Metro Sports Report

J-Hawks top Indians in girls jamboree

As part of a full night of season-opening exhibition games Friday in the Kennedy Jamboree, the Jefferson girls may have set a dubious record.

In their abbreviated 16-minute 34-28 win over Marion, the J-Hawks committed 18 fouls with 11 of them coming in the first quarter.

One of their players, Kieley Brathwaite, even managed to foul out despite a format in which coaches used their whole roster to get the kinks out.

“Obviously, we have to quit fouling so much,” said Jefferson Coach Jason Edwards. “The girls got a little too itchy and a little too grabby out there tonight.”

Persistence pays off for RoughRiders

The RoughRiders kept stuffing the turkey on Friday, till everything was gravy.

Cedar Rapids beat Muskegon 3-2 in overtime at The Stable, outshooting the Lumberjacks better than 2-to-1 (48 to 21).

"We stuck with it," RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson said. "We got a lot of rubber on their net tonight. I liked the way we hung tough; we didn't panic.

"I thought we showed great toughness there in overtime, getting it done."

Kirkwood men shoot down Lincoln, 102-76

Led by sophomore guards J.C. Fuller and Taylor Olson, Kirkwood avenged one its two losses with a 102-76 thumping of Lincoln (Ill.) College Friday night at Johnson Hall.

Fuller scored a game-high 21 points while Olson added 18.  Nine of Fuller's points came from the charity stripe in 10 attempts and Olson hit on 7 of 8 free throws. There were 49 fouls called and 72 free throws shot in the game.

“We just attacked on offense and took advantage of what they gave us,” said Fuller.  “If we are aggressive on offense and concentrate on our defense we gain a big advantage at the free throw line.”

Indians adjust to new 'pods' in Wamac

The Marion Indians are members of the West Division in the Wamac Conference, but they'll play two-thirds of their boys basketball games against teams from the East Division this year.

It's a temporary arrangement as the venerable league deals with having only 15 members instead of 16. Waterloo Columbus left the Wamac after the 2012-13 school year to join the NICL, so Wamac officials decided to split the 15 remaining schools into three "pods" of five teams apiece.

Marion was placed in the same "pod" with Mount Vernon, Solon, Maquoketa and DeWitt Central and will play those teams twice apiece for eight conference games. The Indians will have single meetings with the 10 teams in the other "pods" for a total of 18 league contests.