By Jason Brummond
News correspondent
IOWA CITY — Cedar Rapids Washington’s Josh Oglesby connected when it counted.
The sophomore hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds left in triple-overtime to push the Warriors past Class 4A third-ranked Iowa City High, 89-86, in an incredible Mississippi Valley Conference game last night.
Oglesby made just one field goal before the eventual game-winner, but Washington Coach Brad Metzger decided to go to the guard for the win after calling a timeout with 9.3 seconds left.
“I thought it was in,” said Oglesby, who finished with 15 points. “Right …

By Jeff Linder
The Gazette
jeff.linder@gazettecommunications.com

MARION — Jaime Printy kept shooting. The Linn-Mar Lions kept plugging away.
Stuck in second gear much of the game, the Class 4A top-ranked Lions pulled away late for a 51-37 victory over No. 9 Cedar Rapids Xavier in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game last night at Linn-Mar.
“This was a good learning experience for us,” said Lions Coach Mike Brandt. “We knew Xavier was going to come after us. But I’m proud of the way we stayed with it. We got it done in the second …

By Jeff Dahn
The Gazette
jeff.dahn@gazettecommunications.com

CEDAR RAPIDS — Any discussion of this year’s Cedar Rapids Kennedy basketball team has to begin with the way the Cougars play man-to-man defense.
It would certainly be an appropriate place to start the conversation involving the Cougars’ win last night at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.
Class 4A fourth-ranked Kennedy held Jefferson to 21 points through the first three quarters and only 13 field goals all night, and beat the J-Hawks, 51-36, in front of a capacity crowd of 1,700 fans that featured Kennedy students donned in black and Jefferson …

Class 4A seventh ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy shot a torrid 68 percent from the field in the second half and needed every basket to outlast Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 77-71, in a high-energy Mississippi Valley Conference contest last night at Jefferson.
The Cougars finished 31 of 56 from the field (55.4 percent), including the third quarter when they outscored the J-Hawks 29-28 thanks to 12-of-16 shooting from the floor.
“It’s always tough to come to someone else’s home and shoot well,” Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff said. “We jumped out early and took the …

IOWA CITY WEST 78, C.R. PRAIRIE 44 — Tayler Bontrager made six 3-point shots and scored a game-high 26 points for Iowa City West at home.
Casey Shelangoski paced Cedar Rapids Prairie (2-5) with 11 points, and Scott Schebler chipped in with 10 points.

Kasey Semler made five 3-pointers and scored 19 points last night as Marion defeated Clear Creek Amana, 61-41, in a boy’s basketball game at Marion.
Amry Shelby added 18 points and Levi Lynott nine points for Marion.
Alex Novak scored 21 points for Clear Creek Amana.

One team controlled the first quarter, the other the fourth. Unfortunately for Linn-Mar, it had the first.Class 3A top-ranked Sioux City Heelan defeated Class 4A top-ranked Linn-Mar last night, 49-42, in a highly anticipated matchup in Sioux City.
Linn-Mar led 17-9 after one quarter, but Heelan surged back to take a 23-21 halftime lead. The teams played evenly in the third quarter and it was 32-32 heading into the final eight minutes. That’s when Heelan took control, outscoring the Lions 17-10 in the final period.
Nate Hutcheson scored 16 points for the …

Karly Cochrane scored 12 points last night to lead Mount Vernon to a 61-53 victory at Iowa City Regina.Brianna Strong, Shelby Kintzel, and Amanda Platte had 11 points each for the Mustangs (8-2).
Ali Browning led Regina (7-2) with 16 points.
ANAMOSA 51, SOLON 35 – Kayla Sanborn led Anamosa (8-2) with 16 points. Kaitlyn Breza and Hailee Michel had six points apiece for Solon.
BELLEVUE 40, ALBURNETT 35 – Erica Casel and Alesha Ries each scored 12 points for host Bellevue.
NORTH LINN 35, ELKADER CENTRAL 33 – Miranda Peyton scored a game-high …

First of all, let me preface this by saying that drawing up postseason pairings is a difficult job.
You’ve got to divide the state into eight regions, then put the teams into the brackets. A lot of variables go into the process — splitting power, finding available sites, etc.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union did a fine job, with two major exceptions in the eastern side of the state.
Class 2A Region 7: Maquoketa Valley and Jesup will play in the first round while Bellevue travels to Dyersville Beckman. Maquoketa Valley is 7-2 and …