Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Saints eye state tourney with Mims

The Xavier Saints came within one game of reaching the Class 3A state basketball tournament last year, falling to Dubuque Wahlert in a memorable substate final in Epworth.

Now the Saints plan to finish the journey to Des Moines with Cedar Rapids Prairie transfer Michael Mims joining Adam McDermott and Calvin Winker in a potent lineup of three all-conference players.

Mims, a 5-foot-9 point guard, averaged 13.7 points at Prairie last season before deciding to play his final year at Xavier. McDermott, who has committed to North Dakota, averaged 16.5 last season. Winker, who has committed to Missouri Western, averaged 13.0 points.

All three players are capable of scoring 20 points on any given night and Coach Ryan Luehrsmann plans to play an up-tempo game to take advantage of their ability.

Luehrsmann claimed he has a new coaching philosophy this year with so much firepower on the club. "Just try to get out of the way," he joked.

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Xavier girls trimmed by Johnston

Rachel Hinders scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds Saturday afternoon as Johnston trimmed Xavier, 51-45, in a non-conference girls basketball game at Xavier.

Johnston (2-0) is ranked No. 6 in Class 5A. Xavier (1-1) is ranked No. 14 in Class 4A.

Freshman Jennah Johnson snared 13 rebounds for Johnston.

Morgan Breitbach led Xavier with 13 points. Lizzy Bailey netted 11 points. McKenna Anderson finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

JOHNSTON (51): Sieren 0 0-1 0, Brown 2 8-10 13, Beswick 2 1-2 5, Towers 2 2-3 6, Wilmes 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 3-5 7, Hinders 8 4-8 20. Totals 16 18-29 51.

XAVIER (45): Bastian 0 0-0 0, Bailey 3 3-5 11, Noonan 0 0-0 0, Andersen 4 0-0 8, Breitbach 5 3-4 13, Christianson 0 0-0 0, Dickes 0 2-2 2, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Drahozal 2 0-0 5, Ivester 1 0-0 2, Joens 2 0-1 4. Totals 17 8-12 45.

Halftime - Johnston 24, Xavier 16. 3-point goals - Johnston 1 (Brown 1),
Xavier 3 (Bailey 2, Drahozal 1).

Metro volleyball players rake in honors

Nine high school volleyball players from the Metro area have been named to the all-state and all-district teams by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association.

Alyssa Thomas and Abby Phillips of Marion were named first team all-state in Class 4A. Amanda Sahm of Marion was named second team all-state. Kayla Torson of Xavier and Isabella Sade of Marion received honorable mention in Class 4A.

Amanda Ollinger of Jefferson was named second team all-state in Class 5A. Anna Fluent of Kennedy, Sarah Renner of Linn-Mar and Kate Busswitz of Prairie received honorable mention in Class 5A.

The same nine players were named to the all-district teams.

Thomas, Sade, Phillips, Sahm and Torson were named all-district on the Class 4A Northeast squad. Busswitz, Renner, Ollinger and Fluent were named all-district on the Class 5A East team.

Xavier opens with win over Decorah

Lizzy Bailey had 18 points to lead the Xavier girls basketball team to a 58-41 season-opening win over Decorah on Tuesday at Xavier.

Morgan Breitbach added 13 points and six steals for Xavier.

XAVIER (58): Amelia 3 0-0 6, Bastian 0 0-0 0, Drahozal 1 0-0 2, Dickes 0 0-0 0, Tritle 0 0-0 0, Noonan 2 0-1 4, Bailey 6 4-4 18, Nelson 0 2-2 2, Anderson 2 3-4 7, Joens 1 2-2 5, Breitbach 5 3-3 13. Totals 19 14-16 58.

Halftime – Xavier 38, Decorah 14. 3-point goals – Decorah 3, Xavier 2 (Bailey 2).