Metro Sports Report

Allee named NJCAA DII Player of Week

Iowa Central sophomore Morgan Allee has been named National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Player of the week.

Allee, a former Cedar Rapids Jefferson standout, led the Tritons to victory in all six of their games last week. Allee sported a staggering .739 batting average (17-for-23) with 12 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and 16 runs scored.

Allee, a returning All-American, was an extra base machine, recording five doubles, two triples and two home runs for the week. She cemented herself in the Iowa Central record book against Fort Scott CC (Kan.), stealing a school single game-record five bases in the 17-6 win.

Lassen faces West again - 3 months later

DES MOINES - Linn-Mar High School junior Matt Lassen was lying in his hospital bed in Iowa City on Saturday, Dec. 10 when a visitor came to his room.

Lassen had suffered a severe concussion the night before during a basketball game against Iowa City West and had been placed in intensive care at the UI Hospitals and Clinics.

The visitor was Jeremy Morgan, one of the star players for Iowa City West who had been on the court when Lassen hit his head on the floor, passed out and had a seizure.

Morgan was at the hospital as a concerned opponent but also as a good friend. He and Lassen played AAU basketball together on the Iowa Barnstormers and became close, but they are more than simply good friends.

"Jeremy Morgan is my BEST friend," Lassen said Wednesday at the state tournament in Des Moines.

Metro runners claim 4 titles at Demon track

IOWA CITY - Chase Grabau of Linn-Mar set a meet record in the 800-meter run Thursday at the Demon Indoor track meet at the University of Iowa Recreation Center.

Grabau ran the race in 2:02.34, breaking the mark of 2:04.29 set a year ago. Grabau beat Bryant Johnson of Des Moines Roosevelt by exactly one second.

Paige finds Henry for Linn-Mar victory

DES MOINES - Andy Henry was accustomed to catching touchdown passes from Mark Atwater during a successful football season for the Linn-Mar Lions last fall.

This time the all-state receiver caught one from Marcus Paige.

Henry snuck behind the defense and converted a halfcourt pass from Paige into the winning basket with six seconds remaining Wednesday night to give Linn-Mar a dramatic 51-50 victory over Dubuque Senior in the opening round of the Class 4A state basketball tournament.

Kyle Haber missed a bank-shot for Dubuque Senior at the buzzer and the fifth-ranked Lions (20-4) escaped to the semifinals Friday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. against No. 2 Iowa City West (24-0).

Ankeny (24-0) will play Sioux City East (20-3) in the first semifinal Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Henry was an unlikely hero for Linn-Mar. He's known for his scrappy defense and rebounding, but he averages just six points per game and was not the No. 1 option on the final play until Paige spotted him open near the basket.