RIVERSIDE - Cedar Valley Christian School assistant basketball coach Dick Hodge sounded like a coach who actually gave a hoot after his team's Class 1A district tournament basketball game at Highland High School Thursday night.

His team did, too.

The problem was stopping Highland senior Jake Hootman, who scored a career-high 33 points in an 81-70 win.

The sharp-shooting guard had 18 second-half points and a trio of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.

"I can't fault the kids and their effort, it just didn't happen tonight," Hodge said. "We planned on holding him (Hootman) to a lot less than he got, but we just laid an egg."

Cedar Valley Christian, competing in just its second season in the Iowa High School Athletic Association, had it rolling with wins in 13 of its last 15 outings, including impressive victories against Wapsie
Valley and Class 2A Mid-Prairie. The Huskies finished the sesaon at 14-9 overall.

"We had a great season. It's just been great. We have been blessed," said Hodge, an assistant for 15 years under head coach Jeff Pospisil. "A lot of folks didn't have very high expectations and we've shown we can play and we can compete."

All five Cedar Valley starters scored in double figures, led by potential all-state forward Will Muhlbach's 26 points. Jeremy Strutz added 12, Evan Koch scored 11 and Spencer Zielke and Jon Landis collected 10 each.

Muhlbach hit 12-of-14 free throws and also had 14 rebounds. Strutz registered six assists. The five starters played almost the entire game, with only one other Cedar Valley player taking the court.

"It is disappointing, but you don't win them all," Muhlbach said. "We came together as a team this season and played well."

Cedar Valley went 13-4 after Muhlbach returned from an injury in mid-December. He missed the team's first seven games, six of which were losses.

"Things started to fall into place when Will came back from his injury," Hodge said. "We had Christmas break to gel and Will happened to be the right player for what we needed and it made a big difference."

Muhlbach nearly helped engineer another win. Trailing 51-41 in the third quarter, the Huskies battled back to take a 53-51 lead heading into the final stanza.

Muhlbach's three-point play, followed by two free throws, then a steal and layup by Strutz, a 3-pointer from Koch and two more Muhlbach free throws, had the Cedar Valley crowd on its feet and the Huskies thinking about the school's first-ever boys' tourney win.

Enter Hootman. The 6-foot-2 senior, averaging 16 points a game, drained two bombs in the first minute and a half of the fourth quarter. He added another a minute later and suddenly Highland had a 10-point cushion, 65-55. Cedar Valley never recovered and trailed by as many as 15 points late in the game.

Hootman drilled 12-of-21 shots and 4-of-9 3-pointers. He also had seven rebounds.

Second-year Highland boss Marcus Hall was even more impressed than Hodge.

"It is a really big night," Hall said of Hootman's heroics. "He is our go-to guy. We feed off him.

"He has a pure stroke, especially when he gets it going. He is a confidence and rhythm player and he really carried us tonight."

Hall said he was worried about the talented and tall Cedar Valley squad.

"We know they have been on a roll," Hall said. "They are big and they hit the glass hard. We wanted to battle with them. This is a really good win for us because of how good they are."

Highland played zone to neutralize Cedar Valley's size, something they had done little of this season. "We had everybody starting in the lane and rebounding from there," Hall said.

Cedar Valley was 13-10 in 2011-2012.

"We've had a good record both years and we'll keep working on the program and build for the future," Hodge said.

The Cedar Valley bus broke down for the fifth time this season on I-380 on the way home from the game. Parents and fans transported the players and coaches home.

CEDAR VALLEY (70): Tom Scroggs 0 1-2 1, Evan Koch 4 0-0 11, Jon Landis 5 0-1 10, Spencer Zielke 4 2-4 10, Jeremy Strutz 5 2-3 12, Will Muhlbach 6 14-16 26. Totals 24 19-26 70.

HIGHLAND (81): Jesse Wollrab 1 0-0 3, Tucker Hall 0 1-2 1, Josh Brase 3 3-4 10, Brad Lampe 0 0-2 0, Nick Sandburg 1 0-0 2, Jake Hootman 12 5-6 33, Talon McFarland 5 2-4 13, Colin Sexton 3 1-1 7, Cameron Vinsand 1 1-2 3, Trent Megchelsen 2 3-4 7, Nate Schneider 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 16-23 81.

Halftime - Highland 39, Cedar Valley 31. 3-point goals - Cedar Valley 3 (Koch 3), Highland 7 (Hootman 4, Wollrab, Brase, McFarland). Fouled out - Zielke.