Linn-Mar players raise the the state qualifier banner as they celebrate their Class 4A substate final win over North Scott at the U.S. Cellular Center on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/SourceMedia Group News)

CEDAR RAPIDS — They don’t just roll out the basketballs and Linn-Mar goes to the state tournament.

It really doesn’t go that way. Honest.

Basketball High has to work at it and occasionally overcome some obstacles. Take last night’s 50-25 Class 4A substate final win over North Scott at the U.S. Cellular Center.

The top-ranked Lions had a couple of guys in foul trouble, including all-world point guard Marcus Paige. They had an opponent playing a slow tempo and with increasing confidence that had pulled within a point early in the third quarter.

So the response? A 25-0 Linn-Mar run that included holding North Scott without a point for 12 minutes and 10 seconds.

Back to the state tournament for a record eighth-straight year. Amazing.

“I can’t even explain it,” Linn-Mar’s Matt Bohannon said. “It’s hard work, hard work now from day one. That’s when it started. We lost last year in Des Moines (in the semifinals), and that left a bad taste in our mouths. We decided we want to go back there. We want to go out our last year the best that we can.”

That best has been impeccable. Linn-Mar takes a 23-0 record to Wells Fargo Arena next week, an obvious No. 1 seed and is a heavy favorite to win it all.

Here’s another thing about this eight-peat. The Lions have won their state tournament quarterfinal seven years in a row.

“It really hasn’t sunk in,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. “It’s different kids, but it’s that tradition … The kids take a lot of pride in that (streak). They want to be winners. Nobody wants to be on the team that breaks that string. … Eight years in a row in Class 4A, that’s just unbelievable.”

As was The Run. It was a 23-22 game after North Scott’s Darren Dillon hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 6:03 remaining in the third. The Lancers’ next point came with 1:53 remaining … in the fourth.

“We just had to keep our composure,” said Paige, who had 10 points. “They were kind of playing the underdog role, had nothing to lose … We just knew we had to settle down and work it inside where we had an advantage.”

North Scott (16-7) had the second-most 3-pointers in the state but made just 5 of 26. Bohannon had 15 points for Linn-Mar, 13 in the second half. Center Ian McBrayer added 10 points and will be aided at state by the addition of fellow big man Josh Montague, who is expected to return after sitting out two weeks with a knee injury.

Here is the game boxscore:

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

NORTH SCOTT (25): Aaron Huber 1-4 2-2 4, Travis Anderson 0-0 1-2 1, Jordan Arp 0-8 0-0 0, Ben Engler 1-3 0-0 3, Brandon Voss 1-8 1-2 3, Darren Dillon 4-8 0-0 12, Eric Huber 0-5 2-2 2, Noah Gumpert 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Hintz 0-0 0-0 0, Archie Britcher 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Daters 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Michel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-36 6-8 25.

LINN-MAR (50): Shane Benton 2-7 2-2 6, Ian McBrayer 5-6 0-0 10, Matt Bohannon 5-9 3-4 15, Marcus Paige 3-4 3-4 10, Michael Thul 1-4 2-2 4, Derik Gogg 0-0 1-2 1, Mason Krusie 2-3 0-0 4, Matt Lassen 0-0 0-1 0, Nick Soyer 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Lancial 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Gentzler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 11-15 50.

Halftime — Linn-Mar 22, North Scott 17. 3-point goals — North Scott 5-26 (A. Huber 0-1, Arp 0-7, Engler 1-3, E. Huber 0-5, Voss 0-5), Linn-Mar 3-10 (Benton 0-4, Bohannon 2-2, Paige 1-1, Thul 0-2, Krusie 0-2). Rebounds — North Scott 18 (A. Huber 6), Linn-Mar 27 (Bohannon 9). Total fouls — North Scott 13, Linn-Mar 11. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — North Scott 10, Linn-Mar 7.

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