The Gazette’s Jeff Linder and Jeff Johnson get together to discuss the current prep sports landscape, focusing on a big girls’ basketball tournament in Cedar Rapids this weekend and a look at the top teams in Eastern Iowa.

The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school basketball poll with first-place votes in parentheses and won-loss record, total points and position last week

So I was thumbing through last week’s Sports Illustrated, perusing through their all-decade teams for various sports, and decided to give this a shot. I decided on an eight-girl roster. Some players straddled decades, so for simplicity’s sake, I went with the year of graduation (for instance, Anne O’Neil did most of her damage in the 1990s, but I put her on the team since she was a 2000 graduate; conversely, active players like Kiah Stokes, Jade Rogers and Morgan Paige will have to wait until the 2010s).
So here’s The Gazette-area girls …

We’re on holiday break from the winter prep sports, but that’s not stopping us from producing a faux Super 10. There actually were a few games played last week on Monday and Tuesday.
So here we go. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, as always:
SUPER TEN
1. Linn-Mar (5-1 record, 1 previous)
2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (5-1, 2)
3. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (4-1, 3)
4. Iowa City West (5-1, 4)
5. Iowa City High (4-2, 5)
6. Cedar Rapids Washington (2-4, 3)
7. Western Dubuque (7-1, 10)
8. Washington, Iowa (5-0,
9. Maquoketa (5-2, NR)
10. Solon (6-1, 7)
Class 4A - …

Jeff Linder’s area girls’ basketball Super Ten, through games played Dec. 22:
1. LINN-MAR (7-0)
Offensive average: 67.4. Defensive average: 38.3. Streak: Won 7. Last ranking: 1st. Notable: Held MVC foes Dubuque Hempstead and Cedar Rapids Prairie to a combined 43 points in the last two games. Upcoming schedule: Plays Davenport Assumption at the U.S. Cellular Center on Saturday, hosts Waterloo West on Tuesday.
2. CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY (7-0)
Offensive average: 59.4. Defensive average: 42.8. Streak: Won 7. Last ranking: 2nd. Notable: Trailed after three quarters against Iowa City High and Cedar Rapids Xavier, and was down at halftime …

Here is a look, complied by the Assoicated Press, of how the top boys basketball teams in the state fared:

MARION — Game nights are late nights at 4215 Willowbrook Drive.
Perhaps Marcus Paige played at Waterloo. Or maybe his sister Morgan traveled to Epworth.
Even so, there’s more on the agenda than a shower, hitting the books and hitting the sack.
There’s game tape to watch. Two of them.
“We might not watch the whole games, but we’ll definitely watch some of both games,” Morgan said. “My dad doesn’t like to miss games.”
Most nights, Ellis Paige doesn’t have a choice.
Here’s the choice: Does he watch Marcus, a sophomore at Linn-Mar? Or does he …

It’s the world oldest sport and the concept is probably the most basic.
Two competitors battle head-to-head. No teammates to affect the outcome and no special equipment is necessary, unless a headgear and shoes fall into that category. Scoring the most points wins and a victory is automatic if you press your opponents shoulder blades to the foam mat.
Even in a region were wrestling is woven into the fabric of the culture, some are foreign to specifics of the sport. Casual spectators or fans getting introduced to prep wrestling can benefit …

During a lengthy interview last week, Cedar Rapids Prairie athletics director Rocky Bennett suddenly stood up from his desk chair and walked to the back of his office.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Always effervescent public-address man Rich Paterson had a minor slip-up in the middle of Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s home boys’ basketball game last night. Don’t hold it against him because he’s good at what he does and good for the school he volunteers for.
“Brenden …,” Paterson began as Kennedy guard Brenden Drahn went up for what appeared to be a sure deuce.
You couldn’t blame the PA guy in this case because it was pretty much a wide-open inside shot. And everything else the Cougars were putting up was …