Five Takeaways: Dowling Catholic at Iowa City West
IOWA CITY — A much anticipated season opener between a pair of teams we have ranked in the top five to open the year in Class 4A was a bit of a dud on Tuesday night, with #5 Iowa City…
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Continue ReadingIOWA CITY — A much anticipated season opener between a pair of teams we have ranked in the top five to open the year in Class 4A was a bit of a dud on Tuesday night, with #5 Iowa City West taking care of business at home, knocking off #3 Dowling Catholic, 43-28, in an ugly affair.
Trojans’ star big man Even Brauns, a Belmont signee, picked up two fouls within the first three minutes of the game and sat for the rest of the first half. Guard Marcus Morgan took over in the second quarter, helping West build a 25-12 halftime lead behind 17 from Morgan. They cruised the rest of the way en route to the 15-point season-opening win. Below are five takeaways we had from Tuesday’s game.
Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | F |
Dowling Catholic | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 28 |
Iowa City West | 8 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 43 |
Dowling Catholic: Matt Riedl 7, Drew Daniel 7, Ryan Riggs 6, Matt Stilwill 4, Omaha Biliew 4
Iowa City West: Marcus Morgan 21, Even Brauns 8, Tate Crane 5, Nick Pepin 4, Joey Goodman 4
Marcus Morgan, budding star on the hardwood as well
The Trojans’ junior guard already holds Division I offers in football (Iowa State) and baseball (Iowa), and if he keeps playing (and shooting) like he did in the opener, he’ll be picking up some offers on the hardwood as well. Morgan was a starter on last year’s state qualifying team, and is primed to explode this year in a much larger role following the graduation of Patrick McCaffery. With Brauns battling foul trouble in the first half, Morgan took the game over, scoring 17 first half points, including going 4-6 from behind the arc, en route to 17 first half points. He finished the game with 21 on 5-11 shooting (7-7 free throws), along with five rebounds and an assist. He’s a well-built guard who handles the ball well, can defend and can really shoot it. He’s not as long as older brother Jeremy Morgan, but he’s got the looks of a future Division I guard, should he choose to pursue basketball at the next level.
Even Brauns’ solid second half
Brauns, who will play his college ball at Belmont, picked up his second foul just three minutes into the game and sat for the rest of the first half. The 6-9 big man was strong in the second half, finishing the game with 8 points, five rebounds and a block on 3-4 shooting. The Trojans need him to be dominant on both ends of the floor, and stay out of foul trouble. He was really good when he was on the floor, but they’ll need him to stay on the floor if they are going to be serious contenders this season.
Omaha Biliew’s debut
The much anticipated debut of Dowling freshman Omaha Biliew was a bit of a dud, but the 6-7 youngster showed plenty of glimpses of why he’s regarded as one of the top 2023s in the country. An athletic freak, his first varsity points came on an impressive putback dunk of a Matt Stilwill missed layup in transition. The West student section had chanted “overrated” at him a few times earlier in the game after turnovers, and in response after the dunk, he put his finger over his mouth, shushing them. He got hit with a technical. Learning experience. He struggled with turnovers in this game, and finished with just 4 points on 2-8 shooting, but he’ll have much better days. He’s long, incredibly athletic, and showed a lot of potential as an on-ball defender against smaller guards. He’ll make a major impact for the Maroons this year. Chalk this one up to first game jitters.
West’s defense
The Trojans are always strong on the defensive end. It’s what Coach Steve Bergman does. And this season, they may need to rely on that defense even more than usual, but that shouldn’t be an issue. With Joey Goodman, Tate Crane, Christian Barnes and Marcus Morgan, the Trojans are filled with quality on-ball defenders who can apply pressure and create chaos on that end of the floor. If Brauns can stay out of foul trouble, they have a rim protector behind them as well. Dowling’s offense was bad in this game, and some of that was certainly self-inflicted, but the Trojans also made life difficult for them for 32 minutes.
Outlooks for both teams moving forward
It was an ugly way to start the season, for sure. But both of these teams will have much better nights, and we still think both end up being top 5-10 teams throughout the season.
For Dowling, the key will be continuing to get Biliew integrated into the offense and keeping Ryan Riggs out of foul trouble. Riggs has filled out and is much stronger than he was last season, but he needs to continue to become more aggressive and stay out of foul trouble. He’s a skilled big man who can be a dominant two-way player, but he needs to remain engaged on both ends of the floor. Matt Stilwill is a nice guard, and Matt Riedl did some good things for them as well as a role player. The Maroons brought back over 70% of their production from last year’s state qualifying team, plus added one of the country’s top freshmen. They’ll be alright.
West is looking for a state record 10th consecutive state tournament appearance, and they’ve got the pieces to do it. Brauns can be a dominant two-way player, Morgan looks primed to make a major leap as an offensive threat, and they’re going to be strong defensively. Tate Crane had a great game as a role player, finishing with 5 points, seven rebounds (five offensive) and a few assists. Nick Pepin had a rough shooting night (2-15 from the floor), but he’s a good shooter who will bounce back and give this team another offensive weapon. You aren’t going to find a coaching staff with more experience and knowledge than West has in Steve Bergman, Paul Rundquist and Gordon Rundquist, and they’ll have this team ready to go every night. These are both state tournament teams.