Metro Sports Report

No. 6 Eagles earn trip to JUCO nationals

Kirkwood guard Hunter Rhodes was covered in blue body-paint Saturday afternoon and loving every single messy smear on his jersey, arms and hands.

It happened after Kirkwood students, some of whom painted G-O E-A-G-L-E-S on their bare chests, rushed the court after Kirkwood beat Iowa Lakes in the regional finals and hugged as many players as they could.

"I'm bleeding blue now, I guess," Rhodes said happily.

Rhodes was named the MVP of the regional tournament after the sixth-ranked Eagles dumped the 18th-ranked Lakers, 80-64, to win the regional title and earn a spot in the NJCAA Division II national tournament for the first time since 2011.

The national tournament will be held in Danville, Ill., from March 15-19.

Laube paid tribute to father at state

DES MOINES - Marion coach Corby Laube was hoping to wear his special purple shirt for one more day at the girls state basketball tournament in Des Moines, but he won't get the chance.

The seventh-ranked Indians saw their historic season end in the semifinals of the Class 4A tournament Friday with a 54-48 loss to No. 8 Pella at Wells Fargo Arena.

Laube has been wearing a purple dress shirt at games in honor of his father, Harlen, who has been battling Alzheimer's disease for several years and is living in a care facility in Cedar Falls.

Mia Laube, one of Marion's top players and the coach's daughter, said her younger sister Kayba selected the shirt around Christmastime for their father to wear in tribute to their grand-father.

"He wore it for the first time to the Alzheimer's game in honor of my grandpa," she said Friday. "It's kind of become his good-luck charm to know that our grand-pa is with us."

Mia Laube remembers her father wearing the shirt when the Indians defeated Center Point-Urbana during the regular season, a victory that helped Marion tie for the West Division title in the Wamac Conference.

Cold Lions fall to No. 1 Johnston

DES MOINES - It's hard to beat a high school basketball team that has six future NCAA Division I or Division II athletes on its roster.

That's what the Linn-Mar Lions faced in the semifinals of the Class 5A girls state basketball tournament Friday and it was too much talent to overcome.

The top-ranked Johnston Dragons, oozing outstanding athletes at every spot, handed the sixth-ranked Lions a 51-39 setback at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

"They're a very tough team," said Linn-Mar coach Jaime Brandt. "They're athletic. They have some really talented players and they played really well today."

Taryn Knuth, a 6-foot-4 junior who neutralized Linn-Mar star Amanda Ollinger, has committed to play volleyball at Florida State. Elle Brown, a sensational 5-foot-11 point guard and the daughter of former Olympic track star Nathasha Kaiser-Brown, will play basketball at Missouri.

BoEE gets complaints from Linn-Mar families

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (BoEE) has received official complaints from Linn-Mar families about the Linn-Mar football and weightlifting programs, according to one of the parents involved.

Bob Jordan, one of the leaders of the Concerned Parents Group, said he spoke with Kim Cunningham, the board secretary, on Monday to review the documents and discuss the situation.

Jordan said additional documents will be sent to the BoEE in the next few days.

The BoEE staff will review the complaints and decide whether to accept or reject the case, according to the BoEE complaint resolution process. If the case is accepted, an investigator will be assigned to begin an official probe.

The Linn-Mar parents have filed complaints against assistant football coach Matt Casebolt, head football coach Bob Forsyth, athletic director Scott Mahmens and principal Jeff Gustason. Five families have filed formal complaints with the BoEE, but at least 20 families have all shared similar concerns.

The families claim their sons have suffered verbal, mental, emotional and/or physical abuse. They have cited Casebolt in many of the complaints, but also hold Forsyth, Mahmens and Gustason responsible for not taking effective action to end the alleged problems.