Top-ranked West’s defense a game-changer in win over City High

IOWA CITY — City High made it uncomfortable, especially when the Little Hawks cut Iowa City West's lead to 23-21 in the third quarter, but the top-ranked Trojans responded by putting the defensive clamps on the Little Hawks en route to a 45-31 victory at West.

'We didn't make very many shots, but I thought we defended pretty well,' West Coach Steve Bergman said. 'We took away their threes, and we did a better job on (center) Micah (Martin). Last year we didn't do a good job on him and (Charles) Johnson. I thought we did a really good job on them.'

City dug itself a hole right away with three turnovers while West built a 7-0 lead and eventually extended it to 11 points.

'Last year they were beating us here for a while,' West's Wali Parks said.

'We came in fired up, ready to play. We love playing them.'

'They had five points in the first quarter, so that was huge from a confidence standpoint,' West's Connor McCaffery said.

'We started off terrible,' City High Coach Don Showalter said. 'But we hung in there and made a comeback. We got the ball inside a few times.'

West cooled off and made only two baskets in the second quarter, one a banked 3-pointer from McCaffery to close the half with a 21-13 lead. City opened the second half with three consecutive scores to cut the lead to two.

'In the second and third quarter we didn't make any shots,' Bergman said. 'So they were doing something right, too. We were getting good looks.'

City's zone frustrated the Trojans as the Little Hawks cut into the lead.

'They were making shots, but we weren't defending,' Parks said. 'Once we put the pressure back on it was good for us.'

'Our defense was the game-changer because we didn't make as many shots as we normally do,' McCaffery said.

West (7-2, 5-0) bumped the lead to seven after three quarters and held City (6-4, 3-2) to just eight fourth-quarter points. McCaffery made his last six free throws in addition to scoring on a drive and a fast break to lead the fourth-period charge. West held City to 4-of-12 shooting in the final quarter and forced four turnovers.

'That's why they're No. 1; they do things they have to do to win ballgames,' Showalter said.