Metro Sports Report

Diggins stars as Cougars top Saints

Derrick Diggins was invited to practice with the Kennedy varsity basketball team last year as a freshman during the holiday break to give the Cougars an extra body for their workouts and drills.

He seized the opportunity, stayed with the varsity the rest of the season and has returned this year as a budding superstar.

Diggins poured in 25 points Friday night with 3-pointers and dazzling drives to the basket as Kennedy topped Xavier, 62-46, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Xavier.

Diggins, 15, averaged 5.8 points last season as a ninth grader and he's already averaging a robust 18.7 points this year after three games.

"He had a specatular performance," Xavier coach Ryan Luehrsmann said. "We didn't have an answer for him. We couldn't defend him man-to-man.

"He's got a bright future," Luehrsmann said. "If he keeps working on things, he's going to have a great high school career and he'll be somebody who can play at the next level."

No. 6 Lions hold off Warriors

Linn-Mar coach Jaime Brandt may have done her best coaching Friday night before the game even started.

In their first tough test of the young season, her unbeaten Lions eked out a hard-fought 69-64 homecourt victory over the scrappy Washington Warriors.

Credit a blitzkrieg 14-0 start for the victory.

Sick and dizzy throughout (and after) the game and with a bucket in front of her at the bench, Brandt was suffering with the flu. Even with the new rule allowing coaches to stand during games, she barely moved from her seat. Still, she got her girls ready to play.

"We came out really strong,” star sophomore guard Kamryn Finley said. “Coach always has a huddle together in the tunnel before games and gets us pumped up. We were ready to kick some butt.”

Finley started the surge with a layup right after the opening tip. She nailed a 3-pointer a couple of minutes later. And when sophomore sub Ally Johnson hit another trey soon after, the Warriors were in the hole before they knew what hit them.

Printy enjoys return to Washington

Everybody knew about it, but nothing was said.

Linn-Mar's basketball game Thursday night at Washington marked the return of Jared Printy to the gym where he played the first three years of his prep career.

Printy transferred to Linn-Mar for his senior season and everybody in the Lions' camp knew the atmosphere would be more charged than usual when the two teams met.

"We didn't talk about it at all," Linn-Mar coach Chris Robertson said. "He knew, but we didn't talk about it."

After a bit of a slow start, Printy had a successful homecoming. He scored 18 points, including three 3-point baskets in the third quarter, helping the Lions to a 69-49 win.

"I knew it was going to be crazy intense," Printy said. "I didn't think I could possibly be unprepared for it, but it was intense out there. Both teams played so hard and it was a really fun game to be a part of."

Lions senior Jordan Bohannon, who led all scorers with 22 points, thought his teammate handled the situation well.

Check out local college basketball games

Do yourself a favor this winter. Turn off the TV and attend some of the outstanding local college basketball games in Cedar Rapids.

You'll be glad you did and perhaps surprised at what you find.

Kirkwood, Coe and Mount Mercy have some very good teams, both men and women. They play entertaining games that feature numerous players from Iowa, including recent stars from the Metro high schools.

The Kirkwood men are ranked No. 2 in the nation in junior college Division II basketball with a 10-1 record. One of their top players is former Jefferson star Jacob Olson. The Kirkwood women are ranked No. 6 in the nation with an 8-3 record and one of their top players is Prairie grad Cyerra Hutchins.

Coe College has a talented men's basketball team that features a number of excellent players from Eastern Iowa, and their women's team has four prominent players from Cedar Rapids in Aleena Hobbs of Washington (a budding All-American), Courtney McCrary of Prairie, Jordan Holmes of Kennedy and Ashley Stulken of Xavier, although Stulken has been slowed by an injury.

You won't find a sweeter 3-point shooter in the nation than Coe marksman Mickey Hansche, who made 20 3-pointers for the Coe women in their first five games this season and was hitting 52.6 percent of her triples.