Linn-Mar Boys Basketball

Paige nets 34 as Lions top City High

Iowa City High’s Jerel Moore and Linn-Mar’s Marcus Paige posed for pictures together after the game on Friday night. But most of the “Kodak moments” took place on the basketball court.

The two close friends put on a highlight show as Paige scored 34 points and Moore 27 in the fifth-ranked Lions’ 76-65 Class 4A substate semifinal victory at the Linn-Mar gym.

The two stars have played summer ball together for several years with All-Iowa Attack, an AAU club team, and know each other well.

“I have a lot of respect for Marcus,” the 6-foot-6 Moore said. “He’s one of the best players out there.”

Paige echoed the sentiments saying, “He knows my game pretty well because we have known each other for so long. It was fun going up against him. He is a great player and it definitely posed a different matchup than what I am used to.”

Linn-Mar (18-4) advances to play No. 8 Kennedy (16-6) on Tuesday night at Prairie High School at 7. The winner advances to the state tournament, where the Lions are the defending state champs.

The Moore-Paige dual provided some entertaining “snapshots” throughout the evening, including:

Snapshot No. 1: Moore came out aggressive and hot, scoring six of his team’s first eight points. City High led 13-11 after the first quarter with an ice-cold Paige missing his first three field goal attempts and shooting 1-for-5 from the field with Moore guarding him.

“To see him and his offensive game and how it has developed is pretty cool,” Paige said of Moore. “They thought that was a good matchup because he has a lot of size on me. It was a fun matchup.”

City High Coach Adam Loria said, “I thought his (Moore’s) focus the last three days was very, very good and I think it showed. He played great tonight.

“I thought Jerel made things difficult for him and I thought Marcus really had to work.”

Snapshot No. 2: Paige electrified the crowd by scoring 19 points in the first half, including 14 of his team’s first 29 points on an array of pull-up jumpers and drives to the rim. Moore had roughly half of his team’s points as Linn-Mar led 34-27 at halftime.

“I think we played an outstanding game overall,” Moore said. “Marcus played a great game, but I couldn’t be happier with our performance tonight.”

Snapshot No. 3: With time running out in the third quarter, Moore played great defense on Paige only to have the 6-foot-2 senior bank in a 26-foot 3-pointer while falling out of bounds in front of the Lions’ student section. With the home crowd going nuts, the shot gave Linn-Mar a 56-44 lead and momentum into the fourth quarter.

“I thought I played good defense on that,” Moore said. “He got it off and it was a great shot. It just fell for him.”

Paige said, “I kind of got stuck on the sideline and he was playing great defense on me. I just had to throw it up there. I didn’t even see it go in. I just heard the crowd cheer and I knew something good happened. I’ll take it.”

Snapshot No. 4: Both players scored 10 points in a hard-fought fourth period, but Paige made two plays that were truly spectacular to seal the win. He brought the crowd to its feet with a cross-over and “Connie Hawkins-like” scoop layup, giving his team a 69-61 lead.

Then, the next time down the floor, Paige flung a behind-the-head pass to 6-foot-8 pivot Derik Gogg who made the layup, was fouled and converted the free throw. With 1:07 to play, the Lions led 72-61 and the game was over.

“There’s been a lot of very good players,” Loria said of the Mississippi Valley Conference in recent years. “I’m not sure there has been a guy who can just take over games like Marcus Paige can.”

Snapshot No. 5: Moore had 13 field goals and was 1-for-4 from the line. Paige had 10 field goals (including a pair of 3-pointers) and made all eight of his free throw attempts.

Paige added four rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals. Despite the slow start, Paige drained an impressive 12-of-19 shots - a career-night for most players - and committed only one turnover.

Linn-Mar boss Chris Robertson said he was expecting a very tough game from City High.

“That was tough, but that is kind of what you expect this time of year. You are going to have to play well to move on,” he said. “You have to give them credit. They kept  sneaking back into the game. I thought at the very end we closed it out pretty well.”

Robertson said that Moore presented a different type of challenge for his celebrated point guard.

“It gives them length on Marcus,” he said. “Fortunately, Marcus is usually able to get by him a little bit, which then forces guys to help. He (Moore) was a tough matchup for us too.”

City High’s athleticism caused Linn-Mar problems throughout the night.

