West battles past Xavier, 44-35

CEDAR RAPIDS — They call them '50-50 balls,' those loose balls for the taking by either team.

They didn't seem 50-50 to Tom Lilly.

'It seemed like they got them all,' he said. 'It wasn't an effort issue or a desire issue. Maybe they just have most fast-twitch muscles than we do.'

Class 5A seventh-ranked Iowa City West broke open a virtually even game with a 13-0 run to sandwich the third-quarter break, and downed Cedar Rapids Xavier, 44-35, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball game Friday night at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

The Women of Troy collected 18 steals and improved to 3-0 overall, 2-0 in the MVC.

'We're not where we want to be yet offensively,' West Coach B.J. Mayer said. 'But defensively ... we forced them to do some things they really didn't want to do.'

Logan Cook scored six points in the pivotal run and finished with a game-high 16.

'We played together really well. Coach lets us play, and puts us in a place in which we can succeed,' she said.

Xavier (2-2, 1-1) got within 24-23 on Kylie Brown's basket with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter, then went 7 minutes without a point, and it was 37-23 before Kiana Stanek's 3-pointer broke the skid.

'I think their press was the difference in the game,' Lilly said.

West didn't trail all night, but wasn't out of the woods until late. Xavier scored seven straight points midway through the second quarter to square the score at 16-all, then got even at 21-21 on Stanek's triple with 7 minutes left in the third period.

Rachael Saunders, a Creighton recruit, added seven points and six rebounds for West. Emma Koch scored all seven of her points in the first half.

Four different West players snagged at least three steals, led by Maddie Huinker's five.

Stanek paced Xavier with nine points, all from long range. Lexi Noonan added seven points and seven rebounds.

West hosts Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Tuesday; Xavier is at Cedar Falls.

IOWA CITY WEST 44, CEDAR RAPIDS XAVIER 35

At C.R. Xavier

IOWA CITY WEST (44): Lauren Zacharias 1-2 0-0 3, Rachael Saunders 2-11 3-4 7, Maddie Huinker 2-4 2-4 6, Logan Cook 6-8 4-5 16, Emma Koch 3-9 1-2 7, Paige Beckner 0-2 0-0 0, Cailyn Morgan 2-5 0-0 4, Katie McGrane 0-1 0-0 0, Ali Tauchen 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 16-43 11-17 44.

C.R. XAVIER (35): Kiana Stanek 3-9 0-0 9, Caitlynn Daniels 1-7 4-4 6, Kylie Brown 2-7 0-2 4, Lexi Noonan 3-6 1-1 7, Amelia Ivester 3-4 0-0 6, Emily Jasper 1-2 1-5 3, Maria Steffen 0-2 0-0 0, Addy Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-37 6-12 35.

Halftime: West 21, Xavier 16. 3-point goals: West 1-12 (Zacharias 1-2, Saunders 0-2, Huinker 0-1, Cook 0-1, Koch 0-2, Beckner 0-1, Morgan 0-2, McGrane 0-1), Xavier 3-11 (Stanek 3-7, Daniels 0-3, Brown 0-1). Team fouls: West 16, Xavier 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: West 31 (Saunders 6), Xavier 29 (Noonan 7). Assists: West 4 (Saunders 2), Xavier 7 (Noonan, Jasper 2). Steals: West 18 (Huinker 5), Xavier 11 (Daniels 4). Turnovers: West 20, Xavier 23.

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