Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Stokes ends career on bench, in tears

DES MOINES -- Kiah Stokes ended her remarkable high school career in tears Friday afternoon.

She fouled out, Linn-Mar lost in overtime and her dream of winning back-to-back state titles evaporated.

Iowa City West rallied from a 14-point deficit and trimmed the second-ranked Lions, 65-58, in the semifinals of the Class 4A tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Stokes saved Linn-Mar with a 3-pointer with five seconds left in regulation -- just the second 3-pointer of her All-American career -- but she fouled out with 2:19 left in overtime and the Lions did not score a single point in her absence.

Stokes sat on the bench after the game ended, wiping away the tears, and was still sobbing more than 15 minutes later.

"I love my teammates," she said between sobs.

Stokes ended her prep career with incredible numbers. She scored 1,704 points, grabbed 1,239 rebounds and blocked 515 shots. She set school records in all three categories, set a state mark for blocked shots and finished fourth in state history in rebounds.

Read more...

Linn-Mar, IC West: 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.

Read more...

Stokes keeps state tourney dream alive

DES MOINES -- Kiah Stokes did not play a spectacular game at the state basketball tournament Wednesday, but she was spectacular in the final 30 seconds.

That was enough to keep Linn-Mar's dream alive of winning back-to-back state titles.

Stokes scored the go-ahead basket with 20 seconds left and blocked Ankeny's final shot at victory, giving the second-ranked Lions a tense 48-47 victory in the quarterfinals of the 4A state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Linn-Mar (22-2) will face No.3 Iowa City West (22-2) in the semifinals Friday at noon.

Linn-Mar trailed, 47-46, following a three-point play by Ankeny's Maddie Manning with 30.3 seconds left, putting the defending champs in jeopardy of a quick exit. That's when Stokes took over.

Read more...

Eighth straight state trip for Lions

North Scott tried a gimmick defense that had some success against Linn-Mar standouts Marcus Paige and Matt Bohannon on Tuesday night in a Class 4A substate tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center.

But it turned out the only way to truly shutout Bohannon was by latching the locker room door.

Bohannon's steal and coast-to-coast layup highlighted a 25-0 Linn-Mar run that carried the top-ranked Lions past North Scott, 50-25, and into the boys state basketball tournament for a record eighth straight year.

The Lions (23-0) earned the top seed in the tournament and will play eighth seeded Cedar Rapids Washington (17-8) next Wednesday (March 9) at 1:45 p.m.  The Warriors whipped Dubuque Hempstead, 56-31, in Tuesday's nightcap at the U.S. Cellular Center. Linn-Mar beat Washington twice during the regular season, 80-55 and 62-41.

Read more...