Xavier Girls Basketball

Xavier girls fall to No. 7 IC West

It's just the first week of December, but Xavier Coach Tom Lilly  already has a raspy voice from yelling instructions at his team.

Lilly's vocal chords got a real workout Friday night as the Saints  fell to seventh-ranked Iowa City West, 44-35, in a ragged Mississippi Valley Conference game at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

"Move! Move!," barked Lilly at one point. "Screen! Screen!"

Sometimes his instructions worked and sometimes they didn't as the  Saints committed a string of costly turnovers. The Trojans also committed their fair share of mistakes, but the visitors had 6-foot-1  junior Logan Cook and she was the best player on the floor.

Cook finished with a game-high 16 points and was the only player on  either team to score in double figures.

Lilly tried his best to steer his club to an upset with directions to  "Post up! Diagonal! Get out there!"

Kiana Stanek tied the game for Xavier at 21-21 by popping in a  3-pointer with with seven minutes left in the third quarter and Kylie Brown pulled the Saints within 24-23 with a layup shortly after.

Things got a little out of control after that as Iowa City West (3-0,  2-0) scored 13 straight points to grab a commanding 37-23 lead early in the fourth quarter as the Saints (2-2, 1-1) hit a scoring drought.

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Xavier girls spank Wahlert, 73-40

DUBUQUE - Lexi Noonan led the scoring parade with 16 points Tuesday night as the Xavier Saints thumped Dubuque Wahlert, 73-40, in a Mississippi Valley Conference basketball game in Dubuque.

Emily Jasper contributed 14 points for Xavier (2-1). Kylie Brown and Amelia Ivester notched 12 points apiece as four Saints scored in double figures.

Krystal Tranel led Wahlert (0-2) with 18 points.

XAVIER (73): Arnold 0 2-2 2, Stanek 0 1-2 1, Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Daniels 3 0-0 8, Diebold 0 0-0 0, Marshall 0 0-0 0, Cooling 0 0-0 0, Brown 6 0-0 12, Noonan 7 2-2 16, Steffen 1 0-0 2, Callahan 1 0-0 2, Ivester 6 0-0 12, Jasper 7 0-0 14, Stovie 2 0-0 4. Totals 33 5-7 73.

WAHLERT (40): Hocking 1 0-0 2, Vance 2 0-0 4, Ott 1 0-0 2, Wachter 1 0-0 2, Varley 1 0-0 3, Herrig 3 0-0 7, Tranel 5 7-7 18, K.Osterberger 1 0-0 2, E.Osterberger 0 0-0 0, Klein 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-7 40.

Halftime - Xavier 38, Wahlert 27. 3-point goals - Xavier 2 (Daniels 2), Wahlert 3 (Varley 1, Herrig 1, Tranel 1).

Xavier girls push No. 9 Johnston

The people who vote in the girls basketball rankings think Johnston has the No. 9 team in Class 5A as the new season begins.

If those rankings are legitimate, it could be good news for the Xavier Saints once the Class 4A postseason tournament rolls around in February.

The Saints made a couple of serious runs at the ninth-ranked Dragons Saturday before falling short, 47-38, in an early non-conference game at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

The Saints trailed 27-15 at halftime, but they scored the first nine points of the second half to pull within 27-24 on a basket by Amelia Ivester.

Johnston spurted to another 12-point margin at 39-27 early in the fourth period, but the Saints scored seven straight markers to climb within 39-34 on a basket by Lexi Noonan and later crept within 42-38 on two free throws by Emily Jasper with just 2:17 left to play.

Xavier did not get over the hump, but Coach Tom Lilly liked the way his club kept battling against one of the top Class 5A programs in the state.

"It shows we're not willing to step back and accept the fact that we're getting beat and now we'll get beat by 20," he said. "So you have to be pretty encouraged with that."

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Xavier girls down Decorah in opener

Kylie Brown scored 14 points Tuesday night as the Xavier Saints began the new basketball season with a 62-26 victory over Decorah at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

Kiana Stanek popped in four 3-pointers and notched 12 points for the Saints. Amelia Ivester also scored 12 points for the winners.

Nia Whitsitt scored 11 points for Decorah (0-2).

DECORAH (26): Casterton 0 2-2 2, Iverson 0 0-0 0, Nimrod 0 0-0 0, Pipho 0 0-0 0, Hafner 0 0-0 0, Hudson 3 0-1 8, Whitsitt 5 0-1 11, Lutkenhaus 0 0-0 0, Ka.Quandahl 1 0-0 2, Ky.Quandahl 0 0-0 0, M.McEnaney 0 0-0 0, Hartman 1 0-2 3, L.McEnaney 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 2-6 26.

XAVIER (62): Stanek 4 0-0 12, Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Daniels 3 0-0 7, Diebold 1 0-0 2, Helms 0 0-0 0, Cooling 0 0-0 0, Noonan 3 2-2 8, Brown 7 0-0 14, Callahan 0 0-0 0, Steffen 1 1-1 3, Stovie 0 0-0 0, Ivester 6 0-0 12, Jasper 2 0-0 4. Totals 27 3-3 62.

3-point goals - Decorah 4 (Hudson 2, Whitsitt 1, Hartman 1), Xavier 5 (Stanek 4, Daniels 1).