Linn-Mar Girls Basketball

Ollinger paces No. 11 Lions by Rams

DUBUQUE – Amanda Ollinger had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the 11th-ranked Linn-Mar girls basketball team to a 68-34 win over Dubuque Senior in a Mississippi Valley Conference game Tuesday at Senior.

Kamryn Finley had 13 points and Megan Murphy added 12 points for the Lions (8-3). Murphy tossed in four 3-pointers.

Dubuque Senior fell to 2-11.

LINN-MAR (68): Simons 0 0-0 0, Lorenz 0 2-2 2, Johnson 0 1-2 1, Noggle 0 2-3 2, Akers 1 0-0 2, Frese 2 0-0 4, Lancial 1 0-0 2, Glanz 0 0-0 0, Murphy 4 0-0 12, Fensterman 0 2-2 2, Spies 3 0-1 6, Finley 5 2-3 13, Larson 1 3-4 5, Ollinger 4 6-6 15, Strauss 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 18-23 68.

DUBUQUE SENIOR (34): S.Biehl 2 2-2 6, Schueller 1 0-0 2, Burns 1 0-0 2, Hawkins 0 0-2 0, Evans 0 5-10 5, Wernimont 0 0-0 0, Mills 1 0-0 2, Udelhofen 1 1-1 3, Tigges 2 0-1 4, Mott 3 0-0 6, K.Biehl 2 0-4 4. Totals 13 8-20 34.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 37, Dubuque Senior 18. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 6 (Murphy 4, Finley, Ollinger), Dubuque Senior 0.

Ollinger leads Lions by Indians

Amanda Ollinger scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Saturday night as the Linn-Mar Lions defeated the Marion Indians, 39-30, in the final game of the Rivalry Saturday series at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Ollinger shot only 5 for 25 from the field for 20 percent, but she gave the Lions (7-3) enough offense to win the game. She was 8 for 10 at the foul line and was 1 for 7 on 3-pointers in the low-scoring affair.

Chloe Rice scored 11 points for Marion (7-4).

Both teams shot very poorly from the field. Linn-Mar was 8 for 55 for 14.5 percent and Marion was 9 for 47 for 19.1 percent.

Ollinger made five field goals for Linn-Mar and three other players had one basket apiece. The Lions scored 20 of their 39 points at the foul line.

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Linn-Mar girls squashed by Tigers

Luckily for the Linn-Mar girls, the season is still young.

The Lions lost their second game in a row (and third in the last four) in a lackluster showing at home Friday night, 50-35, to Cedar Falls.

"We’re struggling right now,” acknowledged second-year Linn-Mar coach Jaime Brandt. “There are a lot of things that aren’t clicking.

“We’ve got a lot to work on, but the good thing is we’ve got ‘til the end of February to work things out.”

As was the case in a 60-47 loss at Kennedy Tuesday night, the Class 5A 11th-ranked Lions (6-3, 4-2 MVC) were again plagued by poor shooting and shoddy ballhandling.

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Cougars bop Lions for 11th in row

On her 18th birthday Tuesday night, Lela Sellers’ wish came true.

Fellow Kennedy seniors Linden Runels and Sydney Hayden made sure of it.

"All I wanted for my birthday was a ‘W,’ and we got it,” Sellers said after her 17-point performance helped lead the Class 5A fourth-ranked Cougars to a 60-47 win over ninth-ranked Linn-Mar.

The silky-smooth 6-foot Division I signee may have been high scorer, but a strong supporting cast made the difference in a 19-8 fourth quarter that sealed Kennedy’s 11th straight victory.

None were more helpful than the unheralded Runels and sharpshooter Hayden. With the game on the line, the two came through.

After a sometimes-sloppy three quarters, the Cougars had inched ahead of the Lions (6-2) just 41-39. But Hayden, the state’s leading 3-point shooter who was held to only two points in the first half, hit her first long-range shot of the night to open the final period.

When Kennedy super sophomore Hailey Dolphin hit a short jumper soon after, the Cougars were off to the races on a 11-0 three-minute run.

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