Linn-Mar Boys Basketball

Paige scores 34 in loss to Illinois club

DUBUQUE -- Linn-Mar’s Marcus Paige and Benet (Ill.) Academy’s Sean O’Mara went shot-for-shot, putting on a terrific scoring battle for a mostly neutral crowd at the Wendy’s/American Trust Basketball Classic at Loras College Saturday.

In the end, it was O’Mara’s squad that came away with a 56-50 victory over the Lions.

Paige, a North Carolina recruit, scored 34 of Linn-Mar’s 50 points. Paige’s performance came just 24 hours after scoring a school-record 46 points in Linn-Mar’s comeback victory Friday against Prairie.

Not to be outdone, the 6-foot-8 sophomore O’Mara tallied 30 of his team’s 56. O’Mara is receiving interest from Notre Dame, Illinois and Iowa, according to ESPN.com.

“It was great. (Benet) is a great program and a great team. I thought we represented ourselves well. We got down early, but we were able to sneak back into the game a little bit,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said.

Benet fed O’Mara early and often, capitalizing on the absence of Linn-Mar center Derik Gogg. Gogg hurt his shooting hand (left) against Prairie.

“Of all nights, it was a bad night not to have our big guy,” Robertson said. “He could have played, but we thought the conference games were more important than (Saturday) was.”

O’Mara showed nice touch around the basket, and he displayed a variety of post moves. O’Mara enjoyed the challenge of playing Paige and Linn-Mar (11-3).

“He’s really good, obviously,” O’Mara said. “Any time we play a player like that, we need to hold them to lower scoring. We just contested every shot that he took.”

Benet led by as many as 11 points in the first half before Paige came to life. Paige scored 12 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter, bringing the Lions to within a point at the break.

Paige recorded a steal and a layup off the first possession of the second half to give Linn-Mar its only lead, 27-26.

“It’s hard to watch a player like Marcus Paige and not be in awe,” Benet Coach Gene Heidkamp said.

Paige hit a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter, but Benet was able to maintain its lead. Joe Schuessler’s 3-pointer with 3:46 left in regulation gave Benet a 49-44 lead.

“I was just trying to get something going for my team,” Paige said. “I was able to get loose. They did a good job defensively in the first half, so I got a little more aggressive in the second half.”

The Redwings then went into the four corners, cognizant of the fact that Linn-Mar had only four team fouls. The Lions weren’t able to record their seventh team foul until there was 1:14 left, and the game was in Benet’s favor by that point.

On the injury front, Robertson said he expects guard Matt Lassen to return within a week. Lassen has been practicing, and Robertson said he’s taking his status “day-by-day.”

BENET ACADEMY (56): Joe Schuessler 3 1-2 9, Bobby Wehrli 3 0-0 8, Griffin Hanekamp 0 0-0 0, Pat McInerney 3 0-0 7, Sean O’Mara 12 6-6 30, Jack Toner 0 0-0 0, Matt Clements 1 0-0 2, Nick Mankowski 0 0-0 0, Jack Euritt 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-8 56.

LINN-MAR (50): Zach Martins 0 0-0 0, Marcus Paige 12 5-6 34, Jimmy Roth 2 0-0 5, Andy Henry 1 2-2 4, Jon Schlotterback 2 0-0 4, Matt Meier 0 1-2 1, Jacob Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Nick Mankowski 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 8-10 50.

Halftime – Benet Academy 26, Linn-Mar 25. 3-point goals – Benet 5 (Schuessler 2, Wehrli 2, McInerney), Linn-Mar 6 (Paige 5, Roth). Total fouls – Benet 16, Linn-Mar 13. Fouled out – Schlotterback.

Paige explodes for 46 as Lions nip Hawks, 68-67

Marcus Paige performed like a Hall of Famer on Hall of Fame night at Linn-Mar High School Friday.

First ballot. Unanimous. No reason to delay. Induct him right now. Don't wait until he's in the NBA.

Paige poured in a school-record 46 points as the Lions dug themselves out of a 20-point hole and nudged Cedar Rapids Prairie, 68-67, in a sensational high school basketball game.

Paige was absolutely terrific and may have clinched the Mr. Basketball award for 2012, but Prairie had a chance to win the game with three-tenths of a second left on the clock.

That's how little time was left when Prairie star Matt MacDougall stepped to the foul line with a one-and-one bonus opportunity. He could have tied the game with one free throw and won it with another, but his first shot was long and slightly to the left.

MacDougall didn't get another chance and No. 3 Linn-Mar (11-2, 7-2) escaped with its ninth straight win.

Paige snapped a 67-67 tie with one free throw with 6.8 seconds left for his 46th point, but he missed his second free throw to give Prairie a final chance at victory.

"I was so mad at myself for missing that free throw," said Paige. "I'm just thankful he missed. I don't think I would have been able to sleep if he had made those."

Paige snapped the school record of 45 points set by Jason Bohannon during the 2005-06 campaign. As it turned out, the Lions needed every one of those 46 points to beat Prairie.

The Hawks blasted to a 26-6 advantage in the first half with a 17-0 run and led 35-18 at intermission.

