Could it be that the last of the Bohannon boys is the best of the bunch?

Linn-Mar senior Jordan Bohannon, the youngest of the four basketball brothers, scored the Lions’ game-ending nine straight points Tuesday night to preserve an 82-76 win over Xavier in a barn-burner of a battle in the Saints' gym.

He tallied 13 of his game-high 33 points (11 for 19 from the field) in the fourth quarter as the short-handed but gritty Saints made a mad-dash pull of a late comeback.

After Xavier sophomore Jackson Joens nailed a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left to bring his team within two points, Bohannon calmly shut the door by swishing four free throws in a row.

"Obviously, Jordan is the guy we wanted to have the ball in his hands,” Linn-Mar coach Chris Robertson said. “The difference in the game was free throws down the stretch. He made some key shots.”

Besides six straight charity shots in the last minute, the sharp-shooting point guard also canned a 3-pointer with 2:20 left to out put the Lions ahead by seven. It was his third trey of the night and the 231st of his four-year career, breaking the Metro mark of 230 held by his older brother Jason.

"It was a fun game all around,” said Bohannon, whose baby face belies a killer instinct. “Very competitive. Coach (Ryan) Luehrsmann always gets his guys ready to play.”

Even, as it turns out, when he’s missing key players.

After two losses last week when sophomore spark-plug Matt Mims was out with a bad ankle, the Saints Tuesday were without leading scorer and team catalyst Mitch Burger. He hurt his ankle in practice on Monday but hopes to play on Friday.

“It hurt not to be out there tonight,” the senior guard said. “But I was really proud of the way our kids played. They stepped up.”

Luehrsmann, too, said he was pleased with his squad’s performance, despite the fact that the Class 3A fourth-ranked team (now 13-5, 9-4) has lost three in a row.

“We executed really well and had a great game offensively,” he said. “Scoring wasn’t problem.”

In fact, both teams shot an even 60 percent from the field and the Saints made 11 of 19 from 3-point range. Free throws were the difference.

Although Mims opened the game with a long bomb, Bohannon came right back with one of his own and Linn-Mar (now 12-5, 10-3) gradually took over a lead the rest of the way.

It wasn’t just Bohannon who carried the whole load.

Senior Jared Printy 13 of his 16 points in the first half. And fellow senior Jordan Brandt (son of former Lions girls coach Michael Brandt) hit key shots at crucial times, including two 3-pointers to finish with 12.

“I like to think I can get a couple of them a game,” Brandt said. "I was wide open, and my teammates got me the ball.”

Without the lighting-quick Burger on hand, Xavier benefitted from a balanced offensive output. Mims collected 22 points, while Joens tossed in 18 and junior big man Max Techau contributed 13. Senior gunner Ryan Stulken netted 14 (including four 3-pointers), all in the second half.

In a clean up-and-down game with few turnovers on either side, Linn-Mar claimed a 40-31 lead at the half.

The Saints whittled into the lead, though, coming back as close as two points. But the Lions continued to keep them bay right up through their last-ditch rally.

"I thought we did a good job moving the ball tonight,” Robertson said. “That’s something we’ve had trouble with at times this year.”

For his part, Luehrsmann commended his troops for battling throughout and keeping it tight.

“We put ourselves in position to have a chance at the end,” he said. “Those were two pretty solid teams and a lot of tough kids.

“They just have so many weapons. And, they just had one big-time player who made some big-time shots when it counted.

“Jason Bohannon is just awfully good.”

Luehrsmann, of course, was a star guard with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Bohannon will take his considerable talents there next year. So, he is the best of the four brothers?

“Oh, I don’t want to go there,” demurred the Saints coach. “I’m friends with the whole family.

“But I will say he’s mentally tough enough and talented enough to start at that high level.”

Jason Bohannon scored 1,679 points at Linn-Mar from 2004-06 to rank second in Metro history. Jordan Bohannon now has 1,419 points and ranks fifth, with a chance to climb as high as third in Metro history before he's done.

Matt Bohannon scored 1,065 points at Linn-Mar and Zach Bohannon had 1,030. Jason played at Wisconsin, Zach played at Air Force and Wisconsin, and Matt is playing at Northern Iowa. The four brothers have accounted for 5,193 points at Linn-Mar and Jordan is not done yet.

LINN-MAR (82): Printy 6 2-2 16, Murphy 1 1-5 3, Bohannon 11 8-8 33, Klosterman 4 0-0 10, Brandt 5 0-0 12, Phillips 2 0-0 6, Voves 1 0-0 2,Cronin 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 11-15 82.

XAVIER (76): Mims 9 2-3 22, Butkowski 2 0-1 5, Joens 7 0-0 18, Stulken 4 2-3 14, Techau 6 1-1 13, Whitten 0 0-0 0, Schulte 2 0-0 4. Totals 30 5-8 76.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 40, Xavier 31. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 11 (Bohannon 3, Brandt 2, Printy 2, Klosterman 2 Phiilips 2), Xavier 11 (Joens 4, Stulken 4, Mims 2, Butkowski 1)