Metro Sports Report

Harris paces No. 1 Kirkwood women

When Deleyah Harris was a freshman in high school, her AAU basketball team played in a boys summer league to test their skills and see how they stacked up.

"We lost every game," she said Wednesday night with a smile.

It paid off, however.

"It made you want to compete a lot more," said Harris. "Everybody always says boys are faster and stronger, so it made you try to show a lot more and try to compete. It helped me out a lot."

That experience against the guys in Omaha made her better and made her tougher, and now she's one of the top players for the No. 1 junior  college team in America.

Harris stuffed the stat sheet Wednesday with 20 points, seven steals, five rebounds and four assists as the top-ranked Kirkwood Eagles strolled to an 84-43 victory over John Wood Community College at  Johnson Hall.

Kirkwood, which climbed into the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA Division II rankings this week, raised its record to a perfect 10-0.

"We all feel really good about it, but like Coach (Kim Muhl) tell us, everybody is out to beat us," said Harris, "so we practice two times as hard now  what we are No. 1."

New lineup sparks Kirkwood men

It's mid-December and the Kirkwood Eagles have already played 12  games, but Coach Bryan Petersen is still juggling his lineup and searching for the right formula that will give them a shot at another national crown.

He may have found a few answers Wednesday night.

Kirkwood started a new four-guard lineup against John Wood Community College and posted a comfortable 84-64 victory in a non-conference game at Johnson Hall.

Petersen has tinkered with the lineup much of the season in search of the right starting lineup and the right combination of subs.

"Day-by-day, we're still looking for a lot of answers from our group,"  he said. "You never have it completely figured out. Everybody says by January you should know your team, hopefully.

"It's not January yet, but at the same time I thought we'd probably be  a little further along than we are right now."

Petersen has a lot of talented players to choose from, including six guys who helped the Eagles capture the NJCAA Division II title last March and a talented group of newcomers.

Talent is not the issue, but chemistry and team cohesion are still a work in progress. The Eagles have a respectable 9-3 record, but they are no longer ranked No. 1 in the country and they lost to Black Hawk  College last week after drilling them by 44 points earlier in the year.

Xavier girls dump Waterloo West

If you watch the Xavier girls basketball team play a few games in a  row, you realize the Saints play really good defense.

They did it again Tuesday night.

The Saints pestered Waterloo West with their long arms and quick feet and topped the Wahawks, 49-29, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game  at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

Waterloo West (3-3) averaged 56.8 points in its first five games and  star guard Aliyah Robinson was getting 18.8 per contest, but the  Saints followed their defensive game plan to perfection.

Xavier prevented Robinson from driving to the basket and gave the visitors very few second-chance opportunities.

"We play a lot of help defense, especially at practice, and helping the helper," explained senior Lexi Noonan, who led the Saints with 13  points and was a force on defense. "We all help each other out and  make sure everyone is covered and we don't leave their best player  open."

Na'Tracia Ceasar, who was averaging 16.8 points, collected only seven points against the stingy Saints, who had a good scouting report on the visitors from Waterloo.

Ferrari, Mayhew, Christner join softball league

Three more players with outstanding credentials have joined the new Iowa Women's Softball League for the 2017 campaign.

Lexi Ferrari of Kirkwood, DoniRae Mayhew of Kirkwood and Morgan  Christner of Illinois State are the latest players to enroll, becoming  the 22nd, 23rd and 24th players in the program.

Ferrari, a middle infielder, hit .398 with 50 RBIs for Kirkwood last  season as a freshman and helped the Eagles reach the national  tournament. She earned all-state honors during her prep career at Alleman Catholic High School in Rock Island, Ill.

Mayhew, a pitcher and corner infielder, received all-state honors  during all five of her years at Bettendorf High School. She finished her prep career this past summer with 59 home runs, which ranks No. 3  all-time in Iowa, and is now a freshman at Kirkwood.

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Christner, a pitcher, was a four time all-state selection at New  London High School and made the all-tournament  team at the state  tournament in 2013 and 2015. She led the state with a 405 strikeouts  in 2015 and is currently a freshman at Illinois State.

The Iowa Women's Softball League has been formed by the Metro Sports Report to give college players an opportunity to play in a competitive summer league and is the only program of its kind in Iowa.