Linn-Mar Girls Basketball

Xavier girls tame No. 11 Lions

If you need any help with the girls basketball rankings, just ask Xavier Coach Tom Lilly for some advice.

Lilly and the Saints have faced a string of premier Class 5A teams in the first few weeks of the season and now have an impressive victory to show for their efforts.

Xavier knocked off Linn-Mar, 42-37, Friday night in the Linn-Mar gym in a battle of Mississippi Valley Conference teams that does not count in the league standings.

The Saints put up a good fight against No. 3 Cedar Falls, No. 5 Iowa City West and No. 6 Johnston in narrow defeats before breaking through against No. 11 Linn-Mar with a strong defensive performance.

"We've been kind of poking the bear a little bit the last few games against really fine competition," said Lilly. "We finally had an opportunity where we could continue to play aggressively and it paid off."

Freshman point guard Kaitlynn Daniels hit three driving layups through traffic in the last three minutes to help the Saints square their record at 3-3. Daniels hit shots that made it 34-31, 36-31 and 40-34 to keep the Lions (4-2) at bay.

Xavier is a Class 4A outfit that competes against 5A clubs on a regular basis in the MVC. It's made them strong in the past and it could be happening again this season.

Lilly is trying to mold a new team around a handful of veterans and some inexperienced players.

Read more...

7 Metro girls make all-state hoops

If you'd like to assemble an all-star girls basketball team from the Metro area for the 2015-16 campaign, look no further than the all-state squads that were announced Tuesday by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

You could win a lot of games with the seven Metro girls who were honored by the INA.

Amanda Ollinger of Linn-Mar, Lela Sellers of Kennedy and Chloe Rice of Marion were named first-team selections for their outstanding performances this season. Kennedy Dighton of Jefferson, Joniqua Clark of Washington, Kamryn Finley of Linn-Mar and Mia Laube of Marion garnered third-team laurels on the all-state squad.

Makenzie Meyer, who led Mason City to the Class 4A state title, was named Miss Basketball. She scored 1,590 points during her career and has signed with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Ollinger and Finley helped Linn-Mar reach the semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament. Ollinger, a senior who has signed with Iowa, averaged 17.8 points and led Class 5A in rebounding at 10.9 per game. Finley, a sophomore, contributed 12.2 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Lions.

Read more...

Indians, Lions share Metro Spotlight Award

All of the players on the Marion and Linn-Mar basketball teams are the co-winners of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

The Indians and Lions both reached the semifinals of the state tournament in Des Moines and finished with identical 20-5 records.

Marion made the semifinals in Class 4A, matching the best performance at the state tournament in school history. Linn-Mar reached the semifinals in Class 5A.

Read more...

Ollinger, Rice make all-tourney teams

DES MOINES - Amanda Ollinger of Linn-Mar and Chloe Rice of Marion were named to the all-tournament teams at the girls state basketball tournament Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

Ollinger, a 6-foot-1 senior, was named to the Class 5A all-tournament team. She collected 42 points, 38 rebounds, seven blocks, six steals and three assists in two games. Her 38 rebounds set a Class 5A tournament record.

Rice, a 5-10 sophomore, was selected to the Class 4A all-tournament squad. She finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals in two games.

Linn-Mar and Marion both reached the semifinals of the state tournament.