Linn-Mar Girls Basketball

Linn-Mar girls rally past Hempstead

The Linn-Mar Lions dug themselves out of an 11-point hole at halftime Tuesday night and rallied past Dubuque Hempstead, 47-36, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Linn-Mar.

The Lions trailed 17-4 after the first quarter and were on the short end of a 22-11 count at intermission, but they poured in 24 points in the third quarter to right the ship and head to their fourth straight victory to begin the season.

Olivia Montague popped in three 3-pointers and scored 12 points for Linn-Mar. Megan Murphy also hit three triples and scored 11 points for the winners.

LINN-MAR (47): Akers 0 0-0 0, Frese 2 2-3 6, Lancial 1 2-2 4, Murphy 3 2-2 11, Montague 3 3-5 12, Sharma 2 0-0 4, Finley 2 1-2 5, Larson 1 0-0 3, Nietert 0 2-3 2. Totals 14 12-17 47.

Halftime - Hempstead 22, Linn-Mar 11. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 7 (Murphy 3, Montague 3, Larson 1).

Finley’s 17 points lead Lions

Kamryn Finley scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Class 5A ninth-ranked Linn-Mar girls basketball team to a 59-29 win over Waterloo West Friday at Linn-Mar.

Nikita Sharma added eight points for the Lions, who improved to 3-0.

Waterloo West fell to 1-4.

LINN-MAR (59): Ross 1 0-0 2, Noggle 1 0-0 3, Akers 0 0-0 0, Frese 3 1-2 7, Lancial 1 0-0 3, Glanz 2 0-0 4, Murphy 2 0-0 6, Montague 0 2-2 2, Sharma 3 2-3 8, Finley 7 0-0 17, Larson 1 1-2 3, Nietert 2 0-1 4. Totals 23 6-10 59.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 31, Waterloo West 14. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 7 (Finley 3, Murphy 2, Noggle 1, Lancial 1).

Linn-Mar girls crack top 10

It took new head coach Jaime (Printy) Brandt two games to steer the Linn-Mar girls basketball team into the top 10 of the Class 5A rankings.

The Lions (2-0) moved into the No. 9 spot in the new rankings this week by the IGHSAU. Linn-Mar was not ranked when the season began.

The Kennedy Cougars (2-0) remained No. 8 in Class 5A. The Xavier Saints (2-1) improved one spot to No. 13 in Class 4A.

Dowling topped the 5A rankings and Harlan led the 4A poll.

CLASS 5A

1. Dowling (2-1), 2. Southeast Polk (2-0), 3. Waukee (1-0), 4. West Des Moines Valley (1-0), 5. Iowa City West (3-0), 6. Johnston (3-0), 7. Ankeny Centennial (1-0), 8. Kennedy (2-0), 9. Linn-Mar (2-0), 10. Mason City (2-1).

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan (1-0), 2. Carlisle (4-0), 3. North Scott (1-0), 4. Western Dubuque (2-0), 5. Perry (1-0), 6. Ballard (2-0), 7. Sioux City Heelan (0-0), 8. Keokuk (3-0), 9. Davenport Assumption (0-2), 10. Indianola (3-0), 11. Waverly-Shell Rock (1-0), 12. Lewis Central (2-0), 13. Xavier (2-1), 14. West Delaware (2-0), 15. Pella (1-1).

Finley paces Linn-Mar by Muscatine

MUSCATINE - Kamryn Finley scored 12 points Saturday night as the Linn-Mar Lions nudged Muscatine, 34-31, in a non-conference girls basketball game in Muscatine.

Olivia Montague made three 3-pointers and scored nine points for Linn-Mar (2-0). She also had four steals.

Lexi Frese grabbed six rebounds for the Lions and blocked two shots. Brittney Lancial collected four assists. Claire Larson had six rebounds.

Annabel Graettinger netted 11 points for Muscatine (1-1).

LINN-MAR (34): Akers 1 0-0 2, Frese 0 0-1 0, Lancial 1 1-2 3, Murphy 0 0-0 0, Montague 3 0-0 9, Shama 1 0-1 3, Finley 5 0-0 12, Larson 2 1-3 5, Nietert 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 2-7 34.

MUSCATINE (31): Rusch 3 0-1 6, Spellman 0 0-0 0, Meyer 0 0-0 0, White 3 0-1 6, Graettinger 4 3-4 11, Hepker 0 0-0 0, Keitel 0 0-0 0, Oppel 4 0-2 8. Totals 14 3-8 31.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 17, Muscatine 12. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 6 (Montague 3, Finley 2, Shama 1), Muscatine none.