“They are such a good offensive rebounding team,” Robertson said. “They have three guys who have over 40 offensive rebounds for the year and that is pretty impressive, so we worked hard on boxing out.”

Jimmy Roth scored nine of his 11 points after halftime and was the only other Linn-Mar player in double figures. City High’s Jeremy Johnson had 13 points and Ronald Thompson chipped in with 11.

Linn-Mar won the game from the foul line by netting 20-of-24 free throws. City High had 28 field goals to Linn-Mar’s 25.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Loria said. “I thought our effort was great and we executed things in our game plan very well.

“It was a no-brainer going in. We knew if they made shots it was going to be tough and we weren’t going to match them basket for basket.”

“In our first game with Linn-Mar, we held them to 49 (points) and we held Marcus to 19,” Loria said. “Tonight, he was able to get into the lane and get into the paint and score some baskets.

"That is why he is going to go play in the McDonald’s All-American Game and play at North Carolina. He is very, very talented. Give credit where credit is due.”

City High finished 8-15.

IOWA CITY HIGH (65): Alex Perry 3 1-2 8, Lonnie Chester 1 0-0 3, Jeremy Johnson 6 1-1 13, Andrew Hein 1 0-0 2, Jerel Moore 13 1-4 27, Ronald Thompson 4 3-4 11, Tony Perry 0 0-0 0, Cortez Barfield 0 1-2 1, Ryan Young 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 7-13 65.

LINN-MAR (76): Zach Martins 1 0-0 3, Matt Lassen 2 3-4 7, Marcus Paige 12 8-8 34, Jimmy Roth 4 2-4 11, Matt Meier 2 1-1 7, Andy Henry 1 2-2 4, Jon Schlotterback 0 2-2 2, Derik Gogg 3 2-3 8. Totals 25 20-24 76.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 34, Iowa City High 27. 3-point goals – Iowa City High 2 (A. Perry 1, Chester 1), Linn-Mar 6 (Paige 2, Meier 2, Martins 1, Roth 1).

Lassen scores 30; Lions clinch title

DUBUQUE – Matt Lassen has spent most of his junior season in either a hospital bed or his house.

Yet, through all of the trials and tribulations the Linn-Mar basketball standout endured, there he was on the free-throw line Thursday, icing another Mississippi Division title for the Lions.

Lassen sank 10 free throws in the final minute to help No. 6 Linn-Mar hold off Dubuque Wahlert in a thriller, 94-88, and clinch the division crown outright.

Lassen also hit five 3-pointers to score 30 points off the bench for the Lions (17-4, 13-3), who won a MVC division title for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

It’s been a long road back for Lassen, who suffered a severe concussion in December and missed two months of the season. Lassen thought he would never return to the court, but he came back last week and has contributed in a big way.

Lassen also hit five treys in the Lions’ rout of Jefferson on Tuesday.

“It felt great,” Lassen said. “To think about all of the things I’ve gone through this year...I started working back, and I started feeling really good. It really did hit me (Thursday) that I’m back to 100 percent.”

Linn-Mar coach Chris Robertson was impressed with Lassen’s late-game touch considering his lack of practice time at the free-throw line.

“He’s been in a nice rhythm shooting the ball the past couple of games,” Robertson said. “It’s tough. You know you are going to have to get two at the free-throw line after they go down and shoot threes.”

Marcus Paige paced the Lions with 38 points, and his step-back 3-pointer gave them a 79-75 lead with 2:01 left. Jimmy Roth added a 3-pointer on the next possession, as Linn-Mar finished the game with 12 3-pointers.

Linn-Mar finished the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 45-32 halftime lead. Wahlert (9-11, 9-7) stormed back with a 28-point third quarter, enabling it to pull to a 64-all tie with six minutes remaining.

In the end, it was Paige’s 11 fourth-quarter points and the Lions’ proficiency at the free-throw line that sealed the title.

“(The conference title) was one of our goals at the beginning of the season,” Robertson said. “We know how good our league is, and we take a conference championship very seriously.”

Paige said the team has played with a chip on its shoulder during the season. The Lions started 0-2 to start the conference season, and the team believed they had been counted out.

“A lot of people didn’t believe we had a chance to compete at the top,” Paige said. “To come back and being one of the top teams in our conference is great.

“People compare us to last year’s team, and people say this isn’t a typical Linn-Mar team. That makes us want to prove them wrong.”

