Metro Sports Report

J-Hawks shoot past Burlington

BURLINGTON - Burlington High School boys basketball coach Jeff Bloomer knew what to expect from Class 4A Substate 5 opponent Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

He expected the J-Hawks to show good guard play. They did.

He expected the J-Hawks to switch defenses. They did.

He expected them to spread the court. They did.

Pleasant Valley ends Linn-Mar hoops streak

BETTENDORF - It'll be a difficult feat for any school to match.

For the past nine years, with names such as Jason Bohannon, Jordan Printy, Grant Gibbs and Marcus Paige, Linn-Mar's boys basketball team has been a fixture at the Class 4A state tournament in March. The Lions' state-record streak came to a halt Friday night.

Even with Austin Esters, its second-leading scorer sidelined for the season with a broken right leg, Pleasant Valley stymied Linn-Mar 54-40 in a substate semifinal at PV High School.

Warriors fall short to No.3 Bobcats

EPWORTH - Cedar Rapids Washington's improbable dream of reaching the state basketball tournament just a year after suffering through a winless campaign came to an end Friday night.

The Warriors went down to defeat, but they went down fighting.

Washington overcame one big deficit Friday but could not overcome another and lost to No.3 Western Dubuque, 63-52, in the Class 4A substate semifinals.

Gutsy Saints fall to No.4 Senior

DUBUQUE – If points were scored for gutsy play, the Xavier boys might well be playing in next week’s Class 4A substate final.

Too bad, but grit doesn’t show up in the boxscore.

The undersized, overachieving Saints more than held their own for three quarters Friday night against once-defeated, fourth-ranked Dubuque Senior. In the end, they simply ran out of gas and stalled out 55-39.