Metro Sports Report

Saints hope to finish job in 4A finals

Sean Ickes remembers the pep assembly. Colton Turner remembers the swift bus ride to Cedar Falls. Logan Clarahan remembers his butterflies. Matt Nelson remembers the noise in the UNI-Dome.

"It was loud at the Dome," Nelson said. "It was really loud last year."

It will get loud again Friday night when the fourth-ranked Xavier Saints (12-1) face top-ranked West Des Moines Dowling (13-0) in the all-Catholic school finals of the Class 4A playoffs.

Moses eyes Dr. Tom's formula at Prairie

If the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys basketball team has a successful season this year, the Hawks might want to thank former University of Iowa coach Tom Davis.

Prairie Coach James Moses played for Dr. Tom in the 1990's and might use a few of his former coach's tricks this season.

Prairie has a balanced squad with numerous guys battling for playing time. Moses wants to keep them working hard and trying to improve.

"We are capable of going about 12 or 13 deep," he said. "It kind of reminds me of the times when I used to play for Coach Davis. You just never knew who was going to get into his top-8 or top-10.

Schulte pays tribute to his late father

Xavier Coach Duane Schulte rarely shows any emotion on a football field. He's humble, low-key, devout in his religious beliefs, a strong family man and quick to credit others.

In many ways, he sounds like his father.

Greg Schulte died this past summer at 82. He and his wife, Jean, were married for 60 years and had nine children. "They were rock-solid together," Schulte said this week.

Greg Schulte, a farmer for many years, never went to high school. His formal schooling ended after the eighth grade, but his knowledge extended well beyond any classroom.

Tagarelli helps Eagles top Coe JV

Most of the basketball players at Kirkwood Community College dream about joining an NCAA Division I team some day.

Joseph Tagarelli has been there and hopes to get back.

Tagarelli spent the 2012-13 campaign as a walk-on at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but things did not work out for him and he transferred to Kirkwood this year.

From the look of things so far, he might get another shot at a D-I school in the future.

Tagarelli scored 18 points in 15 minutes Wednesday night as the 16th-ranked Eagles bopped the Coe junior varsity, 99-62, at Johnson Hall.