we had some.'

With games coming up in February against Linn-Mar, Dubuque Wahlert and crosstown rival Iowa City West, Friday night's win goes a long way for City High, Showalter said.

Building up those wins while waiting on injured Nate Wieland — a first team All-Mississippi Valley Conference selection a year ago — to return is vital with what's ahead.

'We hope to get seeded no lower than second (in substate), so this really helped with that. Plus the fact that we're still playing without our best player,' Showalter said. 'No question about it that Nate Wieland — he was first team all-conference for us last year — so we're playing without him, which would give us one more body and one really good athlete. That makes a difference.

'We hope (to get him back) in another week. He's got nerve damage, and that heals really slow. We hope to get him back for this February stretch run, because we have six games in February that are really, really tough.'

AT IOWA CITY HIGH

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD (43)

: Lucas Duax 2-7 2-3 7, Ryan McDonough 3-10 0-0 7, Marshon Crowder 5-8 2-4 12, Connor Duax 1-7 1-4 3, Trevor Sindberg 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Cooksey 3-4 1-2 10, Keith Johnson 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 16-39 6-15 43.

IOWA CITY HIGH (48)

: Naeem Smith 3-5 1-2 7, Henry Mulligan 5-8 2-3 13, Nile Ringen 1-6 2-3 5, Jason Jones 3-5 0-2 6, Micah Martin 4-9 3-7 11, Charles Johnson 2-3 0-0 4, Vance Dillon 1-2 0-0 2, Gabriel Nkumu 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-39 8-17 48.

Halftime — Iowa City High 20, Dubuque Hempstead 19. 3-point goals — Hempstead 5-20 (L. Duax 1-4, McDonough 1-7, C. Duax 0-5, Cooksey 3-4). City High 2-8 (Mulligan 1-2, Ringen 1-5, Dillon 0-1) Rebounds — City High 28 (Martin 11). Hempstead 19 (Crowder 4). Total fouls — Hempstead 17, City High 14. Fouled out — None. Turnovers

— City High 12, Hempstead 12.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com