Iowa City West girls heading to state after win over Pleasant Valley

IOWA CITY - Iowa City West's seniors watched the game clock tick down to zero from the comfort of their own bench. With the 45-27 regional final victory over Pleasant Valley safely secured, the bench erupted, and Dani Craig grabbed Bella Lozano-Dobbs around the neck and nearly swung her around.

'There's no feeling like it; it's so amazing,” Craig said. 'Being on the bench was a lot cooler because we got to see others on the team on the floor and the whole celebration.”

'It feels really good to get back to state,” senior Grace Tafolla said. 'I was a freshman when we won state. Unfortunately we didn't get back to state last year. That was a bummer. We worked really hard all season together.”

Craig tore an ACL last year and missed the season. The loss of a Division-I point guard (Ally Disterhoft) hurt the Women of Troy, and they failed to have the kind of season they had become accustomed to. But she was back this season as West put together a gaudy 20-2 record heading into this final.

Pleasant Valley (18-5) was ranked seventh, but lacks size and didn't have a senior on the roster. The Women of Troy were favorites and wanted desperately to earn their fourth trip to state in the last five years. But they did the best they could to avoid adding extra pressure to themselves.

'All of us saw each other in the halls and I wouldn't say we were nervous, but we were excited,” Tafolla said. 'We just wanted to get out there and play.”

They took control immediately, efficiently carving up Pleasant Valley's zone defense by using a high and low post to go with three perimeter players. Emily Halverson, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the first half as West took a 30-16 lead.

'I was very surprised because I was kind of in a slump,” Halverson said. 'But my teammates always picked me up and that really helped. I was finishing my shots, and it felt really good.”

'What we emphasized was coming out and trying to get a big lead in the beginning,” Craig said. 'I think we executed that really well.”

West made 12 of 21 shots in the first half, while the Spartans were 6 of 22. The Spartans came in shooting 26 percent behind the arc, yet they launched 23 3-pointers among their 43 shots. They made just four 3-pointers and 10 field goals overall.

'It's a journey,” West Coach B.J. Mayer said. 'One of the things that we tried to do is keep getting better. There were nights - the Kennedy game and even the Valley game - but we bounced back.”

West (21-2) play No. 6 Southeast Polk (17-6) in a Class 5A quarterfinal game at 3:15 p.m. March 4 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.