Metro Sports Report

Lizzy Bailey wins Metro Spotlight Award

Lizzy Bailey of Xavier is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Bailey, a 5-foot-6 senior, scored a season-high 20 points Saturday as the Saints trimmed Davenport Assumption, 59-55, in a road game in Davenport.

Bailey is averaging 13 points per game this season, nearly double her average of 7.4 last season, and has enjoyed games of 20, 19 and 18 points this year. She ranks fifth in the Metro in scoring.

Craig Engle wins Metro Spotlight Award

Craig Engle of Marion is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Engle, a senior guard, is one of the top basketball players in the Wamac Conference. He is averaging 17 points per game, which ranks second in the Wamac Conference and also ranks second in the Metro.

Engle leads all Metro players with 26 assists and eighteen 3-pointers. He has made 18 of 40 3-pointers for 45 percent and also has 12 steals.

MSR celebrates its 4th anniversary

A dozen or so people sat around a long rectangular table in the summer of 2010 to talk about starting a new website company that would be devoted to covering local sports in Cedar Rapids and Marion.

Many of us were former newspaper people, looking to get back in the game. There was an advertising sales rep, a website expert, a potential investor and a few stragglers as well.

We did not have a name for the company, although that became fairly easy as time went by. We'd be reporting about sports in the Metro area, so Metro Sports Report became the obvious choice.

The idea for the website began to take shape. Reporters and photographers signed on. We found a talented local guy to build the website at a reasonable price. We put a small advertising sales staff together.

Balanced Mustangs knock off Luther

The Mount Mercy men's basketball team has a nice melting pot of players on the squad this year.

There are guys from Chicago, a pair from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, a shooter from Australia, a versatile player from Brazil and six guys from Iowa, including a quartet from Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

It's an effective mix and they produced an 82-67 victory over Luther in a non-conference game at the Hennessey Recreation Center Saturday afternoon.

Alex Houston, a 6-foot-4 forward from Chicago, led the charge for Mount Mercy (12-3) with 16 points and nine rebounds. James Boonstoppel, the shooter from Australia, popped in two 3-pointers during a 12-0 run as the Mustangs broke things open in the second half.

Kyle Lamaak, one of the Kennedy grads who joined the Mustangs this season after two years as a regular student at Northern Iowa, muscled in 11 points in 16 minutes despite operating with a sore ankle. Matos, a 6-5 senior from Brazil, showed his versatility with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.