In top 10 battle, Iowa City Wests wins surprising rout over City High

IOWA CITY - Raise your hand if you saw this coming.

You in the back, report to detention for fibbing.

Iowa City West's fourth-ranked girls basketball team steamrolled rival City High, the seventh-ranked team in the state, 74-46, in a jam-packed City High gym Friday night.

'I think we had a little bit of the jitters in the first quarter because it's a City-West game,” West senior Mikaela Morgan said. 'But we saw what they were doing offensively and we came out ready to go in the second quarter.”

The Women of Troy (10-0) hit their stride in the second quarter when City High (8-3) went to a zone defense. They attacked the zone with surgical precision and got open shots from all over. They made 5 of 10 3-pointers in that quarter, with Dani Craig swishing three, Morgan one, and Jessica Harder the final one to give West a 38-24 halftime lead.

'We found the open shots and found the open person,” Craig said. Craig finished with 20 points overall and made 4 of 8 3-pointers.

West made 7 of 14 threes in the first half.

The second quarter was full of open shots created by good ball movement against the City zone.

'They went to a zone and we got some really good looks,” West Coach B.J. Mayer said. 'Our kids are really unselfish.”

Defensively, the Women of Troy made a key adjustment on City freshman star Ashley Joens. Joens tore up the Trojans in the early going, scoring 13 of City High's 15 first-quarter points.

Mayer switched defenses and put Morgan on Joens.

'He just told me to keep her in front,” Morgan said, noting that Joens had done most of her damage on dribble penetration.

Morgan was able to slow her considerably, although the freshman finished with a game-high 23 points after getting to the foul line 16 times.

'The second and third quarters I thought we were real good defensively and locked down,” Mayer said. 'We were running different kids at them. They (Courtney and Ashley Joens) are real good players. Unfortunately, Courtney got hurt a little bit. But our kids were able to slow down Ashley a little bit after the first quarter.”

Courtney Joens, an all-stater who averages more than 20 points, was held scoreless. She did not play in the second half. She has been troubled by a knee injury and hit the deck several times during the first half. That contributed to the unexpected blowout.