Warriors rally, beat City High at the line

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Turnovers are one thing. Turnovers into points are something else.Class 4A fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington finally capitalized -- mostly from the free throw line -- in the fourth quarter and rallied past No. 8 Iowa City High, 57-54, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball game Friday night at Washington High School."We kept taking it to the basket, and they went up and fouled us," said Washington's Jazz Royster, who scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 of 12 free throws."I just thought, 'Keep going to the basket and make the free throws.' "Washington (12-2 overall, 9-2 MVC) prevailed despite making only 12 of 46 field goal tries. The Warriors did so by feasting at the foul line, making 28 of 38.That, and 29 turnovers by the Little Hawks (12-4, 7-4), marked the difference.Down 12 points late in the third quarter and trailing 44-34 entering the fourth, Washington went to work. It did so by scoring frequently at the line while the clock was stopped."We talked about going to the basket and drawing contact," said Washington Coach Frank Howell. "The kids listened and executed really well."The Warriors scored 10 straight points to take a 51-48 lead. Mickey Hansche's 3-pointer tied it at 51-51, then Washington's Alissa Oney answered with a trey of her own to break the deadlock.City High got within 55-54 before Royster made two free throws with 23 seconds left. City's Kelsey Coleman and Hansche missed potential game-tying treys in the final moments.University of Iowa signee Virginia Johnson led all scorers with 22 points, and grabbed 15 rebounds, for City High. Hansche added 20 points.Washington countered with balance. Royster scored 17, Ashley Piper added 11, and seven other Warriors scored.The game will be televised at 7 p.m. Saturday on KCRG -TV Channel 9.2.

AT C.R. WASHINGTON

IOWA CITY HIGH (54): Kiera Washpun 0-2 0-0 0, Mickey Hansche 5-12 5-8 20, Kelsey Coleman 0-6 0-0 0, Virginia Johnson 7-12 8-9 22, Kayla Hyche 2-3 0-0 4, Sierra Chambers 3-7 0-0 6, Harper Beasley 0-1 0-2 0, Erin Danielson 1-2 0-0 2, Haley Lorenzen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 13-19.

C.R. WASHINGTON (57): Ashley Piper 3-13 2-2 11, Alissa Oney 3-8 1-2 9, Jordon Pilcher 0-3 0-0 0, Jazz Royster 2-6 13-16 17, Tia Dawson 3-9 0-0 6, Janay Pritchett 0-3 2-2 2. Madison Kramer 0-2 5-6 5, Layloni Beard 1-1 0-0 2, Tasha Roundtree 0-1 1-4 1, Abby Herb 0-0 4-6 4, Brooke Foreman 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Carr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-46 28-38 57.

Halftime: City High 28, Washington 23.

3-point goals: City High 5-15 (Hansche 5-10, Coleman 0-2, Johnson 0-2, Danielson 0-1), Washington 5-19 (Piper 3-7, Oney 2-5, Pilcher 0-1, Royster 0-2, Pritchett 0-2, Kramer 0-1, Roundtree 0-1).

Team fouls: City High 21, Washington 16.

Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: City High 39 (Johnson 15), Washington 27 (Dawson 8).

Assists: City High 9 (Coleman 4), Washington 2 (Piper, Roundtree).

Steals: City High 10 (Danielson 3), Washington 15 (Oney, Roundtree 3).

Turnovers: City High 29, Washington 17.

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