DUBUQUE — Iowa City West Coach Mark Reiland said it was one of those days. A satisfactory effort, but nothing spectacular from his Trojans.
Other Mississippi Valley Conference teams may beg to differ and would likely exchange outcomes any day.
West crowned five champions, tallying 244½ points, to win its seventh straight MVC tournament title Saturday at Dubuque Senior. The Trojans finished a massive 89 points ahead of runner-up Linn-Mar.
The approach is the same every year, according to West senior Nick Moore.
“It’s come in and score as many points as possible,” Moore …

MARION — Kiah Stokes was highly efficient, if not wildly prolific.
Stokes took only eight shots from the floor Friday night, but made every last one of them as Class 4A top-rated Linn-Mar won its 30th straight Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game, 48-34, over No. 12 Cedar Rapids Xavier at Linn-Mar High School.
“They were physical, so I wanted to be physical right back,” said Stokes, who scored 19 points in front of hopeful suitors like Iowa State women’s coach Bill Fennelly and two coaches from Purdue.
“Once I got the ball, I …

CEDAR RAPIDS — It’s all routine.
The sun rises every morning, sets every evening. Crops are planted every spring, harvested every fall.
And Tom Lilly wins every winter.
Lilly, the girls’ basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Xavier, is on the brink of his 17th consecutive winning season.
In the Mississippi Valley Conference, mostly against larger schools, that’s a feat.
“What can you say? He’s an outstanding coach,” said Mike Winker, Xavier athletics director. “We’re very fortunate to have him as a coach and a teacher.”
“Tom is outstanding with building relationships with people.”
Lilly, 54, is in …

2009-10 MVC VARSITY WRESTLING STANDINGS
Thru January 26
 
Mississippi Division
                                   
                                                                                             MVC              Overall
 
                                    Iowa City West                                   5-0                 24-1
                                    Waterloo West                                    4-1                   8-8
                                    Dubuque Hempstead                          3-1                   8-11
                                    Cedar Rapids Kennedy                      3-2                   6-3
                                    Iowa City High                                   1-4                   7-12
                                    Dubuque Wahlert                                1-5                   4-12
                                    Cedar Rapids Xavier                          0-5                   2-17 
 
 
Valley Division
                                                                                                                       
                                    *Cedar Rapids Prairie                           6-0                 16-2    
                                    Linn-Mar                                             4-2                 15-9
                                    Cedar Falls                                          3-3                   7-12
                                    Cedar Rapids Washington                  3-3                   4-8
                                    Waterloo East                                     2-4                   3-13
                                    Cedar Rapids Jefferson                      1-3                   5-4
                                    Dubuque Senior                                  1-4                   1-5 
* – Prairie has clinched at least a title for the MVC Valley Division crown, which …

CEDAR RAPIDS — They aren’t starters.
But Tatum Klein, Shelly Stumpff and Ally Disterhoft were critical closers Tuesday night for Iowa City West.
That trio of reserves combined for 10 points in the final 5 minutes as Class 4A ninth-ranked West pulled away from No. 10 Cedar Rapids Xavier in a 46-39 Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball victory at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.
West’s bench scored 23 points, half of the team’s output.
“I expect them to come in and keep doing what we do,” said West Coach B.J. Mayer.
The Women of Troy (12-4 overall, 8-4 …

CEDAR RAPIDS — Where are the points, fellas?
There haven’t been very many in the Mississippi Valley Conference. Scoring is down this season for the majority of conference teams, according to a quick check of QuikStats.
It’s been common to see game scores in the 40s and 50s, with some 30s sprinkled in. Let’s just say the MVC isn’t the place to go if you want to watch wide-open, up-and-down basketball.
“I don’t think it’s so much that offense is down,” countered Cedar Rapids Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. “I just think the coaches …

CEDAR RAPIDS — Mike Brandt teaches art, not geometry.
But there he was, moments after Linn-Mar’s 45-32 girls’ basketball victory at Cedar Rapids Xavier, discussing angles.
As in where, when and how to get the ball to Kiah Stokes.
The Lions had mostly right angles last night. Stokes broke out of a mild shooting slump with 10-of-13 shooting and 24 points as Class 4A third-rated Linn-Mar (10-0 overall, 6-0 Mississippi Valley Conference) pushed its regular-season winning streak to 32 and its MVC string to 23.
“We’re working a lot on the angles in our …

Two weeks remain before the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union releases its regional basketball pairings.
Here’s our mock bracket.
Region 1
Sioux City East at Sioux City West
Sioux City North, bye
Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson at Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln
Lewis Central, bye
Region 2
Fort Dodge at Mason City
Ames, bye
Des Moines North at Johnston
Ankeny, bye
Region 3
Des Moines Hoover vs. Urbandale
West Des Moines Dowling, bye
West Des Moines Valley at Des Moines Roosevelt
Waukee, bye
Region 4
Southeast Polk at Des Moines Lincoln
Des Moines East, bye
Oskaloosa at Indianola
Ottumwa, bye
Region 5
Marshalltown at Newton
Waterloo West, bye
Waterloo East at Cedar Falls
Cedar Rapids Kennedy, bye
Region …

It’s no surprise that the top three include Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa City West and Bettendorf. West and Waverly are flipped based on West’s victory over the Go-Hawks at the Five Seasons Duals in December. It will be interesting how the next month plays out setting up their stretch runs to the state tournament. Waverly has four No. 1 wrestlers, while West has one, but three others in the top three of their respective weights. BUT, guess you has the second-most top-ranked wrestlers. It’s fourth-ranked Urbandale.
Please discuss.
Top 10 State Tournament Teams (# …

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 …