Xavier Girls Basketball

Lilly nets 500th win of special career

Tom Lilly's remarkable career as a girls basketball coach had a humble beginning in 1980.

Lilly's girlfriend at the time -- "Who shall remain nameless" -- asked him to help her coach a 7th grade team at St. Matthew's school in Cedar Rapids and he accepted the chance to work at his alma mater.

He's come a long, long way since then.

Lilly collected his 500th victory as a varsity girls basketball coach Tuesday night when the Xavier Saints topped Davenport Assumption, 57-47, at the Ron Thillen Gymnasium at Xavier.

Lilly, 60, became the 32nd member of the 500 Club, according to the Iowa Girls' Athletic Coaches Association, and he's harvested four state titles and many fond memories along the way.

Read more...

J-Hawks stop Lilly from netting 500

It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but the Jefferson girls got their wish with a 38-36 win on Xavier’s home floor Friday night.

"Before this week, our motto in the locker room was, ‘All we want for Christmas is two big wins,'” J-Hawk point guard Avery Guy explained. “We won both games, so now we’re over .500 (at 5-4) going into the break.”

The Saints, on the other hand, are now 3-5 and must wait awhile longer to give veteran coach Tom Lilly his 500th career victory.

“I don’t even want to talk about that,” Lilly said. “What I’m interested in is what we have to do to play with the intensity we showed in the last four and a half minutes.”

Up to then, it was a ragged affair as both teams had trouble holding onto the ball. Xavier had 18 turnovers for the game, Jefferson 16. And, at times, they had trouble putting the ball in the hoop.

In a woeful third quarter, the J-Hawks outscored the Saints 3-2 and went into the final stanza ahead just 24-19.

Read more...

Lilly nets No. 499 as Xavier rolls

DUBUQUE – Amelia Ivester and McKenna Andersen each scored 13 points to lead the Xavier girls basketball team to a 69-45 win over Dubuque Senior on Tuesday.

The victory gave Tom Lilly 499 victories in his coaching career. He'll be aiming for No. 500 Friday night when the Saints host Jefferson.

Meagan Joens added 11 points for the Saints, who led 16-5 after the first quarter and 35-15 at halftime.

Xavier improved to 3-4, while Dubuque Senior fell to 0-7.

XAVIER (69): Bastian 0 0-0 0, Joens 5 1-2 11, Ivester 6 1-3 13, Dickes 1 1-2 3, Stanek 3 0-0 7, Andersen 3 1-2 13, Brown 4 0-0 8, Steffen 1 2-2 4, Callahan 0 0-2 0, Kadlec 1 0-3 2, Stovie 1 2-2 4, Helms 1 1-1 3, Cooling 0 0-0 0, Hoffman 0 1-2 1. Totals 28 10-21 69.

DUBUQUE SENIOR (45): Zillig 0 0-0 0, S.Biehl 0 1-4 1, Schueller 0 0-0 0, Alvarenga 1 0-0 3, Hawkins 2 0-1 6, Evans 2 0-2 4, Wernimont 2 0-0 4, Mills 1 0-2 2, Udelhofen 2 1-2 5, Tigges 3 3-3 11, Mott 2 0-0 5, K.Biehl 1 2-2 4. Totals 16 7-16 45.

Halftime – Xavier 35, Dubuque Senior 15. 3-point goals – Xavier 3 (Andersen 2, Stanek), Dubuque Senior 6 (Hawkins 2, Tigges 2, Alvarenga, Mott).

No. 7 Kennedy girls bop Xavier

The seventh-ranked Kennedy girls basketball team glided past Xavier, 47-25, Friday at Kennedy after leading 25-7 at halftime.

Lela Sellers had 18 points for the Cougars (5-1) and Olivia Hellweg added eight points.

Meghan Joens had seven points for the Saints (2-4).

XAVIER (25): Bastian 0 0-0 0, Noonan 0 2-4 2, Joens 3 1-2 7, Ivester 2 0-0 4, Dickes 1 1-1 3, Stanek 1 0-0 3, Brown 2 0-0 4, Steffen 1 0-0 2, Callahan 0 0-0 0, Kadlec 0 0-0 0, Stovie 0 0-0 0, Helms 0 0-0 0, Cooling 0 0-0 0, Hoffman 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 4-7 25.

KENNEDY (47): Langhurst 1 1-2 3, Hamilton 1 1-2 4, Hayden 2 0-0 6, Sellers 8 1-1 18, Steele 1 0-0 3, Timmerman 0 0-0 0, Vaske 0 0-0 0, Hellweg 3 2-2 8, Dolphin 2 1-1 5, Runels 0 0-0 0, Meier 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-8 47.

Halftime – Kennedy 25, Xavier 7. 3-point goals – Xavier 1 (Stanek), Kennedy 5 (Hayden 2, Hamilton, Sellers, Steele).