Metro Sports Report

Lions, Cougars could collide in substate

Linn-Mar and Kennedy boys basketball fans might want to circle Tuesday, March 3 on their calendar.

That's the day their teams might collide in the Class 4A substate finals, with a berth in the state tournament at stake.

The IHSAA announced the groupings for all the postseason tournaments Monday for Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A.

Linn-Mar and Kennedy were placed in the same substate with Cedar Falls, Marshalltown, Waterloo East and Waterloo West. The pairings will be announced next month, based on team results in Games 5 through 15.

Linn-Mar, Kennedy and Cedar Falls are the strongest teams in Substate 3 and will be seeded 1-2-3, based on their records after the 15th game. Linn-Mar has already defeated Kennedy (74-61) and Cedar Falls (81-45) and could have the inside track to the No. 1 seed. Kennedy can help itself with a victory at Cedar Falls Friday night.

Bohannon wins Metro Spotlight Award

Linn-Mar junior Jordan Bohannon is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Bohannon, a 6-foot-1 junior, is one of the top basketball players in the state for the Lions. He leads the Metro in scoring at 16.2 points and also leads the Metro with 35 3-pointers.

Bohannon has college offers from the University of Northern Iowa and Drake. He will become the fourth brother in his family to play Division I college basketball, following Jason (Wisconsin), Zach (Air Force/Wisconsin) and Matt (Northern Iowa).

Dahm ready for new venture with Mustangs

The Mount Mercy baseball team is scheduled to play its first 28 games on the road this season, beginning Jan. 26 with a four-game series against Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla.

New coach Jack Dahm cannot wait to get started, regardless of how manyroad games they play.

"I don't care," he said. "I'm coaching baseball instead of selling flooring, so I'm happy to be on the road for 28 games. Nothing against selling flooring, but this is a lot better."

Dahm sold flooring after being dismissed as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes following the 2013 campaign. He took a year off from being a head coach, but now he's back, this time at the NAIA level instead of the Big Ten.

"Baseball is baseball," he said. "It's teaching kids, it's being around kids. These guys have been really open-minded. We're trying to change the culture here."

Botkin wins Metro Spotlight Award

Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Stephanie Botkin is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Botkin, a 6-foot senior, is one of the top basketball players in the Metro area. She has played for the Kennedy varsity since she was a freshman and has amassed 913 points and 494 rebounds in her career, giving her a chance to join the 1,000/500 club before the season is over.

Botkin is averaging 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds this season, the best marks of her career. She has enjoyed games of 27 points against Waterloo West, 25 against Prairie, 21 against Waukee and 20 against Fairfield. She grabbed 12 rebounds against Fairfield and Ames, giving her double-doubles in both games.