The first order of business for Marcus Paige was obvious.
“Rest for a little bit,” the Linn-Mar sophomore said Saturday after his team’s Class 4A state tournament consolation victory over Sioux City East.
Paige contracted mononucleosis late in the regular season and missed the final game. He sat out Linn-Mar’s first substate game and played noticeably less than 100 percent the rest of the way.
The 6-foot-1 lefty point guard was sure something when he was healthy. He averaged 14 points, shot better than 60 percent from the field most of the season …

DES MOINES — Instead of dwelling on what could have been, the Linn-Mar Lions chose to think about what could be Saturday afternoon. Metro basketball fans should be doing the same thing.
Linn-Mar beat Sioux City East, 62-57, in the Class 4A consolation game at Wells Fargo Arena to finish its season 24-2. The Lions tied a record held by Cedar Rapids Regis with their seventh consecutive state tournament trip and set a record with their seventh straight finish of fourth or better.
“I didn’t know that,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. “I …

DES MOINES — The Class 4A part of the boys’ state basketball tournament begins, and the Division I coaches start showing up.
Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson strolled around the Wells Fargo Arena floor following Wednesday afternoon’s session. Cedar Rapids Washington wing Josh Oglesby said coaches from Florida, West Virginia and Virginia were in town to watch him play.
Well, maybe not just Oglesby. The potential future college players in action Wednesday included Linn-Mar’s Marcus Paige and Matt Bohannon, Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Jarrod Uthoff and Sioux City East’s Adam Woodbury.
Bohannon, Uthoff and Oglesby …

CLASS 4A QUARTERFINALS
CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON (14-8) vs. AMES (24-0), 1:45 p.m.: The Warriors will be heavy underdogs to an Ames squad that won last year’s 4A title and has notched 50 wins in a row. Harrison Barnes averages 26.9 ppg and 10.5 rpg and is a North Carolina recruit. Doug McDermott, a Northern Iowa recruit and son of Iowa State basketball coach Greg, averages 20.5 ppg and 7.8 rpg. The Little Cyclones aren’t so little, going 6-8, 6-8, 6-7 and 6-4 in the starting lineup … Washington’s big two-some all …

There are the divisions for the MVC in 2010-11 and 2011-12:
MISSISSIPPI DIVISION
Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Cedar Rapids Washington
Dubuque Senior
Dubuque Wahlert
Iowa City High
Linn-Mar
Waterloo West
VALLEY DIVISION
Cedar Falls
Cedar Rapids Jefferson
Cedar Rapids Prairie
Cedar Rapids Xavier
Dubuque Hempstead
Iowa City West
Waterloo East

CEDAR RAPIDS — You get this from Marcus Paige.
“He’s something else.”
 And this from Josh Oglesby.
 “He’s really good. That’s about all you can say.”
There’s been more said about Harrison Barnes. A lot more.
The Ames superstar is considered the top college recruit in the country and perhaps the best prep boys’ basketball player in Iowa history. The consensus is he could have jumped straight to the NBA next year but decided to play at least one season at North Carolina.
Linn-Mar’s Paige and Cedar Rapids Washington’s Oglesby have played with or against the …

THE TEAMS
Team (W-L) Apps Titles
Ames (24-0) 19 7
C.R. Jefferson (18-4) 8 1
C.R. Washington (14-8) 16 1
Clinton (17-6) 9 1
Linn-Mar (22-1) 8 3
Sioux City East (20-3) 14 2
Southeast Polk (19-3) 5 0
W.D.M. Dowling (17-7) 12 2
SCORING LEADERS Avg.
Harrison Barnes (Ames) 26.9
Kody Ingle (SEP) 23.8
Jarrod Uthoff (CRJ) 21.5
Doug McDermott (Ames) 20.5
Adam Woodbury (SCE) 17.4
Matt Bohannon (L-M) 17.4
Josh Oglesby (CRW) 16.3
Jordan Thomas (SCE) 15.7
David Johnson (Clinton) 15.5
REBOUNDING LEADERS Avg.
Adam Woodbury (SCE) 12.3
Harrison Barnes (Ames) 10.5
Jarrod Uthoff (CRJ) 10.2
Jeff Sponder (SCE) 8.8
Doug McDermott (Ames) 7.8
David Johnson (Clinton) 7.8
PREDICTIONS
Quarterfinals
Ames 65, C.R. Washington 45
Sioux City East …

As voted by coaches.
2009-10 All-Metro Boys’ Basketball

Here it is. Chris Robertson of Linn-Mar and Bob Fontana of Cedar Rapids Kennedy are the division coaches of the year. Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Jarrod Uthoff and TrayVonn Wright of Waterloo West were players of the year.
Striking how much better the Valley Division was this season than the Mississippi Division. Three MVC are at the state tournament next week, all from the Valley Division.
2009 10.PDF All MVC Hoops

CEDAR RAPIDS — It may light-heartedly be called the Ames Invitational, but Cedar Rapids Washington is ecstatic to be attending.
“We’ve been overlooked most of the season,” Warriors guard Wes Washpun said after his team’s 54-47 Class 4A substate final basketball win last night at the U.S. Cellular Center over Iowa City High. “So we’re just going try and make some noise there.”
Washington (14-8) won its eighth game in a row to qualify for next week’s state tournament in Des Moines. You’d have to ponder awhile to come up with a …