Linn-Mar Girls Basketball

Warriors knock Lions dead at free throw line

From the bench Tuesday, Washington Coach Frank Howell yelled out a dizzying array of numbers and play calls to his girls all night.

With two minutes to go and his Warriors ahead of Linn-Mar 47-42, he screamed, “Elvis. Elvis.”

“It means,” he explained later, “that if you shoot it, you’re dead. Elvis is the most famous dead guy I know.”

His teenage players might not grasp the significance of Elvis, he freely admitted, “But they know what ‘Elvis’ means.”

And they minded their coach, too.

After leading much of the way and then clawing back from a two-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, Washington ran its four-corners ball-control to perfection and closed out a 53-42 win from the free throw line.

The Class 4A seventh-ranked Warriors (8-3, 7-3 MVC) held the Lions (6-8, 3-7) to just two baskets in the final period, and one of them was a fluke.

Barely into the last quarter, Linn-Mar’s Courtney Major lofted a jumper that bounded high off the back of the rim, bounced from the top of the bank-board and dropped straight down through the net.  The unintentional trick shot gave the Lions a 40-36 lead.

But from then on, it was the Warriors all the way. Washington regained the lead with five minutes left on 3-pointer by junior Madison Kramer. Immediately following a rare turnover by spunky Linn-Mar sparkplug point guard Mykaela Brandt, Warrior sophomore Danielle Franklin hit another trey.

“That was a real turning point,” said Howell. “Not only did they put points on the board, but it energized us on the other end of the court.

“I thought from there out we did a very good job defending down the stretch.”

Linn-Mar’s only two points in the final 7:30 of the game came on a nifty spinning drive by the tough-as-nails 5-foot-6 junior Brandt.

“We gave them too many second, third and even fourth opportunities in the fourth quarter,” said Lions Coach Michael Brandt, Mykaela’s father.  “And then there was one point where we turned the ball over three times in a row.

“But what it came down to was that in the end, they hit their shots and we didn’t.”

In losing their seventh straight game and again without starters Shanice Cheatham and Rachel Thrune, the Lions got off to a slow start and seemed befuddled by Washington’s full-court press.

“But once we relaxed,” said Coach Brandt, “I thought we limited our mistakes and really went after them.”

Early in the third quarter, junior Sara Strauel hit three straight baskets to put the Lions up 33-28.  But two straight Washington steals led to easy lay-ups by leading scorer Jazz Royster.  A pair of free throws by Strauel and her tip-in at the buzzer gave Linn-Mar a 38-36 lead going into the final stanza.

Then the bottom fell out.

Royster, who led all scorers with 16 points and benefitted from a couple of nice feeds by fellow senior Tasha Roundtree, also snagged the final rebound of the night after Linn-Mar fired up a barrage of desperation 3-pointers.

“In the games we’ve lost this year,” Howell said. “We’ve doe a poor job of getting to the free throw line and a poor job of keeping the other team off the free throw line.  Tonight, we did a better job of taking it to the basket. And we emphasized playing defense with our feet more instead of our hands.”

The Warriors finished the night 22 of 27 from the line, while the Lions were just seven of 15.

LINN-MAR (42): Hannah Yearling 2 0-0 4, Mykaela Brandt 4 4-8 12, Sara Strauel 6 3-6 15, Courtney Major 2 0-1 5, Alexis Libenguth 0 0-0 0, Jenna Harms 3 0-0 6, Kristen Eiles 0 0-0 0, Carly Ryder 0 0-0 0, Lannie Nietert 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-15 42.

WASHINGTON (53): Abby Herb 2 1-3 5, Madison Kramer 2 1-2 6, Jazz Royster 3 10-10 16, Tasha Roundtree 3 5-6 12, Danielle Franklin 3 3-4 10, Brooke Foreman 1 2-2 4, Colby Bjornsen 0 0-0 0, Aleena Hobbs 0 0-0 0, Kelli Klaus 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 22-27 53.

Halftime – Wasington 25, Linn-Mar 25. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 1 (Major), Washington 3 (Kramer, Roundtree, Franklin). Total fouls – Linn-Mar 19, Washington 12. Fouled out – none.

Linn-Mar girls suffer 6th straight loss

DUBUQUE - The struggles continued for the Linn-Mar girls basketball team Tuesday night.

Dubuque Hempstead handed the Lions their sixth straight defeat, 49-40, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game in Dubuque.

Hempstead (4-8, 2-7) snapped a five-game losing streak. Linn-Mar (6-7, 3-6) has not won a game since topping Cedar Falls on Dec. 13.

