Iowa City High rallies behind its press at Linn-Mar

MARION — Iowa City High proved some things in its girls' basketball season opener Tuesday.

The Little Hawks can come from behind. They can overcome foul trouble — and a chilly night — from their superstar.

Class 5A fourth-ranked City High closed the game with a 10-2 surge and outlasted No. 10 Linn-Mar, 55-47, in a Mississippi Valley Conference encounter at Linn-Mar High School.

'This says a lot,' said Sydney Schroder, who helped engineer the Little Hawks' full-court press that brought them back from a 12-point deficit. 'Ashley is one of our main point scorers, and to win when she isn't scoring a massive amount of points, that's a good sign.'

Playing in front of her future college coach (Iowa State's Bill Fennelly, to whom she committed earlier this month), Joens picked up her third foul early in the second quarter, and her fourth midway through the third.

The Little Hawks (1-0 overall, 1-0 MVC) didn't blink.

Instead of benching Joens, City Coach Bill McTaggart kept her in the game with four fouls.

'We were down (35-26 at the time), and I thought things might get out of hand if we took her out,' McTaggart said. 'I asked her if she could play with four, and she said she could.'

She never picked up No. 5, and the Little Hawks rallied.

City High turned steals into baskets and grabbed the lead, 40-39, by the end of the third quarter. It was 45-45 before City's final run.

Freshman Rose Marie Nkumu scored to give the Little Hawks the lead with 3:00 left. Then Joens converted two free throws and freshman sister Aubrey Joens added two more, and the Lions (1-1, 0-1) never got closer than four points again.

Linn-Mar finished with 21 turnovers, 14 on City High steals (six by Schroder).

'Our defense helped us,' Schroder said. "We got steals and turned them into baskets.'

Lions Coach Jaime Brandt said, 'I have to keep reminding myself how young we are. A lot of kids maybe aren't used to this level, and this kind of pressure.'

Aubrey Joens led the Little Hawks with 14 points. Ashley Joens added 11 points, despite a 3-of-13 shooting night, and 14 rebounds. Schroder tacked on 11 points.

UNI recruit Kamryn Finley led Linn-Mar with 18 points before fouling out late.

IOWA CITY HIGH 55, LINN-MAR 47

At Linn-Mar

IOWA CITY HIGH (55): Rose Marie Nkumu 4-7 0-0 8, Sydney Schroder 4-13 3-4 11, Ashley Joens 3-13 4-4 11, Aubrey Joens 4-12 5-7 14, Kenya Earl 3-9 1-2 9, Christina Hora 0-3 0-0 0, Paige Rocca 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-60 13-17 55.

LINN-MAR (47): Carly Spies 2-4 2-2 6, Ally Johnson 2-7 0-1 5, Lexi Frese 1-5 1-2 3, Megan Murphy 1-1 0-0 3, Kamryn Finley 4-6 7-8 18, Macey Miller 1-4 5-6 7, Carly Printy 1-3 0-1 3, Megan Renner 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Anderson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 13-33 15-20 47.

Halftime: Linn-Mar 26, City High 21. 3-point goals: City High 4-19 (Schroder 0-4, Ash.Joens 1-3, Aub.Joens 1-3, Earl 2-4, Hora 0-3, Rocca 0-2), Linn-Mar 6-17 (Johnson 1-5, Murphy 1-1, Finley 3-5, Miller 0-2, Printy 1-2, Anderson 0-2). Team fouls: City High 18, Linn-Mar 16. Fouled out: Finley. Rebounds: City High 34 (Ash.Joens 14), Linn-Mar 33 (Spies 9). Assists: City High 3 (three with 1), Linn-Mar 7 (Johnson 3). Steals: City High 14 (Schroder 6), Linn-Mar 5 (Spies 2). Turnovers: City High 12, Linn-Mar 21.

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