Linn-Mar Boys Basketball

Lions face stingy Hoover for title

DES MOINES -- The Linn-Mar Lions will face one of the stingiest high school basketball teams in Iowa Saturday night when they meet Des Moines Hoover in the finals of the Class 4A state tournament.

Tipoff at Wells Fargo Arena is scheduled for 8:05 p.m.

Hoover (23-2) allowed an average of just 35.6 points per game during the regular season and prides itself on defense. Linn-Mar, meanwhile, has two of the top weapons in the state tournament and averages a healthy 69.2 points for the campaign.

Matt Bohannon has averaged 25.5 points in Linn-Mar's victories in the first two rounds of the state tournament and Marcus Paige has been producing 18.5 points, making them Target A and Target B for the Huskies in the finals.

"We look forward to the challenge," Hoover Coach Courtney Henderson said Friday. "They have a heck of a ballclub, they have a heck of a tradition. They're one of the best programs in the state."

Linn-Mar (25-0) is seeking its third state title in eight years, but points could be hard to come by. Hoover held nine teams to under 30 points this season, including just 18 by Des Moines Lincoln.

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Trojans ride 16-game win streak into semis against Lions

DES MOINES -- Iowa City West Coach Steve Bergman was not a happy guy two months ago after the Trojans lost back-to-back games to Cedar Rapids Washington and Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

In the first game, Wes Washpun banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Washington a 54-52 victory. Four days later, West lost to Jefferson in double-overtime after Jarrod Uthoff saved the J-Hawks in the final seconds of regulation with an off-balance 3-pointer.

Those two losses -- both in Cedar Rapids -- dropped Iowa City West to 4-4, but something very interesting has happened to the Trojans since then. They have not lost again.

Iowa City West (20-4) will face No.1 Linn-Mar (24-0) in the semifinals of the Class 4A state tournament Friday afternoon at 1:30 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Ankeny (20-4) will meet Des Moines Hoover (22-2) in the other semifinal at 3:15 p.m. Friday. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday night at 8:05.

Iowa City West has won 16 straight games. If the Trojans win their 17th straight on Friday, it would vault the fourth-ranked Trojans into the state finals.

"Believe it or not -- and I'm not sure I believed it when I said it, up in that locker room at Jefferson after that second bad loss -- I said, 'If you guys don't want to lose again this year, you don't have to,' " Bergman remarked Wednesday.

"Like I said, I don't know if I believed it when I said it, but that's what we said. But we said we had to make a few little changes. Just attitude, mostly, and the way we practiced. Those kind of things."

Iowa City West has a young team, with three sophomores and freshman Wyatt Lohaus in key roles. The Trojans looked like a green, inexperienced squad when they got drilled by Linn-Mar, 67-43, back on Dec. 10 in Iowa City.

That was three months ago. They've grown up since then.

"When we played them the first time, we weren't ready," said Bergman. "That was our third or fourth game, and I knew we weren't ready.

"We're more ready," he said. "I don't know if we're ready, but we're more ready now."

Iowa City West hasn't lost since Jan. 7, but Linn-Mar hasn't lost since the semifinals of the 2010 state tournament last March. The Lions are 24-0 and seeking their third state title in eight years.

Iowa City West faces a big challenge in the semifinals Friday. "You had to remind me. I'm not sleeping anyway," cracked Bergman.

Bergman and Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson have seen a lot of each other in Mississippi Valley Conference games over the years. This is Bergman's 21st year as the head coach at Iowa City West and this is Robertson's sixth season as the boss at Linn-Mar.

Linn-Mar topped Cedar Rapids Washington, 71-54, in the first round of the 4A tournament Wednesday, then Robertson and the Lions stuck around and watched Iowa City West beat Waukee, 57-47.

"I'm happy for them. That's a good win for them," said Robertson. "They're playing well, so it will be a good test, it's a big challenge. They're playing as well as anybody. It will be fun, it will be exciting."

Robertson planned to watch additional tape of Iowa City West Wednesday night before formulating a game plan.

"I know with them you're going to have to move the ball. They're going to defend you," he said. "You're going to have to rebound, do all the little things. And hopefully we can get some transition going and get the tempo going."

Senior Matt Bohannon sparked Linn-Mar in the quarterfinals against Washington with 32 points. Marcus Paige collected 14 points and seven assists, Shane Benton scored 10 points and Ian McBrayer snared 13 rebounds. Linn-Mar also got a boost from 6-foot-6 senior Josh Montague, who returned to the lineup and played 17 minutes after missing four games with a knee injury.

