Familiar foes with contrasting styles
There won't be any surprises when Linn-Mar plays Iowa City West in the semifinals of the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament Friday in Des Moines.
Tipoff at Wells Fargo Arena is scheduled for noon.
Linn-Mar likes to pound the ball inside to All-American center Kiah Stokes and let the 6-foot-3 senior go to work, relying on her deft touch and ambidextrous moves.
Iowa City West, by contrast, likes to run, press and launch 3-pointers at every opportunity, preferring an up-tempo game that produces turnovers and points in clusters.
If Stokes has a really big game, the Lions will probably win. If Iowa City West turns the game into a track meet, the Women of Troy will greatly increase their odds.
"They're a fast-paced team and they love to run," said Stokes, who averages 25.2 points. "I think we just have to play our game, whether we want to run or whether we want to do a halfcourt set, because we do have a height advantage. It just depends on how the game is going."
Linn-Mar and Iowa City West don't need any fancy scouting reports at this stage of the season. They know each other from the Mississippi Valley Conference, they saw each other play in the quarterfinals Wednesday and know what to expect.
The Lions whipped the Women of Troy, 63-49, in their only meeting this season Dec. 21 at Linn-Mar, but that was more than 10 weeks ago. It might make Linn-Mar confident, it might make Iowa City West even more determined or it might have absolutely nothing to do with Friday's outcome at all.
Iowa City West has a young team. Remarkably, its top seven scorers are all underclassmen, led by sophomore Ally Disterhoft at 15.1 points per game. Junior Piper Mckenzie, a transfer from Keokuk, is second on the club at 11.4 points.
Last Updated on Sunday, 06 March 2011 21:12
