Metro Sports Report

Stingy Saints reach 4A regional final

The Cedar Rapids Xavier girls basketball team began its “second season” in style Saturday night with a convincing 50-27 victory over Solon in the semifinals of the Class 4A regional tournament at Xavier.

The Saints did not let Solon score a single point in the fourth quarter.

Sarah Dickes led the Saints with 13 points. Ashley Stulken and Maddie Bertsch were vital components with eight points apiece in a balanced attack.

Kirkwood women clinch tie for ICCAC title

FORT DODGE -- Kianna Jacobs had another big game Saturday as the Kirkwood Community College women's basketball team trimmed Iowa Central, 72-69, to clinch a tie for the ICCAC title.

Jacobs collected 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as the third-ranked Eagles raised their records to 24-3 overall and 13-0 in the conference.

Friday Chuol scored 16 points, Bianca Dufelmeier netted 11 and Alexis Fitzpatrick had 10 as Kirkwood won for the 16th straight time.

Semler, Heffernan spark Kirkwood men

FORT DODGE -- Kasey Semler popped in four 3-pointers and scored 16 points Saturday as Kirkwood Community College topped Iowa Central, 69-63, in an ICCAC men's basketball game in Fort Dodge.

Gage Heffernan hit two triples and netted 15 points for the Eagles (16-11, 7-4).

Jesse Jones paced Iowa Central (15-12, 5-6) with 15 points.

KIRKWOOD (69): Hunter 2 2-5 6, Manego 2 0-0 5, Witt 0 1-2 1, Fuller 1 5-6 7, Heffernan 5 3-4 15, Douglas 3 1-4 7, Olson 1 0-0 3, Semler 6 0-0 16, Currie 4 0-1 9, Lang 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 12-22 69.

IOWA CENTRAL (63): Kudhot 0 0-0 0, Adekoya 5 2-5 14, Jones 5 4-7 15, Elliot 5 0-1 12, Gray 1 5-8 7, Sieren 0 0-0 0, Andersen 4 3-4 11, Wanliss 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 14-28 63.

Halftime - Kirkwood 35, Iowa Central 27. 3-point goals - Kirkwood 9 (Semler 4, Heffernan 2, Manego 1, Olson 1, Currie 1), Iowa Central 5 (Adekoya 2, Elliot 2, Jones 1). Fouled out - Currie.

Dark night for Metro wrestlers at state

DES MOINES -- The semifinals of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament turned into Black Friday for Metro athletes at the unfriendly Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

All eight Metro wrestlers lost in the semifinals in an astonishing turn of events. One by one, the best grapplers from Cedar Rapids and Marion fell short of reaching their dreams and will have to settle for spots in the consolation rounds on Saturday.

Matt Wempen, a 2012 state champion, lost 3-2 at 113 pounds. Alijah Jeffery, ranked No.1 at 120 pounds, lost 6-2. Ross Lembeck, ranked No.1 at 152 pounds, lost 6-1.

That wiped out the Linn-Mar Lions.

"We didn't get it done. There's no sugar-coasting it," said Linn-Mar Coach Doug Streicher, whose team had a disappointing showing most of the week.

Trey Blaha, ranked No.4 at 138 pounds, lost 8-7. Skyler St. John, ranked No.5 at 145 pounds, lost 5-3. Cameron Rathje, ranked No.5 at 170 pounds, lost 7-5 in overtime. Andrew Netolicky, ranked No.7 at 285 pounds, lost 2-1 in overtime.

That wiped out the Prairie Hawks.