Xavier Boys Basketball

McDermott named to all-Metro team

The conversation may continue about whether Marcus Paige is the best boys basketball player ever in Metro history.

But there is no doubt about who was the best boys basketball player in the Metro this season.

Paige, who was tabbed the best player in the state earlier in the week when he was named Mr. Basketball, was announced as Metro Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Paige led the state in scoring with a 28.0 average and guided Linn-Mar to its ninth straight state tournament appearance.

Paige, a McDonalds All-American, has signed with the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Other members of the all-Metro first team are Jefferson senior Taylor Olson, Prairie senior Matt MacDougall and junior Jace Hanna, Kennedy senior Cody Bell, Xavier senior Ben McDermott, and Linn-Mar junior Jimmy Roth.

The co-coaches of the year are Kennedy's Bob Fontana and Linn-Mar's Chris Robertson.

The teams were selected by vote of the Metro boys basketball coaches.

ALL-METRO
(* - Unanimous selections)

FIRST TEAM - *Taylor Olson (CRJ). *Cody Bell (CRK), *Matt MacDougall (CRP), *Jace Hanna (CRP), *Ben McDermott (CRX), *Marcus Paige (LM), *Jimmy Roth (LM).

SECOND TEAM - Ky Kramer (CRJ), Alec Saunders (CRJ), Josiah Coleman (CRK), Trevor Heitland (CRK), Jacob Aune (CRP), Mack Mattke (CRX), Andy Henry (LM)

HONORABLE MENTION - Tyler Hemphill (CRJ), Creighton Robinson (CRJ), Elliott Christians (CRK), Darius Fuller (CRK), Tom Eilers (CRP), Brooks Kehoe (CRP), Sean Bredl (CRW), David Tann (CRW), Kevin Hosch (CRX), Matt Nelson (CRX), Derik Gogg (LM), Matt Meier (LM), Jared Huhndorf (Marion), Cale Cannoy (Marion)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Marcus Paige (LM)

COACHES OF THE YEAR - Bob Fontana (CRK), Chris Robertson (LM)

No.8 Cougars top Saints in substate, 59-45

Bob Fontana's basketball team at Kennedy High School plays defense well enough to beat just about anyone.

The Cougars also miss enough free throws and commit enough turnovers to lose to just about anyone.

The eighth-ranked Cougars did enough things right Friday night to clip Xavier, 59-45, in the Class 4A substate semifinals at Kennedy to keep their season alive.

The Cougars (16-6) will face No. 5 Linn-Mar (18-5) in the substate finals Tuesday night at Prairie High School with a berth to the state tournament on the line.

Kennedy beat the Lions, 56-51, on Feb. 4, but that game was played at Kennedy and it was before Matt Lassen rejoined the Lions after missing two months with a severe concussion.

Fontana is not pinning his hopes on what happened three weeks ago.

"We won last time and I know it's coach-speak, but it doesn't mean anything right now," he said. "They're playing really, really well. They're playing at a high level.

"It's going to take our best effort and best game of the season."

Kennedy played its typically stingy defense Friday and held Xavier without a field goal during a 12-minute stretch that began late in the first quarter and did not end until early in the third quarter. By then, the Cougars had grabbed a 27-14 lead.

"Kennedy did a great job of forcing us out of our offense," said Xavier Coach Matt Jenkins. "They're very physical, and they forced us to take tough shots."

The Cougars cruised to a 48-28 lead with five minutes left in the game, but then the twin bugaboos - missed free throws and costly turnovers - came back to haunt them. The Saints (10-13) pulled within nine points at 54-45 on a 3-pointer by Brian Ropp before Kennedy got things under control again.

The Cougars made 22 free throws and outscored the Saints 22-8 at the foul line, but they also missed 13 free throws to give Xavier a chance in the fourth quarter.

Kennedy point guard Darius Fuller led the Cougars with 16 points on a series of floaters and tear-drops, but he also committed eight turnovers (not all his fault).

Fuller knows he cannot make that many turnovers against Marcus Paige and the Linn-Mar Lions Tuesday night. "We definitely have to take care of the ball more than we did tonight, because they'll take advantage of that," he said.

Elliott Christians, a 6-foot-7 senior who is being recruited by a long list of Division II and Division III schools, set the defensive tone for Kennedy in the first quarter when he blocked three shots and altered several others.

"Defense is the key," said Christians. "We know if we play our best defense the whole game we can beat anybody."

Kennedy used a variety of defenses against the Saints with full-court pressure, a two-thirds trap, a half-court trap and a sticky man-to-man. Xavier scored only three points in the second quarter, all on free throws by Carter Valentine, as the Cougars grabbed control.

The Cougars also helped themselves with a strong performance on the boardboards, with Josiah Coleman leading the way with 11 rebounds. He also scored nine points, but made only one field goal (along with seven free throws).

Trevor Heitland scored all nine of his points on free throws for Kennedy, going 9-for-10 at the foul line. Cody Bell popped in two 3-pointers and scored 10 points.

Kevin Hosch paced Xavier with 15 points and Ben McDermott finished with 11, including back-to-back triples that gave the Saints a chance in the fourth quarter.