Hannah Yearling led Linn-Mar with eight points. The Lions trailed, 20-11, at halftime.

LINN-MAR (40): Yearling 3 1-2 8, Brandt 2 1-2 7, Strauel 2 2-3 6, Harms 1 2-4 4, Eiles 2 0-0 5, Major 2 0-0 6, Nietert 1 1-2 3, Libenguth 0 1-4 1. Totals 13 8-17 40.

HEMPSTEAD (49): Tauke 3 2-2 10, Lattner 0 0-0 0, Van Cleve 4 5-6 13, Doty 0 9-10 9, Koerperich 0 1-2 1, Dolan 2 0-2 4, Brown 3 1-2 10, Graves 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 18-24 49.

Halftime - Hempstead 20, Linn-Mar 11. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 6 (Brandt 2, Major 2, Yearling 1, Eiles 1), Hempstead 5 (Brown 3, Tauke 2).

No. 5 Saints hold off Linn-Mar girls

Two Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball teams on opposite trajectories collided Friday night at Linn-Mar.

They made some fireworks – but continued on their respective paths.

In a fight to the finish, the Lions came oh so close to avoiding their fifth straight loss before falling to the Xavier Saints, 39-34.

No. 5 Xavier (11-2, 6-2) won its fourth straight and its eighth victory in the last nine games. The Saints' only loss in the last month was to top-ranked Iowa City West.

Waging a rugged defensive battle, the Saints contained Linn-Mar’s shooters for most of the game and surged to a 13-point lead after three periods.

But the Lions (6-6, 3-5) refused to quit, exploding for 18 fourth-quarter points on the strength of four three-pointers.

Aided by Xavier’s cold free throw shooting, the Lions pulled to within three points on a Hannah Yearling triple with 10 seconds left in the game.

But the Saints’ Katlyn Andersen nailed two final free throws to seal the victory.

“Our coach tells us to slow it down and run some time off the clock, and we had to do that at the end,” said Xavier’s Alex Bartz, a 6-2 senior who had six rebounds and three blocks to go with six points.

“But they were fouling us and we had to go to the free throw line and we missed a lot of free throws tonight. But it all comes down to your mental state and staying relaxed.”

Xavier Coach Tom Lilly was happy with his team’s defensive effort in spite of the late scare.

“I thought that up until the point where they started knocking down triples we defended pretty well. At least we made them work hard for it. We boxed out, and our bigs defended  pretty decently and rebounded well.”

The Lions are looking to recharge their offense without senior post players Shanice Cheatham, who is out for the season with an ACL injury, and Rachel Thrune, who is out for a month.

“They’re missing a couple of kids tonight, basically their two starting post players,” said Lilly. “If they get one of them back, that’s 10 or 12 points, and that’s the difference in the game.

“Credit Linn-Mar for shooting well like we figured they were going to do. That’s what they do. They’ve got good shooters, and it’s just like next guy in when it comes to how well they shoot the ball.”

The Lions hung close to the Saints throughout the first half, trailing 8-6 after one period and 16-14 at the break.

But Xavier’s deeper squad began to wear them down in the third period, outscoring the Lions 13-2.

Linn-Mar point guard Mykaela Brandt, who led all scorers with 14 points, said she expects her team to resume its early season wining ways once it gains experience with a new combination of players.

“We’re all juniors right now since our injuries and things like that, so we’ve just got to keep working at it. Some people haven’t stepped onto the floor until a few days ago. You’ve just got to keep playing and look forward to the next game.”

Xavier hosts Washington on Monday. Linn-Mar plays at Dubuque Hempstead on Tuesday.

XAVIER (39): Kayla Armstrong 3 1-3 9, Annie Dale 1 2-6 5, Katlyn Andersen 1 5-8 7, Emily Walvoord 2 1-2 5, Alex Bartz 2 2-5 6, Nicole Noonan 1 0-0 2, Sarah Dickes 0 0-0 0, Lisa Boomgarden 1 1-3 3, Ashley Stulken 1 0-0 2, Hayley Deutmeyer 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Winker 0 0-0 0. Totals  12 12-27 39.

LINN-MAR (34): Courtney Major 4 0-0 9, Mykaela Brandt 4 4-6 14, Sara Strauel 0 0-0 0, Hannah Yearling 2 0-0 5, Kristen Eiles 0 0-0 0, Alexis Libenguth 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Duggan 0 0-0 0, Jenna Harms 0 2-2 2 , Carly Ryder 0 0-0 0,  Lannie Nietert 2 0-0 4 . Totals  12 6-8 34.