"Give Prairie credit," said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. "They came out and punched us in the mouth right away and kept punching."

MacDougall gave the Hawks a 43-25 lead with two of his 27 points midway through the third quarter, but then Paige simply took control of the game from there. He scored seven points in 19 seconds and poured in 11 points in 38 seconds, thanks partially to a technical foul on Prairie Coach James Moses.

Paige scored 18 points in the third quarter, then duplicated the feat in the fourth period with 18 more. He scored 10 points in the first half, then amassed 36 points in 16 minutes in the second half.

He made six 3-pointers during the onslaught and slipped in a few gorgeous assists along the way.

"I just thought I needed to provide some sort of spark in the second half," he said. "I started making shots, and I think everybody else got more confidence because of that.

"After about the second 3-pointer, I felt that I had really found my stroke. I knew that we were going to need it in order to climb back into this game."

MacDougall was sensational in the second half as well, tossing in 25 after missing much of the first half with two early fouls. He almost matched Paige shot for shot, and it all came down to his trip to the foul line with three-tenths of a second to go.

Moses thought MacDougall was in the act of shooting and should have received two free throws, but the officials did not agree. That sent MacDougall, an excellent foul shooter at 81.8 percent, to the line with the outcome hanging in the balance.

MacDougall appeared stunned when his first free throw bounced off the rim and the buzzer sounded. Moses tried to console him in the somber locker room.

"All we try to do is have a short-term memory," said Moses. "He's the one who got us in the game. He's the one who kept us right there."

Moses was unhappy with the loss and especially unhappy with the officiating. The referees called 25 fouls on Prairie and only 10 on Linn-Mar.

"If you look at the foul discrepancy, we couldn't be that much more physical than Linn-Mar," he said. "It's tough when my kids fight and fight and go as hard as they do, to play as clean and be as professional as we can, and to allow the referees to take the game from us. I have a hard time with that, and it's tough to swallow."

Linn-Mar made 18 of 31 free throws, compared to 7 of 9 for Prairie.

Linn-Mar inducted 12 new members into its Hall of Fame before the game, but Prairie played like all-stars for much of the first half while the Lions struggled.

"It was a disappointing first half for us," said Paige, who has signed with North Carolina. "Prairie came out absolutely phenomenal and really showed us, when you don't come ready to play that's what can happen."

Paige raised his scoring average from 26.2 points to 27.7 with his 46-point outburst.

"When he's feeling it, you just kind of let him go a little bit when you've got a player like that," said Robertson, who credits Paige with giving the rest of the Lions the confidence they needed to win the ballgame.

"That's the message he was sending to our guys: We're going to get this. When he's calm and confident, it makes everyone else around him that way," said Robertson. "He's special."

A few years from now, Paige will return to Linn-Mar and take his place in the Hall of Fame. "I'm pretty sure he's a lock," Robertson said with a smile.

Moses paid his respects to Paige as well. "He looked good," said Moses. "I wish we could get half the calls he gets, though."

Derik Gogg collected 13 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots for Linn-Mar. Andy Henry contributed eight rebounds, six points and five steals.

Jacob Aune scored 13 points for Prairie (6-9, 2-8). Thomas Eilers scored 12 points with four 3-pointers.

PRAIRIE (67): Aune 6 0-0 13, Harper 1 0-0 2, Hanna 2 0-0 5, MacDougall 11 5-7 27, Eilers 4 0-0 12, Kehoe 0 2-2 2, Rasmussen 1 0-0 2, Smith 0 0-0 0, Meeker 1 0-0 2, Simpson 1 0-0 2, Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 7-9 67.

LINN-MAR (68): Henry 2 2-7 6, Martins 0 0-0 0, Gogg 4 5-8 13, Roth 1 0-0 2, Paige 15 10-12 46, Meier 0 1-4 1, Dick 0 0-0 0, Schlotterback 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 18-31 68.

Halftime - Prairie 35, Linn-Mar 18. 3-point goals - Prairie 6 (Eilers 4, Aune 1, Hanna 1), Linn-Mar 6 (Paige 6).

No. 3 Lions find focus in time to beat East

The third-ranked Linn-Mar Lions needed a big fourth quarter to escape the visiting Waterloo East Trojans, 71- 58, in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game Tuesday night at Linn-Mar.

“I thought it was (good) but once we started playing it wasn’t,” Robertson said of his team's focus. “We couldn’t practice cause of the weather yesterday. They were sharper; hopefully, it is a lesson for us.”

After trailing almost the whole first half the Lions were able to battle back in the third quarter and went into the final eight minutes all square at 50-50.

The Lions quickly took control in the fourth quarter as junior Jimmy Roth hit three 3-pointers to spark a 13-2 run and put the Lions in control for good.

“Coach and Marcus (Paige) told me to keep shooting,” Roth said. “My teammates found me when I was open. I shot with confidence and they went in.”

The game started fast and furious as both teams pushed the ball and knocked down long jumpers.

North Carolina bound Paige hit two step back 3s, but East went 4 of 5 from distance as they shot themselves to a 24-19 lead.

