The Iowa High School Athletic Association has smiled on the Xavier boys basketball team.

The Saints have received a favorable draw for the postseason tournament  with no major obstacles in their path to a second straight trip to the Class 3A state tournament.

The postseason assignments for Class 3A and Class 4A were announced Monday by the IHSAA.

Xavier is ranked No. 4 in Class 3A and there are no other ranked teams in its eight-team cluster for the district and substate tournaments.

The Saints (9-2) were placed in District 9 with Clear Creek Amana (6-5), the Washington Demons (3-9) and Williamsburg (1-10). The winner of District 9 will face the winner of District 10 in the substate finals at the U.S. Cellular for a trip to Des Moines.

Mount Pleasant (8-3) appears to be the strongest team in District 10 with Fort Madison (6-5), Keokuk (5-7) and Fairfield (4-8).

Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann said he puts a heavy emphasis on trying to get off to a good start each season and have a favorable record when the IHSAA puts the basketball pods together.

"It looks like the committee has rewarded that," he said. "For us to be in a position at 9-and-2, I couldn't be happier with where we're at. I think that had an impact on where we were placed."

The IHSAA put Dubuque Wahlert and Xavier in different clusters, rewarding both teams for their performances so far. Wahlert, which has won the last two Class 3A state titles, is ranked No. 2 and was placed in a district with Marion, West Delaware and Independence.

"We wanted to avoid them at all costs," Luehrsmann said, laughing. "Everybody wants to do that, though."

Wahlert defeated Xavier in the semifinals of the state tournament last year. If they meet in the postseason again this year, it would be in Des Moines.

The Linn-Mar Lions (7-3) and Kennedy Cougars (5-6) were placed in Substate 3 in Class 4A with Cedar Falls (8-3), Waterloo East (4-6), Waterloo West (3-6) and Marshalltown (2-10). Linn-Mar and Cedar Falls are battling for the No. 1 seed in that substate, although the Lions have already defeated the Tigers in Cedar Falls this season.

Washington (5-6), Prairie (5-6) and Jefferson (3-8) were placed in Substate 6 in Class 4A with Iowa City West (8-3), Iowa City High (7-5) and Ottumwa (4-7). Iowa City West, which is ranked No. 2 in the state, is the heavy favorite to win that substate title.

The pairings for the postseason tournaments will be announced in several weeks.

The Class 3A district tournaments are scheduled for Feb. 22 and Feb. 25, with the substate finals Feb. 29. The Class 4A substate tournaments are scheduled for Feb. 22, Feb. 26 and March 1.

The substate finals in Class 3A and Class 4A for most of the Metro teams will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids. Xavier won its substate title at the U.S. Cellular Center last year on its way to placing third at the state tournament.

"That was big, just to play on the biggest stage in Cedar Rapids," said Luehrsmann. "It's an experience that I know our kids relish and really look forward to the opportunity to hopefully be part of that again, because it was a special environment that night.

"It was almost right on par with playing at the Wells Fargo Arena."