Metro Sports Report

Sad day for Saints at state tourney

DES MOINES - There were 42 seconds left in Xavier's loss to North  Scott in the Class 4A state basketball tournament Friday morning when  Coach Tom Lilly sent seldom-used senior Lauren Cooling into the game.

The Saints trailed by only seven points at the time and Lilly could  have kept his starters on the floor and prayed for a miracle, but he  wanted to make sure Cooling got into the game for a taste of the state  meet.

Lauren Cooling's mother, Sue, died Wednesday from cancer. She was only  54 years old.

Two days later, Lauren took the floor for the semifinals of the state  tournament at Wells Fargo Arena and there wasn't a dry eye among the  Xavier players, coaches and fans.

"At some point in time you recognize the situation and that basketball  is not the most important thing at that moment in time," said Lilly,  who has won 523 games and four state titles in his career.

"Nobody on our team would have argued with the fact that she needed to  see the court at some point in time."

The sixth-ranked Saints fell to eighth-ranked North Scott, 58-49,  mostly because they committed too many turnovers, committed too many  fouls and could not keep the Lancers off the offensive backboard.

Harris helps No. 1 Eagles clinch title

Except for her bout with bronchitis, Kirkwood sophomore Deleyah Harris had a pretty good day Wednesday.

Harris nearly recorded a triple-double as the top-ranked Eagles held off NIACC, 93-81, to clinch the outright conference title and run  their perfect record to 29-0.

On top of that, the 5-foot-9 guard picked up a Division I college scholarship offer after the game from Missouri-Kansas City head coach Marsha Freese, a Cedar Rapids native who was at Johnson Hall.

Harris was happy to receive her first offer from a D-I school, especially one that's close to her home in Omaha, but she was not  ready to commit on the spot.

Her commitment right now is to getting healthy and trying to help Kirkwood win the NJCAA Division II national title.

Harris finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals in 32 minutes of action. She used an inhaler several times to help her breathing while battling bronchitis, but managed to keep going.

"My adrenaline was running," she said. "I was tired, but I had to keep going."

Wentzien nets 28 as Eagles top NIACC

Kirkwood sophomore Miles Wentzien is a grown man with muscles upon muscles, but nobody makes it through a college basketball season without a few bumps and bruises.

Wentzien missed two games last month after injuring his collarbone and sternum in a game against Ellsworth, but he's relatively healthy now and ready for the stretch run.

Wentzien tossed in 28 points and grabbed six rebounds Wednesday night  as the 12th-ranked Eagles pulled away from NIACC, 81-63, in a conference game at Johnson Hall.

Wentzien was hit in the jaw by an errant elbow Wednesday and needed a few moments to shake it off, but otherwise said he feels good as the season has moved into March.

"I felt pretty close to 100 percent out there tonight," he said. "I'd  say 95 to 100 percent."

That's good news for Kirkwood, which will need all of its players in good health as they try to win a second national title in a row.

Kaliph Fagan, a key member of the bench brigade, did not play against  NIACC after turning his ankle in practice Tuesday, but he plans to play Saturday in the final game of the regular season at Iowa Lakes.

Stanek sparks Saints by No. 3 Grinnell

DES MOINES - Kiana Stanek turned in a Kayla Armstrong performance at the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament Tuesday night.

It left all the Saints jumping for joy.

Stanek popped in a career-best 22 points and also excelled at the defensive end as the sixth-ranked Saints knocked off No. 3 Grinnell, 60-55, in the opening round at Wells Fargo Arena.

Xavier (18-6) will meet North Scott (19-5) in the Class 4A semifinals Friday at 10 a.m.

In case you don't remember, Armstrong was the girl who turned into Super Woman at the 2013 state tournament and led the Saints to the championship with the two best performances of her career.

Stanek still has work to do to match Armstrong, but she got off to a great start Tuesday with five 3-pointers and skin-tight defense against Grinnell star Madeline Wilkins, holding the 3-point artist to  just five points.

Stanek's eyes got bright when a reporter wondered if she knows who Armstrong is and what she did.

"We definitely know who she is," Stanek replied. "She's kind of our inspiration when it comes to state tournaments for Xavier."

Armstrong, known primarly as a mega-soccer star, averaged a modest eight points for the 2012-13 campaign, but she scored a career-best 22 points against Heelan in the semifinals and topped it with 23 points against Harlan in the finals.