Can anyone stop Solon? North Cedar awaits

The Class 2A No. 1-ranked Solon Spartans have been unbeatable and unchallenged on their way to a 23-0 record this season. The Spartans have won 24 straight games dating to last year’s 2A state consolation victory over Pella Christian, the state’s longest winning streak regardless of class.

Solon won its first two district games by an average of 39 points, including a 106-43 romp past Alburnett in the first round, a game in which the Spartans had 42 points at the end of the first quarter and 60 at halftime. They will get their first real postseason test Tuesday night when they take on North Cedar (21-2) in a district final at Maquoketa.

Here are a few quick stats on both teams:

Solon (23-0): The Spartans average 74.7 points per game and won their 23 games  by an average of 27.4 points. Senior point guard Matt Morrison, an all-stater in both basketball and football who will head to Northern Iowa next year on a basketball scholarship, is the undisputed leader. He averages 16.6 points, 4.9 assists and 4.9 steals. Tucker Wentzien is as 12.1 points and 8.0 rebounds, Ben Weeks at 12.6 points and Ben Bergman at 10.1 points and 7.1 rebounds. The Spartans are a matchup nightmare for anyone and a team with at least two legitimate all-state candidates in Morrison and Wentzien.

North Cedar (21-2): The Knights have won six straight games since back-to-back losses to Wilton and Mid-Prairie in late January that forced them to settle for a tie for the Cedar Valley Conference championship with Mid-Prairie. They average 67 points a game, led by senior point guard Jessy Gutwiler (17.0), who will likely matchup with Morrison on the defensive end. Andy Weiland averages 11.9 points and 5.2 rebounds and 6-4 freshman Jordan Hay is at 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds.

The Solon-North Cedar winner will face either Dyersville Beckman (18-5) or Cascade (19-4) in the Substate 4 championship Saturday at Marion. Those teams meet Tueday at Western Dubuque. It’s an intriguing matchup in its own right. Cascade has won 12 straight and its defensive average is a miniscule 34.4 points. Beckman, which plays in the predominantly 3A Wamac Conference, has won seven straight. The Blazers beat the Cougars, 49-41, in a regular-season game Jan. 10.

Any thoughts on the winners of the those two games? I’m anticipating a Beckman-Solon substate final at Marion on Saturday.

Xavier player faces life and death challenges

Just about 11 months ago, Cedar Rapids Xavier senior basketball player Kyle Jacoby was diagnosed with leukemia. The past 11 months have been a monumental struggle for Kyle, but he’s found plenty of support from his family, his basketball teammates and coaches, and the Xavier community. In return, he has offered them a profile in courage.

Here is a link to the story I wrote about the challenges Kyle has faced head-on:

http://iowaprepsports.com/2009/02/23/3538/

An emotional, courageous Senior Night at Xavier

It was Senior Night at Cedar Rapids Xavier Friday. A night filled with a lot of emotion, a lot of respect, and just as likely, no shortage of tears.

Kyle Jacoby was one of five Xavier senior basketball players honored, and he received – by my count – four standing ovations. They were much deserved. Jacoby was diagnosed with luekemia 11 months ago, and watched from the sidelines this season as his beloved teammates battled through a 7-14 regular season. The kid is a champion, through and through, and doing quite well now as he faces three more years of treatment for the unrelenting blood cell cancer.

I will offer what I hope is an insightful piece detailing his struggle in Monday’s Gazette. It’s a story of courage and perseverance by a bright, soft-spoken, humble 17-year-old young man who deserves admiration and salutation. Not that he would ask for any of it. He spoke only of the support he’s received from his family, teammates, coaches and friends, and his love of basketball. Kyle certainly picked up a fan in this corner.

Young McDermott teaming with Barnes to keep Ames No. 1

Ames is unbeaten and a unanimous No. 1 in the latest Class 4A rankings.  Everyone knows about the Little Cyclones’ Harrison Barnes, a 6-7 junior who is the most highly recruited player in Iowa high school history. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA are among the dozens of schools that have extended an offer to Barnes. Iowa State and Iowa are the list, too.

Now another 6-7 Ames junior is starting to get noticed. He’s Doug McDermott, the son of Iowa State Coach Greg McDermott. Doug is averaging 18 points since becoming a starter for the Little Cyclones in late January.

