Even Brauns scored 19 in the Trojans’ dominant win IOWA CITY — It was a vintage Iowa City West performance on Tuesday night, as the 4A #4 Trojans dominated from start-to-finish in a 53-32 win over #2 Waterloo West. A…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Subscribe for access to all premium articles and rankings.
Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log inIOWA CITY — It was a vintage Iowa City West performance on Tuesday night, as the 4A #4 Trojans dominated from start-to-finish in a 53-32 win over #2 Waterloo West.
A team that is built on defense this year, just like Coach Steve Bergman likes it, the Trojans held the Wahawks scoreless in the second quarter, taking a 24-8 lead into the break, and the outcome was never in doubt. Using a deliberate approach on the offensive end of the floor, the Trojans were able to take Waterloo West out of what they wanted to do on the offensive end of the floor by making the Wahawks guard for lengthy possession after lengthy possession, and never letting them get out in transition.
Iowa City West (9-1) was led by Even Brauns, who had a game-high 19 points on 8-10 shooting. Tate Crane chipped in 9 points and Joey Goodman and Nick Pepin each had 7 in the win for the Trojans.
Daquavian Walker led Waterloo West (8-2) with 14 points, 13 of which came in the second half. He was the only Wahawk to score more than 5 points, and they were held 37 points below their season average.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | F |
| Waterloo West | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 32 |
| Iowa City West | 15 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 53 |
Waterloo West: Daquavian Walker 14, Jaden Keller 5, Isaiah Johnson 4, Amar Kuljuhovic 4, Mondre Lagow 3, Mitch Fordyce 2
Iowa City West: Even Brauns 19, Tate Crane 9, Joey Goodman 7, Nick Pepin 7, Ben Vander Leest 6, Christian Barnes 3, Muhammad Simpson 2
MVP: Even Brauns (Iowa City West)
Best offensive performance: Brauns (Iowa City West)
The Belmont commit was dominant on both ends of the floor for the Trojans, finishing with 19 points on 8-10 shooting. He was a bit hesitant the first few possessions, but once he realized that he wasn’t going to be doubled on each catch, he went to work and took advantage of a major skill-set edge, scoring with great footwork and touch with his left hand. As he continues his development and moves on to Belmont, he’ll really need to work on his right hand, as everything on the block goes to the left right now (which is odd, since he shoots right handed), developing counter moves to go with his already solid skill set.
Play of the game: Joey Goodman behind the back to Even Brauns for the dunk
A first quarter steal by Nick Pepin turned into a highlight play after Pepin got it ahead to Joey Goodman. Goodman saw a trailing Brauns, and dished a pretty behind-the-back pass to Brauns for a powerful lefty dunk that set the tone for the rest of the evening.
What'd the rim ever do to you Even? Goodness gracious.
????????@EvenBrauns @ICWestAthletics @BelmontMBB #iahsbb pic.twitter.com/4kRjY5yn5y— Mike OBrien (@mobrientv) January 22, 2020
Best passer: Joey Goodman (Iowa City West)
Best shooter: Goodman (Iowa City West)
You saw some of Goodman’s passing in that highlight, but he was great in that regard all evening, seeing the floor really well and finishing with 5 assists in the game. In addition to his passing prowess, he was 3-4 from the floor, showing a good mid-range game and knocking down a 3 with a nice looking jumper.
Best ball handler: Christian Barnes (Iowa City West)
Best underclassman: Barnes (Iowa City West)
Best bench player: Barnes (Iowa City West)
The 5-10 sophomore guard provides a spark for the Trojans off the bench on both ends of the floor. He’s lightning quick and has good footwork, and he handles the ball really well, maneuvering his way through the defense with the ball on a string. He’s a capable shooter from the arc, really gets into opposing ball handlers on the defensive end, and he sees the floor well. He used his quickness and ball handling to get into the paint routinely, finding open teammates for easy shots.
The glue guy: Tate Crane (Iowa City West)
Crane, a 6-2 senior forward, has really stepped up his play with Marcus Morgan sidelined with a leg injury. He finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in this one, and he’s a really solid all-around player who does a bit of everything. He keeps the ball moving on the offensive end, gets on the floor for loose balls, rebounds at a high level on both ends of the floor and doesn’t force any shots. There’s a reason he’s shooting 57.8% from the floor, and he’s the type of player every winning team needs.
Best defensive performance: Iowa City West
It’s hard to pinpoint one standout defender from this one for the Trojans, so we’ll just give the nod to the entire team. This is a vintage Bergman-coached West team – defense, defense, defense, a little bit of offense, then more defense. They compete on every possession and really take the opposition out of what they want to do on the offensive end of the floor.
