West High's basketball teams sweep Clear Creek Amana in season-opening doubleheader

TIFFIN – The West High boys and girls basketball teams kicked off their seasons Tuesday night, hitting the road to face the Clear Creek Amana Clippers in a doubleheader.

Both teams came out on top in impressive fashion as the girls team pulled off the comeback 61-47 win and the boys stayed on top from start to finish in their 63-43 victory.

Here are the biggest takeaways from both games:

West High's girls team continuity makes them dangerous

With all the change that occurs in high school sports, it's always a plus when a team brings back key contributors.

The Trojans know that feeling, bringing back all five of their leading scorers from 2021, including four starters.

Not only has that made the transition for their new head coach Nate Frese easier, but it has allowed the team to maintain their trust in one another.

Senior Meena Tate echoed those sentiments and said that their chemistry will help them get through this time of transition with a new face at the helm of the program.

"We have a lot of starters back, but everything feels different this year," Tate said. "It is definitely an adjustment, but it is a good one. Our team chemistry is going to be big for us to keep having success."

Tate wound up leading all players with 25 points but was one of seven players to score for the Trojans.

The Clippers have to develop a more balanced scoring attack

There is no doubt that junior forward Ava Locklear is Clear Creek Amana's top-scoring option.

She led the team with 21 points, with 14 of them coming in the first half.

As big of a night as she had, her teammates were unable to have big scoring contributions of their own, which proved costly down the stretch.

Well aware of the Trojans' plans to slow Locklear down, Clippers' head coach PJ Sweeney said that at halftime the team tried to devise a plan to counter that.

"We knew going into halftime that they were probably going to take away Ava [Locklear] a little bit," Sweeney said. "So, we talked about pounding that ball inside and trying to fight off those double teams. From there we would get the move the ball inside, outside, and side to side, but we probably did not do a good enough job of that."

While his team did a nice job of it in the third quarter, even taking a brief 41-40 lead, their inability to spread the ball around cost them big in the fourth quarter where they scored just 6 points compared to West High's 18.

Lucy Wolf provides the Trojans with a much-needed spark off the bench

Following an up-and-down first quarter for West High, it wasn't clear whether or not they'd be able to get it together in the second quarter.

However, junior guard Lucy Wolf quelled Trojans fans' worries quickly with a stellar period. She scored 12 points, with 9 of them coming from beyond the arc.

In addition to her sharpshooting, she accounted for multiple steals, including one that led to an assist to Tate, who gave her team the 22-21 lead with a layup midway through the second quarter.

Appreciating the spark that Wolf provided, Frese said that she showed everyone the moxie that the team is used to seeing.

"First of all, Lucy Wolf is a great personality," Frese said. "Second of all, she is a competitor. She wants to go out there and hit home runs and I love it. She does not back down from the moment, even when she makes a mistake. So, having that extra spark out there when some people were worried that things were going to go south, and then Lucy is out there saying that she is out there to compete shows how much of a warrior she is."

West High boys still trying to figure out its identity

Hoping to rinse the bad taste of last season out of their mouths, an opening season win definitely is a nice start.

However, it was clear to the Trojans believed that they could be much better. One way to get to the next level would be to start seeing returning starters take on more on-court responsibilities.

"The players that we have back now were not leaders for us last year," said head coach Steve Bergman. "We need those guys like Jack McCaffery and Kareem Earl to do that for us this year. Our seniors are good guys who work hard, but they are pretty quiet. So, those are the guys [McCaffery and Earl] that I think have the ability to lead."

As the duo becomes more comfortable taking charge and the team limits self-inflicted errors, they have a chance to be very good down the stretch.

Youth can make CCA boys dangerous

After losing five of their six leading scorers from their 2021 squad, there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding Clear Creek Amana.

While guard Cale Berry led the team with 16 points in their home opener, Ethan Vice and Brock Hilsman weren't far off with 10 and 9 points of their own, respectively.

On any given night, another player could lead the scoring charge, which was something that has Clippers head coach Brandon Clubb excited about as the season goes on.

"It is beneficial that I do not know who our star player is," Clubb said. "That allows them to grow together and have it be each night somebody different stepping up. I like that we don't have one or two guys to lean on. We did see some good things from a lot of kids, which is good because it gives us something to build on."

Jack McCaffery is bound to build on the success from his freshman year

Despite last season being the first of his high school career, Jack McCaffery made his presence felt at West High.

In addition to being one of his team's top scorers, he returns to the team as their top rebounder and shot blocker.

He built on that success Tuesday night when he finished the game with 13 points and led the team in rebounds and blocks.

More familiar with what to expect from opponents this season compared to last, McCaffery said that his top priority was to improve defensively.

"The biggest thing that I think will help me is that I put on 10 pounds in the offseason," McCaffery said. "I have also been working on jumping higher and making my stamina better so that I can be a bigger contributor on defense. Scoring is going to come, but defense and rebounding are where I really feel like I can improve. I feel like I can be a guy who can get 10 rebounds a game."

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: West High's basketball teams sweep Clear Creek Amana in 2022 debut