Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

UNI coach impressed with Bohannon's skills

The Linn-Mar Lions wore the biggest smiles Saturday night after they won the Class 4A state basketball title.

The second-biggest smile belonged to University of Northern Iowa Coach Ben Jacobson. He hit the jackpot in Des Moines.

On Friday night, UNI signee Seth Tuttle led West Fork to the Class 2A title. Then on Saturday night, UNI signee Matt Bohannon helped Linn-Mar win the 4A crown.

Jacobson was there both nights, cheering for his future Panthers, envisioning them in Purple and Gold.

Tuttle, a 6-foot-8 forward, and Bohannon, a 6-4 guard, were delighted to see Jacobson, who had a floor pass and congratulated his prized recruits at Wells Fargo Arena.

Jacobson saw Bohannon torch Cedar Rapids Washington for a career-best 32 points in the quarterfinals Wednesday and saw him scorch Des Moines Hoover for 25 in the finals. Jacobson missed Bohannon's performance in the semifinals Friday afternoon because UNI had practice in Cedar Falls, but a Panther assistant coach was there.

Bohannon was named the captain of the Class 4A all-tournament team and was named the MVP for the entire tournament, regardless of class.

"The thing that we're most excited about is, Matt just keeps getting better and better all the time. He's obviously worked at it," said Jacobson. "He's a competitive kid, he's an unselish kid, and winning is the most important thing to him.

Read more...

NCAA tournaments toss Printys a puzzle

Kelly and Jeff Printy’s home computer and both cell phones were buzzing Monday night as the Marion couple figured out where they’re going to be this weekend and how they’ll get there.

Earlier in the evening, they learned that daughter Jaime will be playing with her Iowa Hawkeyes basketball teammates in the NCAA tournament late Saturday afternoon in Spokane, Wash.

They’d found out a day earlier that son Jordan has a late Friday night tip-off in Cleveland with his Indiana State Sycamores ball club in the men's NCAA tournament.

For the past two seasons, Jeff and Kelly have been at all of Jaime’s games in Iowa City and many of the road games, too. They’ve also traveled to all of Jordan’s weekend home tilts in Terre Haute, Ind., and to a lot of them elsewhere around the Midwest.

They haven’t counted them up but figure they’ve been on the road at least 35 times this year and last.

When one of their former Linn-Mar star athletes is playing in one place and the other someplace else, they sometimes split up.

“Besides working, that’s pretty much what we do in the winter, is go to basketball games,” says Jeff, 49, an engineering project specialist at Rockwell Collins. “It’s our social life.”

But then they also have a 13-year-old daughter, Jenna, who has taken up dance instead of hoops. So she has dance competitions all over the place, as well.

“I don’t know what Jeff and I will do when the kids are all graduated,” says Kelly, 48, a nurse for the past 25 years at St. Luke’s. “Just sit and look at each other, I guess.”

Read more...

Robertson enjoying the ride

Chris Robertson gently cradled the Class 4A state championship trophy as he left Linn-Mar High School Sunday afternoon. "Can I keep it on my nightstand for a while?" he wondered.

He was kidding, of course. The trophy will find a permanent home in the Linn-Mar trophy case, assuming there's room. The Lions won their third state basketball title in eight years and the fourth in school history Saturday night, so it's getting crowded in that display case.

It's a nice problem to have.

Linn-Mar has made five trips to the state finals in the past eight years, compiling a 3-2 record in those games, and has won championships with three different groups of players.

"That's just unheard of, especially in Class 4A where you have so many kids that move from school to school," Robertson said after the Lions were honored at the school. "I think that's one of the things we take a lot of pride in, we've done it with Linn-Mar kids, kids that have come to our little-kids camps and moved on to our school. It's been an unbelievable ride."

The ride could continue indefinitely at Linn-Mar, which has one of the top programs in the state. Four starters graduate, including tournament MVP Matt Bohannon, but Marcus Paige will be back along with a talented group of juniors-to-be.

Robertson, 40, intends to coach again next season, but there's no guarantee he'll coach forever. He and his wife, Mandi, have four children, and he'd like to attend as many of their activities as possible, something that's difficult during the basketball season that runs from November to March.

Read more...

LIONS ARE CHAMPS!!!

DES MOINES -- Matt Bohannon hugged Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson so hard Saturday night it probably hurt, but that's not why Robertson shed a few tears at Wells Fargo Arena.

They were tears of sheer joy.

Bohannon and Marcus Paige netted 24 points apiece as Linn-Mar completed its perfect season with a 56-42 victory over No.3 Des Moines Hoover in the finals of the Class 4A state tournament.

"It's emotional," said Robertson. "I just love these guys. They're just such great kids, great character, great role models in our community. This is fantastic."

Bohannon was named captain of the Class 4A all-tournament team and also was honored as the MVP of the entire tournament, regardless of a school's size or classification.

"It's a complete team honor," Bohannon declared.

The top-ranked Lions (26-0) claimed the school's third state title in eight years and the fourth overall.

"I'm happy for all of them, but nobody knows how much this means to Matt Bohannon," said Robertson. "Now he can sit at the Thanksgiving table with his brothers and talk about championships. I couldn't be more happy for him."

Jason Bohannon helped Linn-Mar win the 4A title in 2004, then Zach Bohannon helped the Lions claim the state crown in 2007. Matt has something to brag about, too.

"Now Zach can't give me crap for not having one," he said with a smile. "I'm just kidding."

Bohannon and Paige combined to score 48 of Linn-Mar's 56 points, but it was far from a two-man show. Shane Benton contributed his usual dose of hard-nosed defense, Josh Montague blocked three shots despite playing with a torn MCL in his right knee and Ian McBrayer was a rock near the basket  as usual.

The Lions also got solid help off the bench from Michael Thul, Mason Krusie and Derik Gogg to prevent Hoover (23-3) from spoiling their party.

"It couldn't be a sweeter ending and it couldn't have happened to a greater group of guys," said Robertson, in his sixth year as Linn-Mar's head coach. "It's been an outstanding ride and I don't think it will sink in for a few days, but we're sure going to enjoy it tonight."

Read more...