“I couldn’t have been more proud of [the girls]. It was a tough game and they gave it
their all, that’s all we ask,” head coach Bill McTaggart said.

The Little Hawks finished their season with a record of 17-7. Even though they didn’t get
the magical ending they had hoped for, the team has a lot to be proud of. Coming into the
season the Little Hawks were ranked No. 13 in the state, but improved to a final ranking of No. 7
and were one of only eight teams to make the coveted trip to the Wells Fargo arena for the State
finals.

Six Little Hawks earned Mississippi Valley conference awards for their hard work this
season. Mickey Hansche ‘13 was named to the Mississippi Division first team, Sierra
Chambers ‘12 made the second team, Kiera Washpun ‘14 and Haley Lorenzen ‘14 received
honorable mention, and Harper Beasley ‘12 and Katherine Vanderwoude ‘12 made the
All-Academic team. Hansche was also voted to the Class 4A third team by coaches around the
state.

All of the team’s losses this season were against Mississippi Valley Conference foes.
They picked up several key wins against highly ranked teams such as Cedar Rapids
Washington, Kennedy and Cedar Falls. The Little Hawks were also able to put together a third
place finish in the Mississippi Division.

Three of their seven losses came against cross town rival West High, the state’s
eventual champion. In their first match-up, the Little Hawks played a promising first half, but let
their lead slip away in the second half. During their second meeting, the team was never really
able to control West’s offense and had a hard time getting their own offense going. Coming into
their final game against the Women of Troy, the Little Hawks were still the major underdogs, but
believed that past experience and practice could help them pull off the upset.

“We were confident and we’d practiced really well,” McTaggart said.

In the first half West came out strong and and City was slow getting started, allowing
the Women of Troy to take a seven point lead into half time. In the second half the Little Hawks
had to clean up on both offense and defense if they hoped to come away victorious.

“I think we were nervous the first half, but in the second half we calmed down and had
a chance to win,” McTaggart said.

In the fourth quarter the Little Hawks went on several mini-runs and were finally able to
bring the score within two with under one minute to go. The game came down to free throws and
last minute plays, but the Little Hawks were not able to convert their final chance that would
have allowed them to continue the pursuit of March magic.

“You can never hold back when it’s crunch time because you never know if the
chance will come around again,” Washpun, said.

Despite the tough final loss, Hansche said she is proud of everything the team
accomplished this season.

“Our team was really close, we had a great bond. I think we improved a lot over the
season, learned from mistakes, and in the end we left it all on the court.”

All in all, another great season being a City High Little Hawk.