The Ironmen boys basketball team hoisted the Intercity trophy Monday night, finishing the annual tournament 4-0 after holding off the West Wildcats 57-54.

The Intercity championship, head coach Mr. Dave Witzig said, is a rare accomplishment for the Ironmen.

“I’ve been here 25 years,” Witzig said. “This is only the fourth or fifth time we’ve won.”

West would pose Community’s most significant challenge of the tournament, as the Iron opened play with three double digit victories.

Community took down Bloomington 68-43 in the season opener, notched a 62-43 win over Normal University and defeated Central Catholic 56-31.

Community had already secured a share of the Intercity title heading into the contest against the Wildcats; a victory over the crosstown rivals would earn an outright win.

In Monday’s matchup, Community took a 38-31 advantage into the tournament’s final quarter against the ‘cats.

The Iron would extend that lead in the fourth quarter’s opening two and a half minutes, as Braylon Roman and Jaheem Webber led Community’s 12-3 run.

West called a timeout with 5:31 to play in the contest, looking to stop the Iron’s momentum. Community boasted a 16-point advantage as the two teams took to the sidelines.

When play resumed, it was all West. The Wildcats clawed back into the game, outscoring the Iron 14-2 during the next four minutes of action.

Senior Nate Moore and freshman Camron Dunson-Riggs led the ’cats offensive charge, combining for 12 points.

Moore buried a triple out of the timeout, the guard’s 14th point of the night.

Dunson-Riggs netted six points during the scoring surge. The freshman would finish the night with 16 points.

Moore contributed six points of his own during the run. The senior tallied 11 in the quarter, including three long balls. Moore concluded the night with a team-high 19 points.

With less than 30 seconds to go, West cut the Community lead to three with a C.J. Wilson put-back.

With scoreboard reading 55-52 and 10 seconds left to play, West was forced to foul Community to stop the clock.

Community’s leading scorer Braylon Roman secured the victory, cashing in both of his free throws.

Roman ended the night with 18 points, shooting 55% from the field and going six for six from the charity stripe.

While Roman was perfect at the line, his teammates struggled.

Community converted just 16 of 26 attempts from the line.

“We missed some free throws,” Witzig said, “that we’re going to have to make in big games.”

Webber was second on the stat sheet for the Ironmen with 14 points, converting seven of his eight attempts inside the paint.

The Wright State commit dominated the paint on both ends of the court, finishing the evening with a team-high three blocks.

“Hopefully,” Witzig said, “we can use this as a springboard for the rest of the year. We learned a lot about our guys these last four days.”

The Ironmen will look to improve to 5-0 on Friday night as they travel to Urbana to face the Tigers on Dec. 1.