Kennedy, Xavier and Linn-Mar have emerged as the best boys basketball teams in the Metro area this season, but all three of them probably will have to upset a ranked team to reach the state tournament in Des Moines.

Kennedy has been placed in a Class 4A substate with third-ranked North Scott, Xavier finds itself in a Class 3A substate with third-ranked Dubuque Wahlert and Linn-Mar has been assigned to a Class 4A substate with top-ranked Dubuque Senior.

The postseason assignments were announced Monday by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. First-round pairings and seedings will be announced in February.

Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington are in Substate #4 with North Scott, Clinton and Pleasant Valley, with North Scott the favorite to make the state tournament.

Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen welcomed the challenge.

"I feel good about it," he said. "You are always going to have to play a couple good teams to get to state. Clinton and North Scott are both really good teams.

"Jefferson and Washington are both also a lot better than their records indicate. I think it will be a tough substate and the winner will be ready for a battle at state."

Linn-Mar is in Substate #3 with Cedar Falls, Dubuque Hempstead, Waterloo East, Waterloo West and Dubuque Senior, with Dubuque Senior the heavy favorite in that group.

The Prairie Hawks have been assigned to Class 4A Substate #6 with fourth-ranked Iowa City West, Iowa City High, Marshalltown, Newton and Ottumwa.

The Xavier Saints and Marion Indians have both been assigned to Class 3A District #8 with Center Point-Urbana and Vinton-Shellsburg. The District #8 champion will play the District #7 champion in the substate finals for a trip to state. Dubuque Wahlert, Western Dubuque, Independence and West Delaware are in District #7.

Xavier lost to Wahlert, 69-60, this past Friday night in Dubuque, but Saints Coach Ryan Luehrsmann is not looking too far ahead.

"I honestly am not very concerned with the substates yet," he said. "We are still trying to find our identity as a team, so getting better and winning as many regular season games as we can is all that I am concerned with at this point.

"No matter who we play, we know it will be a tough road to navigate to get to Des Moines."

All of the Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A assignments can be found at www.iahsaa.org. The Class 2A and 1A assignments were previously announced.