Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

No. 12 Lions nipped by No. 15 PV

It was a classic battle between blue bloods and blue collar.

And in the end Tuesday night the gritty girls from Pleasant Valley beat the more-heralded Linn-Mar Lions. But just barely.

While spotting the smaller, younger Spartans a 12-point lead after three quarters, the Lions roared back to tie it at 54-all with less than a minute to go.

Following a wide-open driving bucket on the other end by PV’s Lana Lindstrom, Linn-Mar’s two stars in the waning seconds both had their chances to knot it again. But Kamryn Finley’s jumper was a little off and Amanda Ollinger’s rebound rolled off the rim.

With that, the Mississippi Athletic Conference contenders (now 10-4) head back to Bettendorf with a squeaker 56-54 win.

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Hartzler leads Lions at Estherville meet

ESTHERVILLE - Shea Hartzler of Linn-Mar won all five of his matches at the Estherville Lincoln Central duals Saturday.

Hartzler, ranked No. 3 at 160 pounds, collected three pins, a major decision and a 3-0 decision.

Linn-Mar finished second in the tournament with a 4-1 record. The Lions began the day with a 37-31 loss to Blue Earth before topping Forest City (67-12), Estherville Lincoln Central (70-6), Spirit Lake Park (46-13) and Sioux City Heelan (60-21).

Alex Streicher, ranked No. 4 at 138 pounds, also finished 5-0 with three quick pins, a major decision and a forfeit. Jacobs Wempen, ranked No. 7 at 152 pounds, finished 4-0 with two pins and two forfeits.

AJ Geers went 3-0 with two pins, Zach Youngwirth was 3-2 and Brayden Schultz had two pins.

Diercks leads Lions by IC West

IOWA CITY – Mekena Diercks led the Linn-Mar girls bowling team to a 2,353 to 1,985 Mississippi Valley Conference win over Iowa City West with a 194 game and a 352 series Friday at Colonial Lanes.

Samantha Lovell rolled a 297 series for the Women of Troy,

LINN-MAR: Mekena Diercks 194-158=352, Alexis Tschantz 182-153=335, Abbie Smith 159-156=315, Brittni Krause 150-117=267, Katie Routhe 109-151=260.

IOWA CITY WEST: Samantha Lovell 148-149=297, Nicole Ritchey 101-171=272, Allison Bys 130-137=267, Skyler Dickerson 114-150=264, Kalei Strabala 140-112=252, Ashley Bys 124-102=226

Linn-Mar: 1,529-824=2,353.

Iowa City West: 1,352-633=1,985.

Ollinger steers Lions by IC West

Amanda Ollinger scored 16 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked four shots to lead the 12th-ranked Linn-Mar girls basketball team to a 61-44 win over No. 13 Iowa City West in a Mississippi Valley Conference game Friday at Linn-Mar.

Brittany Lancial added 14 points and seven assists for the Lions (9-3). Ally Johnson scored 10 points.

Rachael Saunders scored 11 points to lead the Women of Troy (8-4).

IOWA CITY WEST (44): C.Morgan 1 5-7 7, Zacharias 1 2-3 5, Nock 0 0-0 0, Fay 0 0-0 0, Saunders 4 0-0 11, McGrane 2 0-2 5, Huinker 1 0-0 2, Cook 2 0-0 4, Harder 0 0-0 0, Koch 3 3-4 9, A.Morgan 0 0-0 0, Beckner 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 11-18 44.

LINN-MAR (61): Johnson 3 1-2 10, Noggle 0 0-0 0, Akers 1 1-2 4, Frese 4 0-0 8, Lancial 3 5-5 14, Murphy 1 0-0 3, Spies 1 0-2 2, Finley 2 0-0 4, Larson 0 0-1 0, Ollinger 5 4-4 16. Totals 20 11-16 61.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 31, Iowa City West 24. 3-point goals – Iowa City West 5 (Saunders 3, Zacharias, McGrane), Linn-Mar 10 (Johnson 3, Lancial 3, Ollinger 2, Akers, Murphy).