Linn-Mar will receive a bye in the first round of the substate playoffs. The Lions will play the winner of Iowa City High and Cedar Rapids Prairie next Friday at Linn-Mar High School.

LINN-MAR (94): Zach Martins 2 0-0 5, Marcus Paige 16 2-3 38, Jimmy Roth 3 0-0 8, Andy Henry 0 2-4 2, Derik Gogg 5 1-2 11, Jon Schlotterback 0 0-0 0, Matt Meier 0 0-0 0, Matt Lassen 7 11-12 30. Totals 33 16-21 94.

WAHLERT (88): Riley McCarron 6 9-9 23, Brady Williams 1 0-0 2, Jake May 9 4-6 26, Nate Burks 9 13-14 33, John Burgmeier 0 2-2 2, Josh Tranel 0 0-0 0, Chad Heidesch 0 0-0 0, Sam Koenig 0 0-0 0, Nick Nemmers 1 0-0 2, Connor Krueger 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 28-31 88.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 45, Wahlert 32. 3-point goals – L-M 12 (Martins, Paige 4, Roth 2, Lassen 5), Wahlert 8 (McCarron 2, May 4, Burks 2). Total fouls – L-M 20, Wahlert 19. Fouled out – Henry, McCarron.

Paige nets 30 as Lions win MVC title

The Linn-Mar Lions are in business to win state titles, but they enjoy collecting Mississippi Valley Conference titles along the way as well.

Especially this one.

All-American Marcus Paige tossed in 30 points Tuesday on Senior Night as No. 6 Linn-Mar demolished Jefferson, 68-42, to win its eighth MVC crown in the past nine years.

The Lions (16-4, 12-3) clinched at least a share of the Mississippi Division title with Tuesday's victory. They own a one-game lead over Dubuque Senior with one game left in the regular season at Dubuque Wahlert Thursday night.

Linn-Mar captured Class 4A state championships in 2004, 2007 and 2011 during its remarkable run in the 21st Century, but the Lions enjoy putting MVC banners on their gym wall too.

"That's always one of our goals at the beginning of the year," said Paige, who has won four straight conference titles. "We always want to go undefeated in conference, win conference and see what happens at state.

"It does get a little bit overlooked here," he said. "Everyone wants to think state championship. There are small goals along the way and this is a great one for us."

Linn-Mar lost its first two games of the conference season, but the Lions have won 12 of their last 13 league contests to surge to the top of the Mississippi Division standings.

The Lions have won MVC titles in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 during their nine-year streak of brilliance.

"We feel like we play in the best conference in the state of Iowa, so it's very important to us and I think especially important to this team," Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. "We got off to an 0-and-2 start in the conference and I think a lot of people wrote us off.

"We battled back, and this was something they wanted to do. It's important for our guys."

Linn-Mar graduated four starters from last year's state champs, so Robertson had big holes to fill this season. It got harder when Matt Lassen, one of the team's best players, suffered a severe concussion in early December and missed two months of the season.

Lassen returned to action last week and tossed in five 3-pointers Tuesday night to help sink the J-Hawks. Lassen, a 6-foot-4 junior, is coming off the bench for the Lions, but said he feels good and is ready for the stretch run.

"I've felt great since I've been back," he said after finishing with 15 points. "Tonight I think I got a lot more open looks and my shot felt great and I was getting great passes from my teammates. My shot was feeling good so I kept shooting.

"I felt great. I wasn't tired, I wasn't winded," he said.

Lassen played on the varsity last year as a sophomore and now has two MVC titles. "Those are really, really important to Coach Robertston," he said. "He really cares about those. To be the best team in the conference is a big honor."

Jefferson tried to guard Paige and the Lions with a man-to-man defense in the first quarter and suffered the consequences. Paige hit five straight shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Linn-Mar raced to a 25-8 lead after one period with torrid shooting.

The Lions grabbed a 20-point margin at 31-11 early in the second period when Lassen hit a 3-pointer. The J-Hawks switched to a zone defense and eventually pulled within 12 points at 41-29 on a three-point play by Justin Underwood midway through the third period, but the Lions turned on the jets again.

Jon Schlotterback made it a 20-point bulge again at 51-31 with a three-point play late in the third quarter, Lassen made it a 25-point affair at 58-33 with his fifth triple and it became a 29-point blowout at 68-39 in the final minute.

