Metro Sports Report

Butkowski helps Saints dump Clippers

Nolan Butkowski found out Wednesday at a team meeting that he'd be starting in place of Mitchell Burger in Xavier's big game against Clear Creek Amana in the Class 3A district finals Thursday night.

It did not faze him a bit.

Butkowski embraced the assignment and scored a team-high 16 points as the Saints pulled away from the Clippers, 56-43, in the Prairie gym to move within one victory of reaching the state tournament for the second straight year.

Xavier (15-8) will face Mount Pleasant (18-5) in the substate finals at 7 p.m. Monday at Iowa City West.

Burger leads the Saints in scoring at 16.6 points, but the senior guard had to serve a one-game suspension for an unspecified violation of rules. In stepped Butkowski, who began the night with a 5.0 average.

Blood wins state bowling title

Prairie senior Rylee Blood capped her stellar four-year high school career by capturing the Class 3A state bowling championship Wednesday at Plaza Lanes in Des Moines.

“It was all good today,” she said of her 470 series on games of 246 and 224. “But I wasn’t thinking of my individual score. I was bowling for the team, and I wanted us to get that first team trophy.”

It was not the day for that, however, as a team of youngsters from Johnston bowled almost 400 pins higher than their season average to easily claim the team title. With four girls (including three freshmen) in the top 10 individual scores and a Baker round average of 210, Johnston recorded a score of 3171.

Prairie came in second at 2910, close to their season average of 2931. Their season average was by far the best in state coming into the tournament.

“We bowled really well today, and I’m proud of all of the girls,” said Prairie Coach Don Willfong. “But the Johnston girls were well over their average. They deserved it.”

Mount Mercy teams survived big changes

The members of the Mount Mercy men's and women's basketball teams were summoned to a surprise meeting last October and told their world was being turned upside down.

The men's coach was now the athletic director. The women's coach was now the men's coach. And the women's assistant coach was now the women's head coach on an interim basis.

This was just a few days before the start of the season.

There were a few bumps during the year as everyone absorbed the changes and adapted to new leadership, but both clubs have enjoyed successful campaigns and have a legitimate shot of reaching the NAIA basketball tournament.

The next step is the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) tournaments that will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The 17th-ranked Mount Mercy men's team (22-7) is the No. 1 seed in their bracket. The Mount Mercy women (16-13) are the No. 4 seed, but they've played their best basketball during the second half of the year.

Brandt taking Lions back to state

Jaime Printy Brandt is heading back to the girls state basketball tournament with the Linn-Mar Lions next week, only this time she's going as their young head coach instead of their star player.

It feels just as sweet.

The sixth-ranked Lions defeated Dowling Catholic, 61-49, in the Class 5A regional finals Tuesday night behind a pair of sensational performances by Megan Murphy and Kamryn Finley.

Brandt played in three state tournaments with Linn-Mar in 2006, 2008 and 2009. She made her first trip as a 15-year-old freshman and now she'll make this trip as a 25-year-old head coach.

Linn-Mar (19-4) will face Indianola (22-1) in the opening round of the state tournament at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 2 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.