Here’s a link to a story on McDermott from the Ames Tribune:

http://www.amestrib.com/articles/2009/02/19/ames_tribune/sports/doc499a585946f3b303504416.txt

42 points in 8 minutes

According to the report I just heard on KCRG-TV9, Solon scored 42 points in the first quarter of  its 106-43 win over Alburnett Monday night. I’ve got my calculator in hand, and that figures out to 5.2 points a minute. Are you kidding me? The 22-0 Spartans also led, 60-10 at halftime, an average of 3.7 points per minute. I watched the Iowa-Purdue game Saturday, and it was 4-4 about 5 minutes in.

Solon is good, folks. Very good.

Kennedy/Linn-Mar offers intriguing match ups

When Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Kennedy tip it off Tuesday night at Kennedy in a game that will determine Metro and Mississippi Valley Conference bragging rights, there will be intriguing individual match ups all over the floor.

Rebounding will play a big role in who wins this game and four of the best will be matched against one another. Both teams play primarily man-to-man defense, so it’s likely Linn-Mar’s Zach Bohannon (6-7) will square off against Kennedy’s Jake Hefferenen (6-4), and the Lions’ Nate Hutcheson (6-7) will be paired against the Cougars’ Alex Coleman (6-4).

On the perimeter, look for Linn-Mar senior point guard Jake Hughes (6-0)and Linn-Mar freshman point Marcus Paige (6-0) to guard one another. The other positions in the starting lineups are filled by senior Drew Crawford (6-3) and sophomore Matt Bohannon (6-2) on the Linn-Mar side, and junior Max Martino (6-5) and sophomore Kyle Lamaak (6-3) for Kennedy.

Linn-Mar coach Chris Robertson primarily brings juniors Will Roth (6-6) and Jody Henton (6-2) off the bench, and Kennedy coach Bob Fontana generally looks to senior Grant Schnobrich (6-3) and sophomores Austin Christensen (6-4), Jacob Misener (6-1) and Christian French (6-6).

Kennedy has achieved its 19-0 record by playing defense, and it gives up only 39 points per game. Linn-Mar is capable of putting up points in a hurry, and averages 70 ppg. Yes, something indeed will have to give.

Postseason begins Monday; Linn-Mar/Kennedy looms

District tournament play begins Monday for the majority of the state’s Class 2A schools and handful of 1A teams. Most of the 1A field gets under way Thursday.

Class 2A District 8 is by far the most stacked of those on this side of the state. Top-ranked Solon (21-0) earned the No. 1 seed and hosts Alburnett (8-12) Monday. The winner faces either North Linn (13-8) or Monticello (8-12) in a district semifinal Thursday. On the other side of the bracket, Cedar Valley Conference co-champion North Cedar (19-2) and Big East Conference champion Northeast (17-3) look headed for a semifinal matchup Thursday. The district final is scheduled for Feb. 24 at Maquoketa.

Meanwhile, the 4A and 3A schools wrap-up their regular seasons next week and the headliner is unquestionably 4A co-No. 2-ranked Linn-Mar (18-1) at Cedar Rapids Kennedy (19-0) Tuesday night. The two MVC division champions will be playing before a loud, sell-out crowd of more than 2,100 that is the state’s game of the year in 4A this season. Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. at Kennedy, but if you can’t be there, Jeff Linder will conduct a live “glog” from the gym at www.iowaprepsports.com. Radio stations KGYM-AM (1600) and WMT-AM (600) will also broadcast live. Look here for more blogs on the contest in the coming days.

Linn-Mar/Kennedy; ‘09 conference champs

There will be no advance ticket sales for Tuesday’s much anticipated Mississippi Valley Conference game between Class 4A co-No.2 ranked Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kennedy, school officials have announced. The gym at Kennedy seats around 2,100 fans but it still might be a good idea to arrive early. Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m.

Kennedy (18-0) and Linn-Mar (17-1) both wrapped up MVC division titles Tuesday. Kennedy (13-0 in league play) clinched the Mississippi Division title outright with its win over Waterloo West and with City High beating Wahlert. Linn-Mar (13-0 MVC) has a three-game lead over Washington with three games to play.

Both teams face difficult assignments Friday before they meet next week. Kennedy must travel to Washington (14-4, 10-3) to face the red-hot Warriors, who are 13-2 after a 1-2 start to the season. Linn-Mar hosts an always troublesome Iowa City West (8-10, 6-7).

