DES MOINES -- The 2004-05 women's basketball poster for the Iowa Hawkeyes featured a little girl in a long, blonde ponytail, facing away from the camera.The theme: DREAM BIG.The little girl? A 9-year old named Ally Disterhoft."I knew the coaches and they were looking for somebody about ...

(TUESDAY SCORES)CEDAR RAPIDS -- Ally Disterhoft believed. Well, up to a point."You always expect to win," she said. "But there were times I thought, 'Wow, is this real life?'"It almost went too perfectly for us."Disterhoft scored 29 points as 10th-ranked Iowa City West upset No. ...

IOWA CITY -- Hot shooting can cure a lot of ills.And Iowa City High has very few ills to begin with.The Class 5A fifth-ranked Little Hawks shot 57 percent from the field and steamrolled Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 72-49, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball ...

MARION -- Bill McTaggart understands the correlation."The more we win, the better draw we get," he said.And with time ticking toward the girls' basketball version of  "Selection Monday," Iowa City High is making a major push.The Class 5A sixth-ranked Little Hawks flattened Linn-Mar with a ...

IOWA CITY -- Bill McTaggart issued a halftime challenge to Kiera Washpun.She took it to heart. And she took it to the court.Washpun ignited a third-quarter surge as Class 5A seventh-ranked Iowa City High downed Iowa City West, 65-52, in a non-conference girls' basketball game Friday ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- For 29 1/2 minutes, Cedar Rapids Prairie played Class 5A second-ranked Iowa City High to a stalemate.Then ..."At the end, we were the better team," City High Coach Bill McTaggart said. "We played smart, and we were able to grind it out."City ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Haley Lorenzen is "a different player" this season, according to Bill McTaggart."She's stronger," said the Iowa City High girls' basketball coach. "And her footwork is so much better."Rebounding, though ... she could always rebound.Lorenzen spearheaded the Little Hawks' superior boardwork in an ...

 DES MOINES -- The comment was this: "It's classic David-vs.-Goliath."The comment was this: Classic Bill McTaggart.For the first time, Iowa City High and Iowa City West are simultaneous girls' state basketball qualifiers. And, wouldn't you know it, they'll square off in a Class 4A quarterfinal ...

 (Class 3A & 4A regional scoreboard: HERE ... State pairings: HERE)CEDAR RAPIDS -- Iowa City High had more at the end.More weapons. More size. More gusto.Sierra Chambers posted 22 points and 16 rebounds, and seventh-ranked City High rallied past foul-plagued, injury-riddled, 13th-rated Cedar Rapids Washington, 65-59, ...

IOWA CITY -- Bill McTaggart first met Virginia Johnson when she was 5 years old."Here was this gangly kid at my basketball camp," said McTaggart, the girls' basketball coach at Iowa City High. "She could handle the ball. She was fast. She played about 2 ...