Metro Sports Report

Wilson was heaven-sent to Huskies

First-year Coach Ron Slagle jokes that he violated no recruiting rules to get star player Candace Wilson on the Cedar Valley Christian roster this year.

She more or less just showed up unannounced.

In her first and only season of high school basketball, the left-handed senior has taken the Tri-Rivers Conference by storm.

She leads the East Division in points scored with 297 (a 17.5 average) and her 60 steals (4 per game) are almost twice as many as anyone else.

Kennedy, LM girls draw No. 1 seeds

Kennedy, Linn-Mar, Washington and Marion have drawn opening-round byes in the girls regional basketball tournament this month and will need to win only two games to reach the state tournament.

Kennedy and Linn-Mar drew No. 1 seeds in the Class 5A regionals. Washington was assigned a No. 2 seed in Class 5A and the Marion Indians drew a No. 2 seed in Class 4A.

Jefferson, Prairie and Xavier will play in the opening round of the regional tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Kennedy, Linn-Mar, Washington and Marion will swing into action in the regional semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 20 and the regional finals will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

The highest remaining seeds will get to host the regional finals.

The sixth-ranked Kennedy Cougars will host Muscatine or Davenport Central in the Class 5A Region 4 semifinals. The other half of the bracket features 12th-ranked Davenport North and Bettendorf. If the seeds hold true to form, Kennedy will host Davenport North in the regional finals.

McKinney wins Metro Spotlight Award

Dennis McKinney of Cedar Rapids Jefferson is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

McKinney, a 6-foot-4 senior, has been one of the driving forces for the Jefferson basketball team during its surge the last few weeks. The J-Hawks have won three of their last four games, including an upset victory over sixth-ranked Linn-Mar Friday night, and have raised their record to 6-10.

McKinney scored 19 points and snared 17 rebounds in the victory against Linn-Mar, continuing his good work during the winning streak.

Dighton wins Metro Spotlight Award

Kennedy Dighton of Jefferson is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Dighton, a 6-foot-1 junior, has been a key member of the Jefferson basketball team as it bids for a winning season this year.

Dighton leads the J-Hawks at 13.5 points and more than eight rebounds per game. She has raised her game this season after averaging 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds last year as a sophomore.