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Casebolt resigns as L-M football coach

Matt Casebolt has resigned as an assistant football coach at Linn-Mar High School for personal reasons, according to the minutes of the Linn-Mar school board meeting from Feb. 20.

Casebolt was embroiled in a controversy last year and did not coach the Lions during the 2016 campaign, although he was still employed as a member of the football coaching staff and was paid for the season.

Linn-Mar families accused Casebolt of improper conduct in recent years, including verbal and physical abuse. The Iowa Board of  Educational Examiners looked into the complaints last year, but did not file charges.

The Linn-Mar school district conducted two probes of the football program. All charges were dismissed following the first investigation, but the second investigation may have contributed to head coach Bob Forsyth retiring after the 2016 season and now to Casebolt resigning.

Former Cedar Rapids Washington coach Paul James has succeeded Forsyth as Linn-Mar's new head coach.

Saints tame Lions for 8th straight

The Xavier girls basketball team has not lost a game in four weeks and  is riding an eight-game winning streak heading into the postseason,  matching their longest victory streak in six years.

If the Saints can win two more games in a row, they'll finish the  season at the Class 4A state tournament in Des Moines.

The sixth-ranked Saints held Linn-Mar to 16 points in the first three  quarters Friday night and hung on for a 40-35 victory in the final  game of the regular season at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

Xavier will take a 15-6 record into the regional semifinals next  Saturday night at home and would host the regional finals on Tuesday,  Feb. 21 if they are still alive.

"I like where we're at, except maybe free throws," said Xavier Coach  Tom Lilly after the Saints swept the season series from Linn-Mar for  the first time in five years.

The Saints finished only 11 for 21 at the free throw line, helping the  Lions chop a 14-point deficit to only four points in the final stages  before time ran out on the visitors.

Linn-Mar got back into the game with a trapping zone defense that  forced turnovers and left the Saints standing around too much, waiting  for something good to happen instead of being aggressive.

"We were holding on for dear life," said Lilly.

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Saints notch biggest win over L-M

A few dozen Xavier High School students spilled onto the court and celebrated a 64-48 victory over the Linn-Mar Lions Friday night, but those happy students did not know the entire story.

As it turns out, the 16-point victory over Linn-Mar is the biggest for  the Xavier boys basketball program in the 36-game history between the  two Metro schools.

The Saints topped the Lions by 10 points two years ago, but otherwise  Linn-Mar has dominated the series since they began playing in the  1998-99 campaign when Xavier High School opened for business.

Linn-Mar won the first 29 meetings, many of them by lopsided margins,  but the Saints have a 4-4 record against the Lions in the past four  seasons and are fighting back.

All told, Linn-Mar leads the series 32-4.

Linn-Mar is experiencing a rare "down" year for boys basketball with a  7-11 overall record, but they still have talented players and have  posted some good victories this season.

Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann was happy with his club's performance on  Hall of Fame Night at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

"I thought we were very good in stretches," he said. "We shared the  ball very well on the offensive end and for the most part were decent  on defense.

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Hart sparks Xavier bowlers by Lions

Charlie Hart had the hot hand Friday as the Xavier Saints topped  Linn-Mar, 2934 to 2723, in a Mississippi Valley Conference bowling  meet at May City Lanes.

Hart rolled a 269 game and 456 series to grab top honors. Jacob Fulton  posted a 227 game and 411 series for the Saints.

Blake Viers led Linn-Mar with a 227 game and 377 series.

Linn-Mar captured the girls meet, 2783 to 2539. Alexis Tschantz rolled  a 220 game and 403 series for the Lions. Tanya Zaugg had a 214 game  and 392 series for Xavier.

BOYS RESULTS
Xavier 2934, Linn-Mar 2723

Xavier: Charlie Hart 187-269=456, Jacob Fulton 184-227=411, Dale  Weaver 169-214=383, Michael Buenzow 182-193=376, Jackson Schuster  180-187=367, David Weaver 139-122=261.

Linn-Mar: Blake Viers 150-227=377, Alex Diercks 179-193=372, Mason  Soden 187-178=365, Zach Koeperich 169-169=338, Nolan Velazquez  191=136=327, Brandon Gloeckner 141-172=313.

GIRLS RESULTS
Linn-Mar 2783, Xavier 2539

Xavier: Tanya Zaugg 214-178=392, Ally Eipert 168-174=342, Ella  Schrader 191-147=338, Katie Langholz 156-176=332, Cheyanne Crane  143-183=326, Jamison Janson 138-164=302.

Linn-Mar: Alexis Tschantz 183-220=403, Mekena Diercks 178-210=388,  Sarah Velazquez 201-170=372, Katie Routhe 166-173=339, Tia Lawrence  180-152=332, Abbie Smith 146-136=282.