West’s glimpses leave Mayer wanting more

IOWA CITY — B.J. Mayer sees glimpses of what his team can become, brief stretches of brilliance that whets his appetite for more.

'If we continue to defend like we have been, the sky is the limit for this team,' he said. 'But I think we can play a lot better than we did tonight.'

Class 5A seventh-ranked Iowa City West forced 22 turnovers, and four players reached double figures in a 57-45 Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball conquest of Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Tuesday night at West High School.

The performance was good enough for victory, not good enough in Mayer's mind.

'It hasn't clicked yet,' he said after the Women of Troy improved to 4-0 overall, 3-0 in the MVC. 'We see glimpses, two- and three-minute stretches. But we haven't put it all together yet. Our offense is behind our defense right now.'

One of those stretches came at the beginning of the second half, a 10-0 run that pushed the margin to 41-21, then West coasted home.

'We focus on our press a lot,' West's Maddie Huinker said. 'We like that 1-2-1-1, put our big girls at the front of it. Logan (Cook) has a super-long wingspan, and I think that's pretty intimidating.'

Kennedy Coach Tony Vis was on the other end of the outcome, and on the other end of the spectrum from Mayer in outlook.

'Iowa City West, if they're not THE best team in the state, they're one of the best,' he said. 'We competed for 32 minutes, and I can't tell you how proud of them I am.'

West led the whole way, building a gap in the second quarter. Cook scored seven straight points for a 24-17 West advantage, and it was 31-21 at halftime.

After falling behind by 20, Kennedy (2-3, 1-2) crept within 48-36 on a 5-0 run to start the fourth quarter.

Cook paced West with 19 points. Huinker, Rachael Saunders and Emma Koch added 10 apiece, with the 5-foot-7 Huinker coming within one rebound of a double-double as West enjoyed a 35-22 advantage on the glass.

Kennedy's Hailey Dolphin led all scorers with 20 points. Auddie Alepra added eight points and eight boards.

IOWA CITY WEST 57, C.R. KENNEDY 45

At Iowa City West

C.R. KENNEDY (45): Hailey Dolphin 6-16 6-7 20, Madison Friauf 1-2 3-4 6, Tessa Steffen 2-4 0-0 5, Olivia Hellweg 2-3 0-0 6, Auddie Alepra 4-10 0-1 8, Margaret Gallagher 0-0 0-0 0, Sadie Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Kendal Runels 0-0 0-0 0, Lauryn Vaske 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-36 9-12 45.

IOWA CITY WEST (57): Lauren Zacharias 1-5 1-1 3, Rachael Saunders 3-10 3-3 10, Maddie Huinker 4-12 1-1 10, Logan Cook 8-14 2-2 19, Emma Koch 4-7 2-3 10, Paige Beckner 0-0 0-0 0, Cailyn Morgan 1-3 0-0 3, Katie McGrane 0-2 0-0 0, Ali Tauchen 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 21-54 11-12 57.

Halftime: West 31, Kennedy 21. 3-point goals: Kennedy 6-14 (Dolphin 2-7, Friauf 1-2, Steffen 1-2, Hellweg 2-2, Alepra 0-1), West 4-17 (Zacharias 0-1, Saunders 1-5, Huinker 1-6, Cook 1-2, Morgan 1-2, McGrane 0-1). Team fouls: Kennedy 11, West 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Kennedy 22 (Alepra 8), West 35 (Huinker 9). Assists: Kennedy 3 (Dolphin 3), West 11 (Koch 3). Steals: Kennedy 11 (Hellweg 5), West 13 (Koch 4). Turnovers: Kennedy 22, West 16.

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