Metro Sports Report

Saints draw Harlan in 2013 rematch at state tournament

DEWITT - The Harlan Cyclones must have winced Tuesday night when they saw who they drew in the opening round of the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament next week.

Oh, no! It's those pesky Saints from Xavier again.

Xavier upset Harlan, 53-52, in the championship game of the Class 4A state tournament in 2013. Now they'll meet again on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines in a rematch.

The Saints earned another trip to Des Moines by toppling Davenport North, 65-52, in the regional finals Tuesday night in DeWitt. The Saints did not reach the state tournament last year, falling on a buzzer-beater to North Scott in the regional finals.

"Emotions were really high," Xavier senior Lizzy Bailey told the Quad City Times. "Last year was a heart-breaking loss, so we had that in the back of our minds when we came out today. We just came out and played tough."

Coe women surge into IIAC semifinals

The Coe women's basketball team rode a 20-3 surge in the second half to a 70-64 victory over Simpson in the opening round of the Iowa Conference tournament at Eby Fieldhouse Tuesday night.

The Kohawks (18-8) will play at Luther in the semifinals Thursday night.

Coe and Simpson were locked in a 33-33 tie at halftime Tuesday. It was still tied at 35-35 when the Kohawks took control of the game with their 20-3 run, grabbing a 55-38 lead on a 3-pointer by Aleena Hobbs with 8:30 left in the game.

Simpson (16-10) got within seven points at 63-56 with 1:33, but Coe stopped the bleeding and prevailed by the six-point final margin.

Saints clicking at right time of year

It took a long time for the Xavier Saints to rebuild their basketball team this season with Prairie transfer Michael Mims added to the mix in the backcourt.

From the look of things now, they've finally figured it out and could be on a roll toward the Class 3A state tournament.

Mims popped in four 3-pointers Monday night and scored 21 points as the Saints belted Benton Community, 74-44, in the semifinals of the district tournament at Marion High School.

The Saints had an 8-8 record a month ago, but they've won six straight games now and will take a 14-8 mark into the district finals Thursday night against Solon, a 42-32 winner over Marion, at Kennedy.

Mims was an all-conference point guard at Prairie last year, but Xavier already had an accomplished point guard on the club with Mitchell Burger, along with two all-conference wings in Adam McDermott and Calvin Winker.

"It took some time, because last year Mitchell dominated the ball and played point for us," said Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. "It took awhile, I think, for those two to get on the same page and jell and share the ball.

Prairie Hawks hold off J-Hawks

The Prairie boys escaped an inspired bunch from Jefferson by the skin of their teeth Monday night in opening-round play of the Class 4A substate boys basketball tournament.

And now the Hawks get a second crack at top-ranked and undefeated Iowa City West Friday night on the Trojans' home floor.

“It’ll be a tall task,” acknowledged even-keel Prairie Coach Jeremy Rickertsen in the home team locker room after Monday’s 60-51 nail-biter against Jefferson. “But it’s like we stressed to the guys: You gotta believe.

“If you don’t believe we can beat them, don’t get on the bus.”

Jefferson Coach Brandon Horman had a similar message beforehand for his hard-luck J-Hawks. And they came within a couple of missed shots toward the tail-end of winning just their second game of a disappointing season.