East keep control of the game in the second quarter, but couldn’t manage to extend its lead as Paige and the Lions matched them basket for basket.

Behind hot shooting from behind the arc, East was able to shock the Linn-Mar faithful and take a 39-34 lead over the Lions at halftime.

“Coming in we knew we had to be focused on defense. We can’t give up 39 in a half,” Paige said. “Coach gave us a friendly reminder at halftime and we held them under 20 in the second (half).”

“It was the most disappointing part of the first half, us not defending,” Robertson added. “We didn’t change anything in the second half we were just more focused.”

The Lions came out of the locker room with a renewed focus and went on a 12-5 run, sparked by junior Zach Martins' pair of treys, early in the third to take their first lead since early in the first quarter.

“It gave us a huge lift, especially later (in the game),” Paige said of guys stepping up to hit shots. “When Zach and Jimmy hit shots we are very tough to contain offensively.”

The Trojans lost hot-handed Desmond VanArsdale to a hand injury in the third quarter and the teams battled back and forth before going in to the final quarter all even.

“He was tough to defend, especially in the first half. We did better in the second,” Robertson said of VanArsdale. “You hate to see a player injured. It probably hurt them a little.”

The Lions owned the final quarter as they finished strong.

Paige led all scorers with 22 points. Roth and Martins joined Paige in double digits with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The Lions were still without Matt Lassen who is easing his way back into practice.

“He can’t do full contact yet but we are starting to get him to do more,” Robertson said. “It would be really nice to get him back for the stretch run.”

Sophomore Daeton Hoskins led the Trojans with 13 points.

The Lions host Cedar Rapids Prairie in a boy/girl varsity doubleheader Friday night that starts at 6 p.m.

WATERLOO EAST (58): Corshandous Love 4 1-1 9, Russell Jones 3 4-4 10, Arkell Todd 3 0-0 9, Desmond VanArsdale 5 0-0 12, Daeton Hoskins 5 0-1 13, Martavius Robinson 0 0-0 0, Andrew McGrane 2 1-1 5. Totals 22 6-7 58.

LINN-MAR (71): Zach Martins 5 1-2 13, Marcus Paige 8 4-4 22, Jimmy Roth 5 1-2 14, Andy Henry 4 0-0 8, Derik Gogg 2 0-0 4, Matt Meier 0 0-0 0, Jon Schlotterback 1 2-2 4, Nate Dick 2 2-2 6. Totals 27 10-12 71.

Halftime – Waterloo East 39, Linn-Mar 34. 3-point  goals – Linn-Mar 7 (Martins 2, Paige 2, Roth 3), Waterloo East 8 (Todd 3, VanArsdale 2, Hoskins 3). Total Fouls – Linn-Mar 9, Waterloo East 14.

Lassen hopes to practice with Lions this week

Matt Lassen has been cleared by his doctor to begin practicing with the Linn-Mar basketball team again and he's hopeful of playing in games in a few weeks.

Lassen suffered a severe concussion and head injuries during a game against Iowa City West Dec. 9 at Linn-Mar when he fell and twice hit his head on the floor.

His doctor cleared him this past Wednesday to begin working out, but so far he's been practicing on his own with Linn-Mar trainer Jill Hendricks to get in shape. He hopes to begin practicing with the team again soon, perhaps this week.

"Right now I'm not quite in shape and my balance is a little off," Lassen said Saturday night after Linn-Mar played Xavier. "Once I get in shape he (the doctor) said I can start to practice."

He's working hard to get in condition.

"Lots of sprints, getting my shot back," he said. "My shot is really good right now. Dribbling and ballhandling, stuff like that. Normal stuff. A lot of balance work.

"I'm pretty close," he said. "I'm just about in shape right now. It's kind of up to Jill. She makes the call on when I start to practice."

Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson wants Lassen to have two full weeks of practice with the team before he plays in a game. "Our main goal right now is to have me back 100 percent by the week of substate," Lassen said.

The Class 4A substate tournament begins the week of Feb. 20. The third-ranked Lions (9-2) are the defending state champions. Lassen, a 6-foot-4 junior, is one of Linn-Mar's top players and already has committed to play Division I basketball at Albany (N.Y.).

Lassen has another doctor's appointment in two weeks. If everything goes as planned, he could be playing shortly after that if he gets final permission.

"If I do get cleared and I do get back, the first couple of games I probably won't start, I probably won't play all that much," he said. "We'll see."

Robertson plans to proceed cautiously, but he likes what he's seen so far.

"Watching him run and shoot, he's getting there," Robertson said Saturday. "He's a lot better than he was three or four weeks ago. We're hopeful, just for his sake.

"Their family, they want him to get back out here and play and I know he wants to be out here with his team."

Lassen spent four days in area hospitals, including two days in the intensive care unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. He had bleeding on the brain and swelling, then spent several weeks at home in Marion after being released from the hospital.

His head has recovered from the traumatic injury. "That's all healing really well," he said.

Lassen is confident he'll play again this season.

"I was a little surprised I didn't get (fully) cleared last week," he said. "I really feel like I can play right now. Of course, safety first, but I'm really confident."