Iowa City West girls basketball clinch first state tournament berth in 5 years
· Yahoo Sports
The rubber match between Iowa City Liberty and Iowa City West on Feb. 24 saw the Trojans punch their ticket to the Iowa high school girls state basketball tournament.
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West (16-7) clinched a state tournament berth for the first time since 2021 with a 61-54 home win over Liberty in the 5A regional championship. The Lightning, who mounted a late fourth-quarter comeback, ended their season with a 15-8 record.
“Girls really dug in; got some stops that got to three points and then we come down and we score right away to kind of turn the tide,” said West coach Nate Frese. “That's why I'm so proud of them because in other games earlier in the year, we might've faltered a little bit, but we didn't do that tonight."
Grace Fincham led West with 24 points while Kate Van Waning and Sasha Baldwin turned in 11 points each. Liberty’s Natalie Ramsey led the game with 25 points while Ava Casey chipped in 17 points for the road team.
Tuesday’s rivalry extravaganza marked the third meeting between Liberty and West this season. Both teams earned road wins in the series during the regular season. The Trojans won by 16 points on Jan. 6 before the Lightning edged out their rivals by one point on Jan. 30.
In a game that was ruled by physicality, the Trojans played with added purpose on the brink of elimination on Feb. 24.
They held an eight-point lead entering the second frame — momentum that grew with an attack from long range. After being held scoreless in the first quarter, Fincham opened quarter two with a 3-pointer that put the home team up by double digits.
She proceeded to hit three more field goals, including two from long range. Van Waning also converted two shots beyond the arc that kept Liberty at bay.
“We just had energy that whole game and I think that that just boosted our energy even more,” Fincham said. “I think that even helped us going into the third quarter and after halftime, for sure.”
The Trojans took a 33-21 lead into the halftime break — an advantage that was nearly faltered by Liberty's resolve.
The Lightning were down as many as 14 points in the second frame, but Casey and Ramsey’s hot shooting kept the game within reach.
Liberty cut its deficit to 55-52 in the final three minutes. Casey converted a jumper and followed it up with a deep shot that made it a one-possession game in crunch time.
West tightened up defensively, holding Liberty scoreless in the final minutes while knocking down clutch shots on the other end.
Van Waning briefly quieted the road team with a layup that extended West’s lead, 57-52, before Ramsey countered with a jumper for Liberty. Baldwin posted a layup before she closed out the scoring with two free throws in the final minute and change.
“I think we just needed to remind each other that we needed to stay together,” Baldwin said. “Props to Liberty, they’re an amazing team, but I think we got it done on the defense end, just playing solid defense. When they went on runs, reminding ourselves that we’re fine and the game is full of runs.”
For Liberty, it was a punctuation on a season that had them one game shy of true state title contention. They’ll graduate eight seniors on the roster, including Ramsey — the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.
“They shot the ball so well tonight, they were really hot from the three-point line in the first half and kind of dug ourselves in a hole, but I thought overall they just played a really solid game,” said Liberty coach Jaime Brandt. “I couldn’t be more proud of this group. Our senior leadership and the things that the senior group has done is unreal.
“I’m going to miss them like crazy, but tonight we came back and battled in that second half. They gave it all we had but West just played a really good game, so credit to West.”
West’s reward for their hustle on Feb. 24 is jubilation not felt in five years. With the intensity turned up a notch, the Trojans finally broke through to Casey's Center in Des Moines.
They earned the 6-seed for the IGHSAU state tournament and will take on No. 3 seed Waukee Northwest on Monday, March 3, in the state quarterfinals. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. CT.
Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at [email protected] , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City West girls basketball tops Liberty in regional championship