The races for championships in other area leagues have now either been decided or will be in the next couple of days. Here’s a quick rundown:

Wamac East – Unbeaten Solon has clinched both the division and overall Wamac titles.

Wamac West – Benton Community clinched the title Tuesday with its double-OT win over Williamsburg coupled with Clear Creek Amana’s upset of Marion.

Cedar Valley – North Cedar (12-2) and Mid-Prairie (11-2) will share the title if Mid-Prairie beats West Liberty (5-8) in the regular season finale Friday.

Big East – Northeast is the champion.

Northeast Iowa – Crestwood is the champion.

South Iowa Cedar – Keota is the champion.

Tri-Rivers – East Buchanan (14-1) has a makeup game with Springville (4-10) scheduled for Thursday. The Bucs have a half-game lead over Cascade (14-2) heading into that game.

Upper Iowa – Sumner-Fredricksburg is the champion.

Bohannon begins campaign for Mr. Basketball

Before this season began, Linn-Mar’s Zach Bohannon was in most people’s top-five when it came to who was favored to win the 2009 Iowa Mr. Basketball award.

Bohannon, a 6-7 senior headed for Division I Air Force, had a couple of things working against him. First of all, he’s a teammate of Nate Hutcheson, another 6-7 senior bound for D-I Western Michigan, whose name was also involved in Mr. Basketball discussions. It’s difficult pitting teammate against teammate in the Mr. Basketball vote. Secondly, the front-runners were widely considered to be Dubuque Wahlert’s Eric May and Sioux City Heelan’s Brennan Cougill, a pair of Class 3A first-team all-state performers as juniors who are heading to the University of Iowa to play basketball. Bohannon was a second-team Class 4A selection as a junior.

There were plenty of other names out there, as well, including Waukee’s 6-8 Gabe Knutson, who is headed to Drake. Hull Western Christian’s Trevor Wolsterstorff was also mentioned. He’s led Western Christian to the last two 2A state championships and was first-team all-state last season.

But Bohannon’s stock is rising.

He scored 40 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Linn-Mar’s somewhat lackluster 62-56 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson Tuesday, and is now averaging 19.6 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.o assists and 2.8 steals for the 17-1 Lions. Those numbers rank favorably with Knutson (20.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.0 apg), May (23.8 ppg, 3.o apg, 2.8 steals) and Cougill (17.7 ppg, 14.6 rpg, 3.6 blks) and exceed most of the other candidates. Keep in mind Ames’ Harrison Barnes is a junior this season and therefore not eligible for the award until next year.

Bohannon is a strong inside player for Linn-Mar who is capable of moving out to the perimeter and making a 3-pointer here and there. He is a solid defender and passer and is as intelligent as he is physically gifted.

A key to winning the Mr. Basketball award is getting your team to the state tournament and performing well in three games there. The way Bohannon is playing lately – he had 35 points in a win over Iowa City High last week – he certainly needs to be considered to follow his brother Jason Bohannon, the 2006 Iowa Mr. Basketball out of Linn-Mar who is now at the University of Wisconsin, as a winner of the prestigious award.

Unofficial pairings for 4A substates 3, 4 and 6

The IHSAA won’t release its official Class 4A substate pairings until early next week, but here are the pairings according to records kept by My Back to the Door and MVC stats guru Denny Goettel. These  seeds were determined by each team’s points totals  in the 11 games played in games 5 through 15 on their schedules. Each team’s seed appears in parentheses:

Substate 3: Newton (No. 6) at Cedar Falls (3); Waterloo East (5) at Waterloo West (4); East/West winner at Cedar Rapids Kennedy (1); Newton/Cedar Falls winner at Marshalltown (2).

Substate 4: Dubuque Senior (6) at Cedar Rapids Jefferson (3); Dubuque Hempstead (5) at Cedar Rapids Xavier (4); Hempstead/Xavier winner at Linn-Mar (1); Senior/Jefferson winner at C.R. Washington (2).

Substate 6: Davenport West (6) at Burlington (3); Cedar Rapids Praire (5) at Muscatine (4); Prairie/Muscatine winner at Iowa City High (1). Davenport West/Burlington winner at Iowa City West (2).

First-round games are scheduled for Monday, Feb. 23; substate semifinals are slated for Friday, Feb. 27 and substate championship games are scheduled for Tuesday, March 3 at neutral sites. The Substate 6 and 4 championship games will comprise a double-header at the U.S. Cellular Center the night of the 3rd.