Lohaus Shines as Iowa City West Defeats Bettendorf for Second Straight Championship

Win number 52 achieved. And another championship trophy for the West High trophy case.

Iowa City West was never seriously challenged during Saturday night's title game, winning 54-36 over a Bettendorf squad that featured four juniors in the starting lineup. West's defense was solid as usual, and Wyatt Lohaus played a strong game from the offensive side of the ball, finishing with 22 points, and actually outscoring Bettendorf's team in the first half, 14-13.

Here is the official box score.

Some writeups from the game.

Iowa City West Goes Back to Back Unbeaten (Iowa Prep Sports, with photo gallery)

Inpenetrable defense and the offense of Wyatt Lohaus, among many other things, lifted West past Bettendorf, 54-36, in the Class 4A championship game Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena, a battle of unbeatens that wasn’t close to a battle. West (26-0) was just that dominant in securing its 52nd consecutive victory and second consecutive unbeaten season, just the second large-class school to accomplish that.

There will be a public reception for the team Monday night at 6:30 at West’s Little Theatre.

“Amazing,” Lohaus said. “I think we had a target on our back the whole year. We’ve been through so much adversity, even in these first two tournament games we were down. But I just thought we hung together as a group really well.”

Twice as Nice (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

DES MOINES — It should give the rest of the state shivers that it was a junior, Wyatt Lohaus, who served as the ignition on West High’s launch past a befuddled Bettendorf team 54-36 to win the Class 4A boys state basketball championship Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena.

Lohaus was magnificent for the Trojans, scoring inside, cutting through the defense with drives and hitting jumpers from all over. At one point the Trojans led 38-17 and the West High student section chanted “Wyatt’s winning,” because the plucky, ever-present Lohaus had 20 points while the Bulldogs were stuck on 17. His performance was so dominant that the TV broadcasters named him player of the game with 51/2 minutes left. He finished with a game-high 22 points.

State boys' basketball: Iowa City West wins second straight 4-A title (Des Moines Register, with photo gallery)

A 54-36 triumph over Bettendorf in the Class 4-A final extended the Trojans’ string of 52 consecutive victories, placing them among the elite champions in state boys’ basketball tournament history.

“Our team came together, put a lot of time in,” West guard Wyatt Lohaus said. “It feels great to repeat.”

The Trojans (26-0) became just the second large-school team to complete back-to-back undefeated seasons – joining Ames’ 2009-10 title winners.

“To get the first one was unbelievable,” Lohaus said. “We knew everyone was going to put the target on our back.”