West runs past Jefferson with active second-half defense

IOWA CITY - The last time Iowa City West and Cedar Rapids Jefferson played they combined for 176 points. The Trojans had 102 of them. This time the score was more conventional, but the result was the same as West defeated the J-Hawks 73-48 in a 4A substate semifinal.

West (18-4) moves on to play rival Iowa City High on Tuesday in the substate final at the U.S. Cellular Center.

The J-Hawks put together a successful first quarter, leading by six a couple times and finishing with a 17-15 lead. They attacked with dribble penetration and post Dennis McKinney was often the beneficiary. He had eight first-quarter points, and reserve James Brown added five.

'Our guys executed our game plan,” Jefferson Coach Brandon Horman said. 'We got back defensively. We eliminated transition points in the first half.”

'I don't think we were ready to play,” West senior forward Wali Parks said. 'They came out fired up.”

But early in the second quarter the J-Hawks had seven consecutive empty possessions, four of which were turnovers, enabling West to take the lead. The Trojans led 32-28 at halftime. West made 11 of 17 first-half shots.

Then the Trojans blew the doors off, scoring 18 in the third and 23 in the fourth quarters while holding the J-Hawks to eight second-half baskets and only 20 points.

West used a 1-3-1 zone in the second half, which cut off penetration, and the J-Hawks were unable to hit from outside.

'Our team is super long and athletic and active, so that 1-3-1 is really good for us,” Parks said.

'We ran it up (at Jefferson) for just a couple possessions and they didn't handle it well, so we knew coming into this game we were going to go to it at some time,” West junior Connor McCaffery said.

'I think that had a lot to do with it,” West Coach Steve Bergman said. 'They turned it over and didn't get a lot of good shots. And we played better on offense. We got more run-outs.”

Horman thought the way the game was called in the second half limited his team's ability to move freely.

'When you can't move it's hard to get the openings offensively,” he said. 'They didn't call fouls and allow us to get into the lane. That was our offensive plan from the start, and that was taken away from us. We had a lot more turnovers in the second half than we did in the first from the increased pressure.”

West shot 64 percent as it scored a lot of points in transition in the second half. McCaffery led all scorers with 23. Parks had 13 and Devontae Lane 12. Jefferson (10-14) was led by Adam Van Oort's 14. McKinney had 13 and Brown 11.