Iowa City’s West is best in a 5A girls’ state basketball thriller

DES MOINES - The Iron Five are in Iowa City West's rear-view mirror. The final four is on the horizon.

Meena Tate played the game of her career (so far), veterans Emma Ingersoll-Weng and Matayia Tellis made the pivotal plays late, and the sixth-ranked Trojans edged No. 3 Waterloo West, 65-63, in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Monday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

'I wanted to send them home, and move us on,” said Ingersoll-Weng, whose 3-pointer with 45 seconds left put the Trojans (14-3) ahead for good. 'We wanted to have our seniors play another game for us.”

The Trojans (14-3) overcame an off game by top player Audrey Koch, and advance to face No. 2 Johnston (17-1) in a semifinal at noon Thursday. The defending-champion Dragons defeated No. 7 Cedar Falls, 71-64.

Koch, who has signed to play at Providence College, managed just two points. But the others, most notably Tate, picked up the slack.

A sophomore who entered the game shooting 36 percent from the field, Tate was 7-of-7 in a 16-point first half that ended in a 27-27 deadlock.

'I have no idea. I can't explain it,” she said. 'I was really in a zone. I didn't let anything bother me - not the crowd, not the other team, not the refs.”

Waterloo West finished 19-2. The Wahawks' starting five played the whole way, other than about 30 seconds.

'I definitely think we were the fresher team,” Tellis said. 'We were throwing subs in and out, left and right. That gave us an advantage.”

'There was definitely some fatigue,” Waterloo West guard Halli Poock said. 'Adrenaline kept us going.”

The Trojans faced their largest deficit, 43-35, late in the third quarter, then went to work.

Anna Prouty scored seven points in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth period. Her two free throws with 5:34 put the Trojans in front, 46-45, the first of five fourth-quarter lead changes.

With the Trojans up 59-58, Poock got a steal and forwarded it to Sahara Williams for a layup with 1:00 to go, but Ingersoll-Weng answered immediately with a 3-pointer to put Iowa City West in front for good.

Tellis added a steal and layup for a 64-60 advantage. Poock was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to make it 64-63 with 0:12 to go, then Tate hit the second of two free throws to extend the margin to two.

Poock's jumper from the lane was off the mark, and the Trojans were winners.

'I'm a firm believer that teams beat individuals,” Iowa City West Coach B.J. Mayer said. '(The Wahawks have) some really good players. But we've had some success here.

'Meena Tate comes here and scores 21 points. She trusts our system, and we trust her.”

Ingersoll-Weng added 17 points, including 5 of 10 from distance, and Tellis tallied 12.

Poock paced Waterloo West with 22 points. Sahara Williams added 18, Gabby Moore 13.

IOWA CITY WEST 65, WATERLOO WEST 63

Class 5A State Quarterfinal, at Des Moines

IOWA CITY WEST (65): Matayia Tellis 5-10 1-2 12, Emma Ingersoll-Weng 5-11 2-4 17, Meena Tate 9-11 1-2 21, Audrey Koch 0-5 2-2 2, Anna Prouty 3-4 2-2 9, Lucy Wolf 0-4 2-2 2, Liv Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Jenna Saunders 0-0 0-0 0, Malae Lacy 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-48 10-14 65.

WATERLOO WEST (63): Halli Poock 7-20 7-7 22, Gabby Moore 5-7 0-1 13, Sahara Williams 8-10 3-4 18, Sierra Moore 1-3 0-0 3, Brooklynn Smith 2-3 3-4 7, Jade Domatob 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Burt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-43 13-16 63.

Halftime: Iowa City West 27, Waterloo West 27. 3-point goals: Iowa City West 9-23 (Tellis 1-4, Ingersoll-Weng 5-10, Tate 2-2, Koch 0-2, Prouty 1-1, Wolf 0-2, Lacy 0-2), Waterloo West 6-19 (Poock 1-8, G. Moore 3-5, Williams 1-3, S. Moore 1-3). Team fouls: Iowa City West 14, Waterloo West 17. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Iowa City West 29 (Prouty 6), Waterloo West 19 (Smith 8). Assists: Iowa City West 10 (Koch 4), Waterloo West 12 (G. Moore 5). Steals: Iowa City West 9 (Tellis 5), Waterloo West 11 (Poock 4). Turnovers: Iowa City West 17, Waterloo West 17.

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