Xavier Girls Basketball

Defense looms large for Saints, Warriors at state

Tom Lilly was not fond of playing defense when he was a senior at Regis High School 30 years ago, which is kind of ironic.

These days, Lilly prides himself on having strong defensive clubs at Xavier High School and it's one of the reasons the Saints have made the state basketball tournament for the 10th time in 15 years under his guidance.

When Lilly was a junior at Regis, his main assignment in practice was to play tough defense to help get the senior-laden squad ready for games. All of the juniors had that assignment as members of the junior varsity, as he recalls.

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Superstitious Lilly aims for 4th title

Tom Lilly needs a new shirt and tie. Maybe a new suit, too.

Lilly and the Xavier Saints are headed to the girls state basketball tournament Wednesday and the veteran coach does not want to jinx his team by wearing old clothes that have been tainted by state tournament defeats.

"I won't wear anything I've been beat in," he declared. "It's just a superstition I have.

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Xavier selling state basketball tickets

Xavier High School will be selling tickets to the girls state basketball tournament this Monday and Tuesday in the Activities Office from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days.

All tickets are general admission and cost $8.

Xavier (14-9) will play Lewis Central (20-3) in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Xavier destroys Demons for state berth

Just like the Xavier girls, players from Washington, Iowa, pass a baton to one another when coming in and out of the game.

That’s where the resemblance between two teams ended Tuesday night at Kennedy.

In a David versus Goliath match-up (or, if you will, Demons versus Saints), heavily favored Xavier crushed its underdog foe 51-15 to earn a trip to the Class 4A state tourney next week in Des Moines.

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