Metro Sports Report

Coe women triumph with last-minute push

After initially trailing Dubuque for the first quarter, the Coe women’s basketball team managed to come back and win 85-77 in the Iowa Conference game Wednesday night at Eby Fieldhouse.

The lead changed nine times as the Kohawks (8-8, 3-2) battled back and forth with the Spartans (11-5, 4-1).

Mackenzie Reed was the top scorer with 22 points for the Kohawks. Reed said the team mentality was to “work the ball around and just be patient; don’t rush into any shots.”

Unbeaten Dubuque men stop Kohawks, 66-56

Gage Heffernan scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead unbeaten and No.25 Dubuque past Coe, 66-56, Wednesday night in Iowa Conference men's basketball at Eby Fieldhouse.

Heffernan, a 6-foot-4 junior, prepped at Western Dubuque and played for Kirkwood for two seasons before joining Dubuque (16-0, 5-0 IIAC) this season.

Andrew Wirth scored 17 points for Coe (9-7, 1-4) to lead all scorers. The loss was the Kohawks' third straight.

JT Vonderhaar and Jacob Timm added 10 points apiece for Coe. Christian Fahey grabbed eight rebounds.

IHSAA rejects changes to football playoffs

BOONE - During its monthly board meeting Wednesday morning, the Iowa High School Athletic Association struck down two measures that would have brought widespread changes to the prep football playoffs.

Much of the original playoff structure will remain intact, as far as the number of qualifying teams and the traditional Wednesday-Monday-Friday structure for the first three rounds. Teams across the state will continue to play a nine-game regular season schedule.

"The (Iowa Football Coaches Association) brought this to us in December," said Tom Keating, Chairman of the IHSAA Board of Control and Cedar Rapids Xavier principal. "We considered it very seriously because they're right in the middle of it. We didn't feel in December we had enough information to make a decision and that's why we went out and sought input from people in our areas.

"The input helped us in making this decision. It appears that this is something we're not ready to accept at this time," he said. "We need some more study, and can perhaps do that in this two-year cycle with district football."

No.9 Cougars roll by Waterloo East

The Kennedy Cougars celebrated their entry into the basketball rankings this week by collecting their most lopsided victory of the season Tuesday night.

The ninth-ranked Cougars spanked Waterloo East, 73-52, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at the Kennedy gym.

Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen, in his first year with the Cougars, welcomed this week's spot in the Associated Press poll.

"It's nice, because what you're preaching to the kids about effort and energy every day is starting to pay off. And they like it," he said. "Everybody likes to be recognized."