Sophomore Dondre Alexander paced Iowa City West in the opening round with 17 points against Waukee.

Lions roll behind Bohannon's 32

DES MOINES -- Jason Bohannon helped Linn-Mar win the Class 4A state basketball title in 2004 and Zach Bohannon got his state crown with the Lions in 2007.

Now Matt Bohannon wants his.

Bohannon fired in a career-best 32 points Wednesday afternoon as No.1 Linn-Mar hammered Cedar Rapids Washington, 71-54, in the quarterfinals of the 4A state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Bohannon destroyed the Warriors with 24 points in the first half, hitting his first six shots and 10 of 11 overall with a sensational display on the big stage.

"He was terrific," said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. "I don't know if I've seen a better first half down here in a long time.

"It was great. For a senior, he's pretty hungry to be down here and obviously his goals are really high."

Bohannon is proud of what his older brothers accomplished during their basketball careers at Linn-Mar, but he's always wanted to make a name for himself and win a state title of his own.

Linn-Mar needs two more victories to claim its third state championship in eight years. The Lions will face Iowa City West (20-4) in the semifinals Friday at 1:30 p.m. in another matchup of Mississippi Valley Conference teams.

Iowa City West topped Waukee, 57-47, in the first round Wednesday.

Bohannon scored 30 points in a victory at Cedar Rapids Jefferson last month, but he topped that as the Lions whipped Washington (17-9) for the third time this season. He said he's never had a half like he had Wednesday.

"Not here. Not at a game like this," he said. "I couldn't have asked for anything better than that."

Bohannon made it look easy in the first 16 minutes. He nailed layups, mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers with ease.

Washington star Josh Oglesby, the logical choice to guard Bohannon, picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game and had to back away on defense. Bohannon smelled blood.

"He played extremely well, he shot it extremely well," said Oglesby. "He let the game come to him and took over in the first half."

Oglesby was the anti-Bohannon. He struggled all day and finished 5 for 20 from the field, including 1 for 10 on 3-pointers. "I couldn't buy a basket today," he said.

Oglesby finished with 16 points. He was tightly guarded by Shane Benton and Mason Krusie much of the day in a man-to-man, but also missed some open shots.

Wes Washpun kept Washington in the game with a superb performance. The 6-foot-1 senior flashed a series of quick drives to the basket and tallied 23 points. Washpun won his personal battle with Linn-Mar guard Marcus Paige, 23-14, but the Lions didn't need Paige to score a ton of points with Bohannon on fire.

"Matt was great," said Paige, who collected seven assists. "He hit his first couple of shots and that's a good sign for us. We got him the ball a couple more times.

"He just kind of put the team on his back in the first half. It really gave us confidence and was great to see."

Bohannon finished 12 for 16 from the field, including 4 for 6 on 3-pointers. He was 4 for 7 at the foul line, grabbed five rebounds and had three assists.

Linn-Mar raced to a 47-25 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter on a three-point play by Benton for its largest lead of the game. The Warriors scored eight straight points to pull within 47-33 and later made it 51-38 when Oglesby hit his only 3-pointer, but the Lions quickly pulled away again.

It was a good day all-around for Linn-Mar, which welcomed Josh Montague back to the lineup after the 6-foot-6 senior had missed four games with a right knee injury. Montague played 17 minutes, scored four points, grabbed four rebounds and looked like he's ready to help the Lions contend for their third state title in eight years.

"It's awesome having Montague back," said Benton, who scored 10 points.

Linn-Mar is the first team in Iowa history to make eight straight trips to the state tournament. And with Wednesday's victory, the Lions have assured themselves of finishing in the top-four of the state tournament for the eighth straight time.

Linn-Mar is the heavy favorite to win the state title after being ranked No.1 all season, but Washington Coach Brad Metzger declined to make predictions when asked if the Warriors lost to the probable state champs.

"I don't want to put anything on them like that," he said. "They have to do that on their own, but I think they're pretty driven for it."

Linn-Mar beat Washington by 25 and 21 points in the Misssissippi Valley Conference this season, then beat them by 17 points in the state tournament after leading by 22.

North Carolina Coach Roy Williams sat along press row Wednesday to watch Paige, the Linn-Mar junior who committed to the Tar Heels in January.

"I didn't notice at first, until probably late in the second half," said Paige. "I was kind of focused on the game. I knew he was coming, I just couldn't find him."

Washpun will visit Missouri State this weekend. The Bears offered him a scholarship several weeks ago.

