Xavier Boys Basketball

Saints dump Mount Pleasant in opener

MOUNT PLEASANT - Mitchell Burger popped in 14 points Monday night and made four steals as the Xavier Saints opened the season with a 61-28 victory at Mount Pleasant.

Ryan Stulken collected 10 points and five rebounds for Xavier. Blake Whitten scored nine points. Matt Mims had eight points and four assists. Jackson Joens snared six rebounds.

Max Techau missed the game for the Saints due to an injury.

Nobody scored more than six points for Mount Pleasant.

XAVIER (61): Burns 0 0-0 0, Burger 6 0-1 14, Mims 4 0-0 8, Butowski 1 0-0 2, Fettkether 1 0-0 2, Whitten 4 0-0 9, Joens 2 2-2 7, Demplewolf 0 0-0 0, Stulken 4 0-0 10, Schulte 0 0-0 0, Houtakker 3 0-0 7, Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 2-3 61.

MOUNT PLEASANT (28): Bloom 0 0-0 0, Ruby 2 0-1 6, Mulford 2 0-0 6, Ashton 0 0-0 0, Sartorius 1 0-0 2, Magnani 2 2-2 6, Lowe 0 0-0 0, Ita 1 0-4 2, Kohorst 3 0-0 6. Totals 11 2-5 28.

Halftime - Xavier 30, Mount Pleasant 13. 3-point goals - Xavier 7 (Burger, Stulken, Whitten, Joens, Houtakker 1), Mount Pleasant 4 (Ruby 2, Mulford 2).

Saints have big sneakers to fill

Adam McDermott, Calvin Winker and Michael Mims helped the Xavier Saints win 18 games last season and place third at the Class 3A state basketball tournament, but now all three of them are playing ball in college.

McDermott scored 17 points and hit five 3-pointers the other day for North Dakota in a victory against Bowling Green. Winker is playing as a freshman at Missouri Western. And Mims has started a game already at Loras.

Connor Ramlo, a fourth member of the stating lineup for the Saints last year, is a member of the men's soccer team at Creighton, leaving Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann with a rebuilding job this year.

He welcomes the challenge.

"We're trying to figure out how we're going to replace the four senior starters that moved on," Luehrsmann said this week. "We've got some young talent and this group is real competitive.

"They're really getting after one another in practice, so I like what I've seen so far in terms of effort and their coachability."

Mitchell Burger, the fifth member of the starting lineup, is back for his senior year after enjoying an impressive campaign with the Saints in their backcourt. He averged 13.5 points, the second-best on the club behind McDermott, and impressed fans with his speed, agility and fierce desire.

Read more...

Mims will play hoops at Loras

Xavier High School senior Michael Mims has committed to play his college basketball at Loras College in Dubuque.

Mims, a 5-foot-11 point guard, averaged 10 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds for the Saints this past season. He made 46 3-pointers and had 37 steals.

Mims helped Xavier finish third at the Class 3A state tournament with an 18-9 record.

Mims transferred from Prairie to Xavier for his senior year of basketball. He was an all-Metro and all-conference selection during his career.

Loras is an NCAA Division III school that competes in the Iowa Conference.

INA tabs McDermott, Bohannon, Manning

Adam McDermott, Jordan Bohannon and Brendon Manning have been named to the all-state basketball teams by the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA).

McDermott, a 6-foot-3 senior from Xavier, made first team all-state in Class 3A. He averaged 18.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, helping the Saints to an 18-9 record and third place at the state tournament.

Bohannon, a 6-foot junior, made second team all-state in Class 4A. He averaged 17.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists, helping the Lions finish 18-5 and make the substate finals.

Manning, a 6-4 senior, was named third team all-state in Class 4A. He averaged 14.6 points and 7.5 records, helping the Cougars finish 18-6 and reach the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

Daniel Tillo of Sioux City North was named Mr. Basketball.