DES MOINES - Marcus Paige ended his brilliant high school basketball career Saturday afternoon with some hugs, some confusion and a lopsided defeat.

Paige and the Linn-Mar Lions lost to top-ranked Ankeny, 66-49, in the consolation game for third place at the Class 4A state basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

It was a game neither team wanted to play.

Linn-Mar, the 2011 state champions, wanted to play for another title Saturday night under the bright lights, not before 500 fans in a mostly empty gym in the middle of the afternoon. Ankeny, the top seed, had bigger hopes as well.

But play they did, and when it ended nobody could be sure if Paige had broken the career scoring record at Linn-Mar or not after finishing with 1,695 markers.

Linn-Mar lists the school record as 1,679 by Jason Bohannon from 2004 to 2006, but the Iowa High School Athletic Association credits Bohannon with netting 1,697.

Paige either broke the school record by 16 points or he fell short by two points.

"I'm not too worried about that. Jason was a great player," Paige said. "If I broke it, that's great. If not, I'm not too worried about it. It wasn't really a goal of mine. Either way I'd be happy."

Hugh Leffingwell, a star for Marion High School from 1949 to 1952, holds the Metro scoring record of 1,898 points. Then come Paige and Bohannon - or Bohannon and Paige - depending on the official recount.

Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson plans to comb through the scorebooks at some point and figure it out.

"I hope he got it, because I think he deserves it," Robertson said. "It's kind of a neat thing."

Paige scored 28 points Saturday, but it was not a vintage performance by the 6-foot-2 guard who scored 49 and 46 in games this season. He struggled with his 3-point shot again and made only 1 of 9, leaving him at 4 for 25 on 3-pointers in the state tournament this year for a paltry 16 percent.

"That's the way it goes sometimes," he said.

Jimmy Roth scored 15 points for the Lions (20-6), which means Roth and Paige combined for 43 of their team's 49 markers. Everyone else combined for six points.

Connor Schabel led Ankeny (25-1) with 18 points. Cory Myers scored 13 and Bryan Sumner had 10.

Paige set school records this season for most points (729), highest scoring average (28.0) and most free throws (159). He started on clubs that finished 2nd, 3rd, 1st and 4th in the state tournament and compiled a glittering four-year mark of 93-11.

He's the heavy favorite to be named Iowa's "Mr. Basketball" for 2012 when the award is announced this coming week. Robertson doesn't think there's any doubt about it.

"If there is, then somebody ought to lose their job," he said. "I would say that he's got to be Mr. Basketball.

"There's a lot of other great players, don't get me wrong, but I think when you put his career together with his senior season and what he's had to do to even get this team to the state tournament ... He put us on his back and got us here."

Paige is a modest young man, but he'd like to join the ranks of the other top players in Iowa who have won the award.

"It would mean a lot," he said. "I think I had a pretty good year. I had a great year with my teammates and everything.

"Winning an award like that would be pretty cool, but even if I don't get it I'll still be happy with the year I had."

Paige will play in the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago on March 28 and will participate in the Jordan Brand Classic in Charlotte, N.C., on April 14.

He'll graduate from Linn-Mar and leave in mid-June for the University of North Carolina, where he'll take a couple of credits this summer and begin training for his college basketball career.

"I'll get a couple of weeks of rest (after graduation) and then I'm off to Carolina," he said.

A voice rang out in the crowd as Paige left the floor at Wells Fargo Arena Saturday for the final time as a high school player. "Nice job, Marcus," he said, bidding farewell.

Paige was named to the Class 4A all-tournament team following Saturday night's championship game. He also earned an academic all-state award.

LINN-MAR (49): Lassen 0 0-0 0, Paige 8 11-12 28, Roth 4 3-4 15, Henry 1 0-0 2, Gogg 1 0-2 2, Martins 0 0-0 0, Dick 1 0-0 2, Wick 0 0-0 0, Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Meier 0 0-1 0, Schlotterback 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-19 49.

ANKENY (66): Cory Myers 4 2-2 13, Cole Myers 2 3-4 8, Egli 0 7-9 7, Schabel 2 1-2 6, Jones 0 1-2 1, Sumner 3 2-2 10, Figley 0 0-0 0, Howard 0 0-0 0, Jordison 0 0-0 0, Peck 0 0-0 0, Friedman 1 1-2 3, Wubben 0 0-0 0, Rinker 0 0-0 0,l Otto 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 20-27 66.

Halftime - Ankeny 34, Linn-Mar 26. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 5 (Roth 4, Paige 1), Ankeny 10 (Cory Myers 3, Schabel 3, Sumner 2, Cole Myers 1, Lindaman 1). Fouled out - Cory Myers, Egli.

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