WASHINGTON (54): David Tann 3 0-0 8, Wes Washpun 9 5-10 23, Cybryan Moa 0 0-0 0, Josh Oglesby 5 5-6 16, Sean Bredl 2 0-0 4, Alex Carr 1 0-0 3, Trent Hoekstra 0 0-0 0, Jason Oney 0 0-0 0, Austin Bergstrom 0 0-0 0, Cory Matteson 0 0-0 0, Peter Holmes 0 0-0 0, McCauley Todd 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 10-16 54.

LINN-MAR (71): Shane Benton 3 4-4 10, Marcus Paige 5 2-2 14, Matt Bohannon 12 4-7 32, Ian McBrayer 3 1-2 7, Josh Montague 2 0-0 4, Michael Thul 0 1-2 1, Nick Soyer 0 0-0 0, Matt Lassen 0 0-0 0, Mason Krusie 1 1-2 3, Braxton Lancial 0 0-0 0, Nick Gentzler 0 0-0 0, Andy Henry 0 0-0 0, Derik Gogg 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 13-19 71.

Halftime -- Linn-Mar 36, Washington 24. 3-point goals -- Washington 4 (Tann 2, Oglesby, Carr), Linn-Mar 6 (Bohannon 4, Paige 2).

Metro stars shooting on the state stage

High school basketball fans in the Metro area have been treated to something very special in local gyms this season, something they may never see again.

Jarrod Uthoff, Josh Oglesby, Marcus Paige, Wes Washpun, Matt Bohannon. Remember those names.

All five of them will play Division I college basketball at a high level. There could be a Mr. Basketball (or two) in the group, and there might be a couple of NBA players.

It's been a special season, and the best part of the campaign begins this week with the Class 4A boys state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Uthoff has Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the field. Oglesby and Washpun have led Cedar Rapids Washington back to Des Moines. Paige and Bohannon have top-ranked Linn-Mar looking for another state title.

All five of those players and their schools played in the state tournament last year. None of them came home with the grand prize, but Linn-Mar is the No.1 seed and the favorite this time around.

It starts Wednesday.

Linn-Mar (23-0) faces Washington (17-8) in an all-Metro opener at 1:45 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Jefferson (17-5) plays Des Moines Hoover (21-2) in the nightcap at 8:15 p.m.

The semifinals are Friday, with the finals and consolation game for third place on Saturday.

All three Metro schools have won state titles before. Washington claimed championships in 1914, 1916 and 1922 - before the IHSAA began sanctioning the tournaments - and prevailed again in 1969. Jefferson was the state champion in 1967, while Linn-Mar has captured titles in 1983, 2004 and 2007.

It usually takes at least two ingredients to win a state title: Talent and experience. Jefferson, Washington and Linn-Mar have both. All three schools played in the state tournament last year, and all three teams have star players.

Uthoff, a 6-foot-8 senior, leads the state in scoring at 26.2 points and averages a double-double. He'll play in the Big Ten at the University of Wisconsin next season.

Oglesby, a 6-6 senior, averages 21.4 points and is one of the top 3-point shooters in the state. He'll join the Iowa Hawkeyes. Washpun, a 6-1 senior, averages 17.8 points and is one of the top point guards in the state. He has a scholarship offer from Missouri State of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Paige, a 6-1 junior, is considered the No.1 point guard in the state, a do-everything guard who has committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels. Bohannon, a 6-4 senior, is a solid all-around player who has signed with the University of Northern Iowa.

Linn-Mar drubbed Washington in both of their meetings this season in the Mississippi Valley Conference, 80-55 and 62-41, so the Warriors will have to try something new this time. Washpun and Oglesby versus Paige and Bohannon might be a fair fight, but Linn-Mar pours it on with Shane Benton, Ian McBrayer and Josh Montague, although Montague is questionable with an injured knee. Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said after Linn-Mar's substate win over North Scott that Montague will play in the state tournament.

The eighth-ranked Jefferson J-Hawks will need all they can muster against third-ranked Hoover, which has good size and a balanced attack. Kelly Madison leads Hoover at 12.0 points per game.

The other first-round games on Wednesday match No.4 Iowa City West (19-4) against No.9 Waukee (19-5) at 3:30 p.m., and No.2 Ankeny (20-3) against No.6 Sioux City East (19-4) at 6:35 p.m.

The semifinals are Friday at 1:30 and 3:15. The consolation game for third place is set for Saturday at 1:45 p.m., with the championship game Saturday night at 8:05.