Jenkins was proud of his club for winning 10 games, finishing 8-8 in the Mississippi Valley Conference and winning a postseason game this season.

"There were a lot of positives," he said. "I think overall things went well for us."

XAVIER (45): Sampson 0 0-0 0, McDermott 4 1-2 11, Hosch 6 2-2 15, Valentine 2 4-5 8, Mattke 0 0-0 0, Nelson 2 0-0 4, Frazier 0 1-2 1, Ropp 1 0-0 3, Clasen 1 0-0 3. Totals 16 8-11 45.

KENNEDY (59): Fuller 7 2-4 16, Heitland 0 9-10 9, Bell 4 0-2 10, Christians 2 3-4 7, Coleman 1 7-12 9, Jahlas 1 0-0 2, Hayden 1 0-0 3, Martin 0 0-0 0, Struss 1 1-3 3. Totals 17 22-35 59.

Halftime - Kennedy 27, Xavier 14. 3-point goals - Xavier 5 (McDermott 2, Hosch 1, Ropp 1, Clasen 1), Kennedy 3 (Bell 2, Hayden 1). Fouled out - Clasen.

Saints hold off winless Warriors; Cougars next

The Washington boys’ final loss of a winless season Monday night went pretty much the way of their woeful season as a whole.

The Warriors dug themselves a hole early and never seemed to find a rhythm.

But, when things looked hopeless, they somehow bucked up fought with fury right to the finish.

Xavier won the home court Class 4A substate tournament quarterfinal, 59-44, but Saints Coach Matt Jenkins knew all along it wouldn’t be a cake walk.  “That’s not a team that’s going to lie down,” he said after his team advanced to a Friday showdown at Kennedy against the Cougars.  “In my eyes, they’re a scary team that can hurt you.”

Just last week, for instance, Washington (0-21) trailed 10th-ranked Dubuque Senior 28-8 at halftime but then mounted a 21-4 rally to get back in the game.

“All year, they haven’t let the score dictate how they were going to play the game,” said Jenkins. “They did almost the exact same thing tonight they did against Senior.”

Once the Saints (10-12) got their own somewhat sluggish offense on track Monday night, they rolled to a 50-27 lead with four minutes left.

Instead of folding their tents, though, the Warriors roared back.

Senior Cyb Moa knocked down three 3-pointers, all within one minute, then stole a pass and fed Heath Clark for a layup.

Suddenly, it was 10-point game with two minutes to go.

Jenkins called a timeout and once again ordered a full-court press.

Dogged by fouls all night, Washington could do little else the rest of the way. Xavier salted the game away with seven of 10 free throws.

“That’s the way these guys have been all year,” said Washington Coach Brad Metzger. “They keep fighting. They never give up.

“They’ve continued to plug away, no matter what.”

For all the effort, however, they still lost 21 straight games.

“That’s hard to comprehend,” the coach admitted. “I just don’t know what to make of it."

The Saints, meanwhile, figure they’ll have to put on a better performance against Kennedy.  The Cougars beat them 54-45 in the their regular-season game back in early December on Xavier’s home floor.

“We didn’t play up to our potential tonight,” said mobile 6-foot-8 sophomore center Matt Nelson, who sparked his team off the bench with 13 points on some sweet inside moves.

Added senior guard Ben McDermott, who netted nine points, “We didn’t play our best. We didn’t play horrible. But we didn’t play great, either.”

Jenkins, whose team has been inconsistent all year,  said there are some things to work on.

“There were times when we didn’t play smart tonight,” he said. “When we had a lead, we made bad judgments on some shots.

“The good part is, those things can be corrected.

“We just need to keep our composure against Kennedy and not let their defense force us out of our offense. We have to have smart possessions.”

Saints stun No. 10 Dubuque Senior, 53-51

DUBUQUE - The Xavier Saints finished the regular season with a bang Thursday night.

Ben McDermott scored 19 points and Tanner Frazier made two big baskets as the Saints upset No. 10 Dubuque Senior, 53-51, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game.

Dubuque Senior rallied and took a 44-43 lead with three minutes left, but Frazier hit a 3-pointer and followed with another field goal to give the Saints the lead for good at 48-44.

Xavier finished the regular season at 9-12 overall and 8-8 in the conference.

Kyle Haber led the Rams (16-5, 11-5) with 15 points. Domen Zevnik scored 14 points and Josh Weeber had 12.

Frazier finished with nine points for the Saints.

XAVIER (53): Sampson 2 0-1 5, McDermott 8 1-2 19, Frazier 4 0-0 9, Hosch 2 1-2 5, Valentine 3 1-1 7, Clasen 0 0-0 0, Mattke 2 0-0 5, Nelson 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 4-8 53.

DUBUQUE SENIOR (51): Holdridge 0 0-0 0, Zevnik 5 3-4 14, Anderson 0 1-2 1, Powers 0 1-2 1, Haber 6 2-2 15, Weeber 5 2-4 12, Duve 0 0-0 0, Bonifas 4 0-0 8. Totals 20 9-14 51.

Halftime - Xavier 30, Dubuque Senior 23. 3-point goals - Xavier 5 (McDermott 2, Sampson 1, Frazier 1, Mattke 1), Dubuque Senior 2 (Zevnik 1, Haber 1).