By Jeff DahnThe Gazette
jeff.dahn@gazettecommunications.com
CEDAR RAPIDS – The basketball program Stu Ordman has established at Cedar Rapids Jefferson has been nurtured from the inside out.
It’s a program that hasn’t won a state championship – although Ordman took a team to the 1999 state tournament – and in these days of greatness in the Mississippi Valley Conference, even league titles have been hard to come by. But it’s a program of pride and compassion, one that does everything it can to encourage young men to gain an appreciation for the game while …

By Jeff DahnThe Gazette
jeff.dahn@gazettecommunications.com
Zach Tremmel doesn’t expect many surprises when he takes his Class 1A third-ranked HLV team to Sigourney Tuesday night for its South Iowa Cedar League season opener.
He’s familiar with the head coach who will be on Sigourney’s bench for the first time this season – his father, hall of fame coach Dave Tremmel.
“I’m probably not going to throw anything at him he hasn’t seen before because I run about everything he runs,” Zach Tremmel said. “Hopefully, we have better horses than he does. It’s going to be …

Cedar Rapids Jefferson got a couple of monster double-doubles last night in defeating Bettendorf, 63-39, in girls’ basketball at Bettendorf.Katelynn Jourdan had a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Brittany Steffeny added an effort of 24 points and 13 rebounds for the J-Hawks (2-0).
JOHNSTON 47, C.R. XAVIER 35 – Madison Thompson scored 10 points to lead Johnston to the win at Xavier.
Caitlin Kray scored 13 points for Xavier (2-1).
IOWA CITY WEST 60, NORTH SCOTT 45 – Emma Krieger-Kittle scored 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead …

Not that I didn’t already have a ton of respect for the kid. I stumbled across an amazing story involving North-Linn 215-pounder Alex Burkle. Below is the unedited version.

By K.J. Pilcher

The Gazette

TROY MILLS — It was supposed to be a harmless little trip into town.
A 3-mile quest for snacks to pack in a 7-year-old’s lunch the last day of school and a sausage and pepperoni pizza to feed the family.
Alex Burkle hopped in the family’s new Pontiac with his mom, Linda, but the road that night didn’t lead to Troy …

It’s the same old story in the MVC-MAC girls’ basketball saga.
The MVC still rules. By a lot.
The two Eastern Iowa 4A conferences have met seven times in the first week of the season. It’s 7-nil, MVC.
Here are the scores:
Cedar Rapids Prairie 34, Muscatine 19 (no, that was a game, not a jamboree)
Cedar Rapids Xavier 63, Davenport North 44
Dubuque Hempstead 52, Clinton 42
Dubuque Senior 38, Pleasant Valley 37
Dubuque Wahlert 52, Bettendorf 43
Iowa City High 48, Burlington 41
Iowa City High 59, North Scott 22
When the Dubuque schools are 3-0, you know things …

I’ve been meaning to get this out and am finally getting around to it. This was done before any games were played and will be reflected as such.
This includes the 75 or so Gazette-area teams.
1. LINN-MAR (22-3 in 2007-08) – This is an easy selection as No. 1. The Lions are ranked 4A No. 1 preseason by The Gazette and the IGHSAU. Jaime Printy is an Iowa signee and Kiah Stokes is a superstar-to-be. Stokes looked a lot stronger and a lot more mature in the Lions’ preseason scrimmage last …

Jaime Printy scored her 1,000th career point with a 22-point effort last night as Class 4A top-ranked Linn-Mar defeated Davenport Assumption, 56-50, in a high school girls’ basketball game at Davenport.D.J. Norman made two 3-pointers and finished with 12 points for the Lions, who led 33-22 at the half.
Sophomore Kiah Stokes recorded 12 rebounds and nine points for Linn-Mar.
C.R. XAVIER 53, DAVENPORT WEST 36 – Colleen Bouchard and Kaylee Gibney scored eight points apiece for Xavier at Davenport West.
The Saints (2-0) led 13-6 after a quarter.
MOUNT PLEASANT 33, C.R. PRAIRIE …

So how would Solon compete with the big boys? Who knows for sure. I’m not saying the Spartans would dominate in the MVC. But I’m convinced they could compete. Here are your final “Super Ten” for the season:
1. SOLON (14-0) – Sixty points in the championship game? Sixty? The Spartans take a 27-game win streak into 2009, and the string could escalate to 41 by season’s end.
2. CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON (11-2) – Just when the Warriors seemed to have everything going their way, they tripped on the UNI-Dome carpet in …

Eight-man kickoff is less than a half-hour away, so I’d best get cracking on this, eh?
EIGHT-MAN (10:30 a.m. Friday)
Armstrong-Ringsted 36, Lenox 26
CLASS A (2 p.m. Friday)
North Tama 14, Southern Cal 6
CLASS 4A (7:05 p.m. Friday)
West Des Moines Valley 27, Cedar Falls 17
CLASS 1A (10 a.m. Saturday)
Emmetsburg 28, West Lyon 13
CLASS 2A (1 p.m. Saturday)
Solon 26, Central Lyon-GLR 14
CLASS 3A (4 p.m. Saturday)
Sioux City Heelan 21, Decorah 10

Austin Blythe captivated many, including those on press row, at last year’s state tournament with a run that led all the way to Saturday night’s Class 2A 285-pound championship match. He became what many figured was the first freshman heavyweight to reach the finals.
Blythe, whose brother Holden won the 215-pound title as the two wrestled in consecutive matches that evening, advanced through the tournament thanks to some gritty, gutsy and athletic performances. He finished as a state runner-up with a 38-6 record. It appears that wasn’t enough to satisfy the Raiders’ big man.
Blythe …