Paige made 8-of-9 shots in the first half and had 21 points by intermission. His only errant shot in the first half was a 35-foot heave in the final second of the first period.

Linn-Mar made twelve 3-pointers in the ballgame, with Paige and Lassen hitting five apiece. Paige filled out the boxscore with seven steals, six rebounds and four assists.

Lassen, who has committed to Albany (N.Y.), grabbed five rebounds in his best game since returning to the court. "He gives us a huge boost, especially offensively," Paige said.  "He's a very good offensive player. To see him playing confident and not worrying about anything is great."

Taylor Olson scored half of Jefferson's points with 21. Ky Kramer hit three 3-pointers and finished with nine points. The J-Hawks (12-8, 8-7) played without injured starter Alec Saunders, who is nursing a sprained ankle.

JEFFERSON (42): Robinson 1 0-0 2, Kramer 3 0-0 9, Hemphill 1 0-0 2, T.Olson 8 3-6 21, Underwood 2 1-1 5, J.Olson 0 3-5 3, Goodell 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Mueller 0 0-0 0, Wiederin 0 0-0 0, Knox 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-12 42.

LINN-MAR (68): Martins 0 0-0 0, Roth 2 0-0 5, Gogg 1 0-0 2, Henry 1 0-0 2, Paige 10 5-6 30, Meier 0 4-5 4, Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Lassen 5 0-0 15, Schlotterback 2 1-1 5, Hackett 1 0-0 3, Holland 1 0-2 2, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Richardson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-14 68.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 39, Jefferson 24. 3-point goals - Jefferson 5 (Kramer 3, T. Olson 2), Linn-Mar 12 (Paige 5, Lassen 5, Roth 1, Hackett 1).

Lions escape spirited Warriors, 62-56

Cedar Rapids Washington junior guard Brock Butterfield will have something to tell his children and grandchildren some day. He picked the pocket of a McDonald’s All-American.

Searching for their first win of the year, Butterfield and his Warrior teammates gave an impressive effort against No. 8 Linn-Mar before bowing, 62-56, Friday night at Washington.

The Warrior crowd roared in delight when Marcus Paige, a McDonald’s All-American selection, was stripped cleanly by Butterfield at midcourt in the second quarter. Paige fell to the ground as Butterfield scored an uncontested layup.

The play was a momentum-changer and confidence-builder and helped the upset-minded Warriors keep things close. The hosts outscored Linn-Mar 24-14 in the fourth quarter and came back from as many as 16 points down to make things interesting.

“I just kind of noticed that he wasn’t looking up the court,” Butterfield said of Paige. “One defender was coming and I went to jump him and reached in and got it.”

Butterfield said he didn’t think the steal will show up on YouTube. “He’s one of the best players I have ever played against,” Butterfield said.

Despite the miscue, Paige proved why he is one of the nation’s best with an array of silky-smooth moves and pull-up jumpers. He finished with 20 points, five steals and three assists on 8-of-19 shooting. He praised the scrappy Warriors.

“We kind of took them for granted and that got in our heads a bit,” Paige said. “They came out and had a great game plan and played hard, really fought the whole game. We just had a couple of possessions where we were able to convert at the end.”

Paige chuckled when asked if he will get a lifetime supply of Big Mac hamburgers as a McDonald’s All-American.

“I need a couple of Big Macs to beef up a bit,” he joked. “It really means a lot to me to have the opportunity to play in the McDonald’s game.”

Paige said he had two big personal goals this season: To play in the McDonald’s All-American Game and The Jordan Brand Classic, the two most prestigious all-star events for the nation’s best high school players. He’s accepted invitations to both.

“A couple of my individual goals at the beginning of the year were to get to go to those games, so to see that come full circle and actually happen is a great feeling,” he said.

The Jordan Brand Classic selections were announced a week ago. The game will be played April 14 in Charlotte, N.C. The McDonald’s Game will take place on March 28 at Chicago’s United Center. Both games will be carried by ESPN.

“A lot of those guys who will be in the games with me I became good friends with over the summer, so I am looking forward to playing with them again,” Paige said.

It isn’t lost on Paige that some of the greatest names in basketball history have played in the McDonald’s game, including Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and Dwight Howard, among others.

