Metro Sports Report

Mount Mercy women drubbed by Clarke

The Mount Mercy women's basketball team played its first game ever in downtown Cedar Rapids on Friday, but it quickly turned into the Nightmare on 1st Avenue for the Mustangs.

Mount Mercy played miserably in the first half and lost to Clarke University, 78-58, in the opening round of the AII Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center.

The Mustangs defeated Clarke twice during the regular season, both times by double digits, but they fell behind by 34 points in the second half and needed a late flurry just to make the score a little more respectable.

Mount Mercy trailed 39-15 at halftime and never recovered.

Mount Mercy coach Bob Kintzel did not need a score sheet to recite his team's atrocious statistics from the first half. They were emblazoned on his brain in scarlet letters.

"We were 4 for 24, 0 for 11 (on 3-pointers) and 46 percent from the free throw line," he recited from memory. "One assist, 18 turnovers. That's not going to win you many games.

Improved Hawks fall at City High

IOWA CITY – A team’s record doesn’t always tell the whole story.

That’s how Prairie boys basketball coach Jeremy Rickertsen will look back on his 2015-16 squad, which had its season end Friday with a 66-55 loss to Iowa City High in a Class 4A substate semifinal at City High.

The Hawks finished the season with an 8-15 record, but Rickertsen is pleased with the direction of the program.

“I just told the seniors, 'You leave a place better than when you got here,'” Rickertsen said. “And regardless of the record, they’ve done that.

“They’ve set a good tone for how to practice for the young kids and how to work hard and compete and not give up.”

Prairie never led in Friday’s game, but it also refused to wilt.

City bolted to a 7-0 lead, but the Hawks answered with five consecutive points. City led 31-20 at halftime, but Prairie started the second half with a 7-2 scoring run, trimming the deficit to 33-27.

Linn-Mar, Xavier will meet in football

Linn-Mar High School has changed its mind and has agreed to play non-district football games against the Xavier Saints in 2016 and 2017.

Two years ago, Linn-Mar athletic director Scott Mahmens said his school was not interested in playing any games against a Class 3A school. The Lions compete at the Class 4A level and he said at the time they wanted to play other 4A schools in non-district games in 2014 and 2015.

Linn-Mar changed its mind and put Xavier on its preferred list of non-district games for the next two-year cycle of games in 2016 and 2017, but Mahmens declined comment when contacted by the Metro Sports Report Friday morning after the Iowa High School Athletic Association released the schedules for all teams.

L-M board supports administration

The Linn-Mar Board of Education fully supports Linn-Mar administrators in the way they've handled complaints from unhappy Linn-Mar football families and does not plan to take any action in the matter.

"We fully support the administration's investigation," Tim Isenberg, the board president, told the Metro Sports Report Friday morning. "Do we trust the administration? Yes. Did they do the right job? Yes."

The Linn-Mar families, who call themselves the Concerned Parent Group, have filed serious allegations against assistant football coach Matt Casebolt in terms of verbal, mental, emotional and physical abuse. They have accused Casebolt of taunting, harassment and bullying and also have accused him of physically harming a player by shoving a 45-pound weight into his face.

The parents also have complained about head football coach Bob Forsyth, athletic director Scott Mahmens and princial Jeff Gustason, complaining they have allowed the abuse to occur and continue.

Linn-Mar administrators conducted an in-house investigation and dismissed all complaints due to "insufficient evidence," according to letters Gustason sent to the parents.