Halftime – Xavier 16, Linn-Mar 14. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 4 (Brandt 2, Yearling, Major), Xavier 3 (Armstrong 2, Dale). Fouled out – None.

Shorthanded Lions drop fourth straight

Linn-Mar struggled to reset its offense Tuesday night with a paucity of post players, succumbing to a surging Waterloo West squad, 55-44, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Linn-Mar.

Before the holiday break the 12th-ranked Lions (6-5, 3-4) fell to a top-ranked Illinois team, a hot Prairie squad and No. 1 Iowa City West. But the cruelest blow was losing senior post Shanice Cheatham to an ACL injury in the Dec. 20 game against the Women of Troy.

Tuesday night they also played without senior post Rachel Thrune, and junior forward Sara Strauel was unavailable until the second half.

The Wahawks (7-4, 3-4) used their size and a hectoring defense to contain Linn-Mar in the first half and held on through a late Linn-Mar charge to win their fourth straight.

“It was a great win for us,” said Wahawks Coach Anthony Pappas. “Linn-Mar battled us to the end. We kind of broke it open a little bit, got up by 10 or 12, and tried to milk that the rest of the way.

"We hit our free throws down the stretch and that allowed us to win the game. It’s our fourth in a row and it’s the second ranked team we’ve beaten on the road in the last two outings, so we’re feeling pretty good.”

Waterloo West stunned previously unbeaten Cedar Rapids Washington on Dec. 20.

The Lions scored their first field goal of the game at 4:25 of the opening period and didn’t manage another one until the final minute of the second quarter. Both teams scrapped for every possession and missed a multitude of shots in the early going, but the Wahawks doubled up on the Lions, leading 8-4 after one period and 22-11 at the half.

“They extend so well, they’re so long and have long arms, so when you drive in there, there’s not a lot to do if you don’t have size,” said Linn-Mar Coach Mike Brandt. “If our guards get in there, it’s a tough pass to get it back out.

"Once we did, though – and got rid of it sooner – we got some nice looks in the second half, and that’s what we have to get better at is the drive and kick and really set each other up for our open shots.”

Linn-Mar found its shooters after the break and fought its way back into the game with six 3-pointers, including three by Kristen Eiles.

A determined Mykaela Brandt turned the taller Wahawks’ menacing presence under the basket into a flurry of opportunities at the charity stripe, hitting 11 of 13 for the game.

The Lions whittled the Wahawks’ 12-point lead to five with just over two minutes to play, but couldn’t close the gap as Waterloo West was equally proficient at the stripe, nailing 10 free throws in the final two minutes.

“We had a couple kids that weren’t able to play tonight and another one that couldn’t play for a half, so we had to make a lot of adjustments with personnel, and I was very, very happy with the way that kids stepped in there into positions that they normally haven’t played,” Brandt said of his team’s effort.

“It’s a big challenge for us to make sure that we get kids maybe playing some different spots to learn their position, but we’ll get there. We’ll battle every game and all the way through.”

Cheatham, who averages 8.1 points and 4 rebounds for the Lions, said it was tough to hear the National Anthem and not be poised to play.

“But I still have to play the role as a captain and a leader of my team,” she said after the game. “I told them that they had a good effort, they were there the whole time, they didn’t let [the Wahawks] get a good lead on them, they stuck in there.

"I told them to keep their heads up. It’s a learning thing and there’s a lot of new girls trying to work in there together.”

The Wahawks were led by Blaire Thomas with 20 points and Zinka Duric with 18. Brandt scored 17 to lead the Lions, who out-rebounded the Wahawks 23-18.

The Lions will be at home against Xavier on Friday night. Waterloo West faces Waterloo East at home.

WATERLOO WEST (55): Ashley Hill 0 5-6 5, Makayla Stokes 0 1-2 1, Haley Puk 1 6-6 9, Zinka Duric 4 9-11 18, Blaire Thomas 10 0-0 20, Hannah Swartzendruber 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 21-25 55.

LINN-MAR (44): Courtney Major 1 0-1 2, Mykaela Brandt 2 11-13 17, Sara Strauel 0 0-0 0, Hannah Yearling 1 3-6 5, Kristen Eiles 3 0-0 9, Alexis Libenguth 1 3-3 5, Kelsey Duggan 0 0-0 0, Jenna Harms 1 1-2 4, Carly Ryder 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 18-25 44.

Halftime – Waterloo West 22,Linn-Mar 11. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 6 (Eiles 3, Brandt 2, Harms 1), Waterloo West 2 (Duric, Puk ). Fouled out – Swartzendruber, Brandt, Yearling.