SPORTS

Lane leads Trojans past Muscatine in dominant substate final win

Matthew Bain
mbain@press-citizen.com

CEDAR RAPIDS, Ia. — Devontae Lane had a fast-break layup stuffed by Joe Wieskamp early in the first quarter of Iowa City West’s substate final against Muscatine. The Muskies’ student section loved it, and they let Lane know.

Emphatically.

That woke Lane up. That woke the Trojans up.

“He tapped me on my chest after Joe blocked that and he just said, ‘Let’s go,’” Connor McCaffery said postgame. “‘Let’s get it right now.’”

Lane erupted for all of his team-high 21 points after that block and, after a close first quarter, West cruised to a running-clock, 83-44 victory. The Trojans advanced to their seventh straight state tournament.

“When (Wieskamp) blocked it and they started talking and going crazy. I don't like that,” Lane said. “I don't like when guys get ahead of themselves and start talking. So the best way to shut them up is to beat them by 30.”

Connor McCaffery added 19 points. On defense, he was tasked with guarding Wieskamp, a fellow Iowa commit and the state’s leading scorer, pretty much one-on-one for the most part. Wieskamp finished with 28 points, but 17 came in the second half when the game was already out of hand.

He scored 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting in the first half.

“I think I made some of his shots in the first half pretty tough. Maybe that’s what got him off to the slower start, and that was our goal,” McCaffery said. “He’s going to get his; he’s a great player. But just try to limit his easy ones. And I think that may have flustered the other teammates, too — him not getting going as well.”

The rest of Muscatine combined for 14 points on 6-for-27 shooting. Including Wieskamp’s numbers, the Muskies had two more baskets (16) than turnovers (14).

Meanwhile, the Trojans committed three turnovers and made just about everything — 57 percent (29-for-51), to be exact. Lane was 8-for-11. Connor McCaffery was 5-for-10. Patrick McCaffery was 4-for-10. Nate Disterhoft, Izaya Ono-Fullard, Seybian Sims and Hakeem Odunsi combined to go 11-for-19.

This will be Connor McCaffery and Lane's fourth straight state tournament appearance.

“We control our own destiny,” McCaffery said. “If we defend well, I think we have a really good chance. We’re tough on offense as it is. And if we stick to our rules and have a solid gameplan going in, I think that we’ll definitely be a team to beat.”

West is clearly the No. 1 team in Class 4A, according to the eye test. Seedings will be released by the Iowa High School Athletic Association at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Matthew Bain covers preps, recruiting and the Hawkeyes for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Des Moines Register and HawkCentral. Contact him at mbain@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.