Metro Sports Report

Tom Lilly of Xavier: Understated excellence

Tom Lilly is a Hall of Famer, but you’ll never hear those words coming out of his mouth.

Lilly’s self-deprecating approach to his life and his coaching precedes him. He’s not exactly from the Hayden Fry school of poor-boying, but Lilly always seems to minimize his accomplishments and maximizes praise for opponents.

The style has served Lilly, and Xavier, very well.

The Saints’ girls basketball team will make another trip to the state tournament this week, facing Ankeny in a first-round game Wednesday afternoon. Despite being one of the smallest schools in enrollment in Class 4A, Xavier is ranked No. 5 and carries an 18-5 record into the state tourney.

When you talk about the great coaches in Metro history, Lilly’s name may not be at the top of the list. This is despite the fact his teams have won 451 games and he has guided 19 straight teams to winning records. Lilly coached at Cedar Rapids Regis before moving to Xavier when it opened in 1998.

Lilly, inducted into the Iowa girls’ basketball coaches Hall of Fame in 2008, has done it with a tried-and-true formula. It includes discipline, teamwork, goal setting and a middle-school feeder program called the Cedar Rapids Bulldogs that Lilly has called “the cornerstone’’ of Xavier’s success.

Linn-Mar chooses finalists for pool design

Following presentations by two local architectural firms at its work session Monday night, the Linn-Mar school board will decide at the March 19 meeting which one will design a $5 million aquatics center on the main campus.

Superintendent Katie Mulholland said it is still hoped that construction can begin this summer with a projected completion by August of 2013.

“It’s a tight schedule,” Mulholland told the board, “but the important thing is that it’s done right."

Conner Herman makes NCAA D-3 nationals

Conner Herman sat all alone on the front steps at Eby Fieldhouse Friday afternoon, his head in his hands, dressed only in his Luther College singlet despite the cold air.

He had just lost in the semifinals of the Iowa Conference wrestling tournament and his goal of reaching the NCAA Division III tournament as a freshman was in jeopardy.

He sat in that cold air, alone, for five minutes before tugging on his sweatshirt and heading back inside, filled with determination to bounce back.

No.8 Cougars top Saints in substate

Bob Fontana's basketball team at Kennedy High School plays defense well enough to beat just about anyone.

The Cougars also miss enough free throws and commit enough turnovers to lose to just about anyone.

The eighth-ranked Cougars did enough things right Friday night to clip Xavier, 59-45, in the Class 4A substate semifinals at Kennedy to keep their season alive.

The Cougars (16-6) will face No. 5 Linn-Mar (18-5) in the substate finals Tuesday night at Prairie High School with a berth to the state tournament on the line.

Kennedy beat the Lions, 56-51, on Feb. 4, but that game was played at Kennedy and it was before Matt Lassen rejoined the Lions after missing two months with a severe concussion.