“It feels great,” he said of playing in a prestigious event that has featured NCAA, NBA and Olympic stars. “I have worked hard. I had a really good summer with my AAU team. I’m having a pretty good senior year and to be able to cap it off to get to go to a couple of those all-star games really means a lot to me and I am glad I have that opportunity.”

Paige is the first Cedar Rapidian since Kennedy’s Al Lorenzen in 1984 to be named a McDonald’s All-American and only the fifth male in state history, joining Harrison Barnes, Nick Collison, Raef LaFrentz and Lorezen.

Paige, who leads Class 4A in scoring at 26.8 points per game, said he was staying focused on the upcoming postseason tournament.

“I am not thinking too far ahead,” he said. “We still have some work to do this season.”

Washington Coach Brad Metzger called Paige one of the best he has ever seen.

“Being in Indiana we saw Greg Odom and Zach Randolph, guys that are in the NBA,” he said. “Marcus is probably on that path as well. He’s about as smooth a player as I have seen.

“He can just score in bunches. He makes getting 30 (points) seem like it’s 10. It is so hard to contain him. Definitely, he’s got an incredible future ahead,” Metzger said.

“He’s up there. I can only mention NBA guys and he is right there with the best I have seen. If there is an elite category, he is in it.”

Surprisingly, Paige wasn’t even the high scorer Friday night. Washington center Sean Bredl played the best game of his life with a career-high 24-points on 8-of-13 shooting. He also had six rebounds.

Butterfield had nine points, five rebounds and three steals. David Tann added eight points, five assists and five boards for the Warriors.

Matt Lassen hit two 3-pointers and had eight points for Linn-Mar. Jimmy Roth added eight points and seven rebounds, while 6-foot-8 center Derik Gogg had eight points and eight boards.

Linn-Mar had just one more field goal than Washington. The Warriors (0-18, 0-14) shot 44 percent from the floor, while the Lions netted 49 percent.

Metzger said, “I think if we can keep up that effort and show character at this point in the year, that is the biggest thing for us. It is easy to get your head down in the position we are in.

"I think it is a real character check for all of us to keep trying, keep doing the best we can, and show a lot of character out there and show some heart no matter the situation.”

Linn-Mar boss Chris Robertson took his hat off to the Warriors.

“They have played us tough twice,” he said. “I give them a lot of credit. For a team that doesn’t have any wins, they have a lot of heart. They play hard.

"I hope they get a win. They play this hard this late in the season, they deserve a win. I thought it was going to happen tonight for awhile.”

Robertson is hesitant to call Paige the best he’s ever coached.

“That is hard because I don’t want to take anything away from some of the other guys because obviously I have been fortunate to coach a lot of really great players,” he said. “But he is certainly right up there at the top.”

Linn-Mar led 23-20 at the half and 48-32 after three quarters, but Robertson was not happy about his team’s performance.

“I am glad it is over,” he said. “We weren’t very good. We weren’t very sharp on either end of the floor. I told the guys at halftime that we got outplayed and I think we got outplayed in the second half, too.

“We got up, but we didn’t put them away. It was disappointing. Coming off a big win against Dubuque Senior and having a chance to go out and win a conference championship, our guys weren’t very good tonight. So, I hope we learn a lesson and come out ready to play Tuesday.”

Linn-Mar (15-4, 11-3) has a one-game lead over Dubuque Senior in the Mississippi Division of the MVC with two games left. Senior was beaten by Wahlert, 55-52, Friday night.

The Lions host Jefferson on Tuesday, while Washington hosts Senior.

LINN-MAR (62): Zach Martins 0 2-2 2, Matt Lassen 2 2-4 8, Marcus Paige 8 3-3 20, Jimmy Roth 2 3-5 8, Matt Meier 0 3-4 3, Andy Henry 4 0-0 8, Jon Schlotterback 2 1-2 5, Derik Gogg 4 0-1 8. Totals 22 14-21 62.

WASHINGTON (56): David Tann 4 0-0 8, Brock Butterfield 3 1-3 9, Cybryan Moa 1 0-0 2, Peter Holmes 3 1-1 7, Jason Oney 2 1-3 6, Sean Bredl 8 8-9 24. Totals 21 11-16 56.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 23 Washington 20, 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 4 (Lassen 2, Paige 1, Roth 1). Washington 3 (Butterfield 2, Oney 1).