Xavier Boys Basketball

Saints march back to state tourney

Ryan "Louie" Luehrsmann had an audacious goal when he became the Xavier boys basketball coach five years ago.

He announced in 2012 that he wanted to see the Saints become a powerhouse in Class 3A basketball and make regular trips to the state tournament in Des Moines.

Mission accomplished.

The Saints earned a spot in the state tournament for the third straight year Monday night with a convincing 58-39 victory over Dubuque Wahlert in the Class 3A substate finals at the U.S. Cellular  Center.

Xavier finished third at the state tournament in 2015 and claimed the 3A state title last year by beating Wahlert in the championship game. Now they're headed  back to Des Moines next week for more.

"To do this three years in a row, it's a great accomplishment for our program," said Luehrsman. "We want to be the Cedar Rapids team that's a constant fixture that's down there regularly, and right now we're turning in the right direction.

"I'm really happy for this group," he said. "We fought through some challenges early in the year, but we stuck together and continued to  believe."

The Saints were a dismal 4-9 in late January, but they caught fire and have won 9 of their last 11 games.

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Healthy Joens helps Saints top Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON - Welcome back, Jackson Joens.

The Xavier Saints were mighty glad to have you on their side again Thursday night when it really counted.

Joens returned to the lineup after missing two games with a concussion and played a key role as Xavier topped seventh-ranked Mount Vernon, 63-55, in the Class 3A district finals at Mount Vernon.

Joens popped in 19 points as the Saints (12-11) earned a spot against Dubuque Wahlert (7-15) in the substate finals Monday night at 6:30 at  the U.S. Cellular Center, with the winner advancing to the Class 3A  state tournament in Des Moines.

Joens suffered a concussion Feb. 14 when the Saints beat Wahlert, 71-52, and was idle for more than a week, but he finally got the green light to play again Wednesday.

"I got cleared yesterday," he said. "I went to our trainer to see if I could play and I was pretty happy, pretty excited.

"They had me do a concussion test. They asked me a bunch of words and a bunch of numbers and stuff."

He got all the answers right, but does not want to go through all of that again. "Not fun," he said.

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Saints earn date with No. 7 Mustangs

MOUNT VERNON - Bryce Schulte faced an unusual situation last month when he was replaced in Xavier's starting lineup by his younger brother.

Bryce, a senior and star football player, was dispatched to the bench in favor of Quinn, a sophomore and a kid who grew up battling his  older brothers in the back yard.

A less confident athlete might have sulked and moped about the situation, but not Bryce Schulte.

Schulte was asked Monday night if there have been any fights in their house about who gets to start.

"No, not over starting," he said, smiling. "Maybe some other things, but not over that."

Both Schultes were in the starting lineup Monday night when the Saints whipped DeWitt Central, 70-30, in the opening round of the Class 3A  playoffs at Mount Vernon High School.

Quinn Schulte has started the last 10 games after replacing his brother in the lineup. Bryce Schulte, who started the first 12 games of the season, has returned to the starting lineup the last two games  with Jackson Joens sidelined while trying to fully recover from a concussion.

The Schultes combined for 17 points Monday as Xavier (11-11) earned a date with seventh-ranked Mount Vernon (17-5) in the district finals  Thursday at 7 p.m. at Mount Vernon.

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Saints push No.1 Trojans without Joens

IOWA CITY - The Xavier Saints gave the top-ranked team in Class 4A a  good battle Thursday night without one of their top players.

Now the Saints will try to rise to the top in Class 3A for the second  straight year when the postseason tournament begins Monday.

Xavier took a 33-32 lead over Iowa City West midway through the third  quarter Thursday, but the game slipped away and the Saints lost 58-46  in the final game of the regular season.

The Saints played without Jackson Joens, a talented junior who banged his head against Dubuque Wahlert Tuesday night. He thought he'd be OK  for the game against Iowa City West, but had more concussion-type  symptoms Thursday and was withheld.

Joens is questionable for Monday's game against DeWitt Central in the  opening round of the Class 3A district tournament.

"It's looking like he probably won't be there," said Coach Ryan  Luehrsmann. "And he may not be there the next game if we're lucky enough to get there."

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