Iowa City West beats City High again in crosstown rivalry

IOWA CITY - The boys' basketball battle of Iowa City was much the same as it's been during Iowa City West's run of three consecutive state championships. Top-ranked and unbeaten West has too much size, speed, and skill for City High and defeated the Little Hawks, 64-40, before a standing room only crowd Friday night at City High.

'Against a team like that, I mean they're throwing it from one D-I player to another D-I player to another,” City High Coach Don Showalter said. 'They're pretty good.”

West jumped to a 10-point lead early, but City (3-5) whittled it down to 20-18 midway through the second quarter as its zone defense seemed to bother the Trojans. It led to poor shots and some run-outs by City High.

'Our kids played hard,” Showalter said. 'They came out with a great mindset. We've got a long way to go, but we're making progress.”

The Trojans (9-0) responded with two key 3-pointers from David DiLeo to bump the lead to 28-20 at halftime.

'When I was open I felt confident in shooting and knocking it down,” DiLeo said.

As the third quarter began West extended the lead to 35-20 with two Tanner Lohaus baskets inside and another DiLeo three. City never recovered.

'We made a few shots; we got a few stops,” West Coach Steve Bergman said. 'That's a good way to start. I said we can't let the guys who want to drive get going down hill.”

DiLeo said the team knew it had to run its offense more efficiently in the second half.

'We lost them a couple times and they hit a couple threes,” Showalter said. 'They worked the high post in the middle of our zone and got some easy baskets. (Lohaus) is very agile and mobile, so he's going to get open in those areas.”

Lohaus and Connor McCaffery each had 16 points for West. Nile Ringen had 10 and Nate Wieland nine for City. West made 24 of 46 shots, including 7-of-14 3-pointers. City was held to 13-of-36 overall and made one of nine 3-point shots.