DES MOINES — Austin Marshall had his prayer answered and left Western Dubuque with none.
The Mount Pleasant forward beat the buzzer with a hurried 3-pointer from well past the top of the key that gave his team a bigger halftime cushion and the necessary juice to go on to a 60-50 Class 3A state tournament quarterfinal win Tuesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
It wasn’t exactly planned, but it worked.
“It was a big shot,” agreed Marshall. “I didn’t think it was going in. It was the best feeling ever. It got …

THE TEAMS
Team (W-L) Apps Titles
Carroll (20-2) 11 0
Dallas Center-Grimes (19-3) 1 0
Davenport Assumption (21-3) 15 3
Forest City (21-3) 12 1
Mount Pleasant (21-1) 4 0
Pella (20-3) 13 2
Sioux City Heelan (19-4) 15 1
Western Dubuque (19-5) 2 1
SCORING LEADERS Avg.
Tyler Putz (FC) 23.9
Casey Kasperbauer (Carroll) 19.4
Alex Malloy (SCH) 19.3
Zach McCabe (SCH) 19.2
Zach Otting (WD) 18.7
Scott Hahn (MP) 17.1
J.T. Vonderhaar (DA) 15.9
Joe Daniel (DA) 15.8
Henry Kriegel-Coble (MP) 15.1
Kyle Rosacker (FC) 14.6
REBOUNDING LEADERS Avg.
Joe Daniel (DA) 9.9
Derrick Pape (WD) 9.1
Zach McCabe (SCH) 8.7
Blake Haluska (Carroll) 8.5
Henry Kriegel-Coble (MP) 8.1
Alex Malloy (SCH) 8.1
PREDICTIONS
Quarterfinals
Mount Pleasant 49, …

Williamsburg (17-6) vs. Mount Pleasant (20-1) at U.S. Cellular Center, 6:30 p.m.: Williamsburg comes into this game off a 59-56 district final victory over Wamac Conference rival Clear Creek-Amana. The Raiders defeated South Tama in the first round of districts, 76-60. Williamsburg likes to play an up-tempo game, led by senior guard Chad Malloy. He averages 18.0 points per game and has made a team-high 47 3-pointers, one more than teammate Kelly O’Rourke … Mount Pleasant has been ranked No.1 or No. 2 since Christmas. The Panthers lost to Marion in a substate …

Marion’s Mike Manderscheid and Solon’s Brad Randall were conference coaches of the year in their respective divisions. Their teams shared the overall Wamac title.
Here are the complete teams:
2009-10 Wamac Boys Basketball

DES MOINES — Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Josh Lambrecht and Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Conner Herman have traveled similar paths, and that’s just not the road from Southwest Cedar Rapids to downtown Des Moines.
Herman and Lambrecht suffered disappointing district losses last year that postponed their state tournament debuts. Both used them as motivation and find themselves at the same destination.
Lambrecht and Herman each earned quarterfinal wins last night in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 3A state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Westside duo have earned a spot on the …

The Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association has released its final installment of the Class 3A dual team rankings.
Class 3A
1. Iowa City West (28-1)
2. Waverly-Shell Rock (18-2)
3. Bettendorf (12-2)
4. North Scott (19-1)
5. West Des Moines Valley (18-0)
6. Indianola (20-3)
7. Southeast Polk (20-4)
8. Council Bluffs Lewis Central (24-8)
9. Cedar Rapids Prairie (18-2)
10. Urbandale (13-5)
11. Sioux City East (22-1)
12. Mason City (15-6)
13. Western Dubuque (26-5)
14. Ankeny (17-6)
15. Atlantic (18-0)

This was going into Monday night’s games. Western Dubuque lost to Solon on Monday night, so keep that in mind.
OVERALL  Team W-L Pvs
—- 1. Linn-Mar 8-1 1
—- 2. C.R. Jefferson 6-1 4
—- 3. C.R. Kennedy 6-2 2
—- 4. Western Dubuque 9-1 8
—- 5. C.R. Washington 4-5 3
—- 6. Iowa City High 5-3 6
—- 7. Washington (Iowa) 7-1 9
—- 8. Solon 8-1 7
—- 9. Maquoketa 7-2 —
—- 10. Marion 7-3 10
—- Class 4A — 1. Linn-Mar (8-1), 2. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (6-1), 3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (6-2), 4. Cedar Rapids Washington …

EPWORTH — The future looks pretty good for the Western Dubuque boys’ basketball program, considering the freshmen and sophomore teams are a combined 19-1. The present isn’t too shabby, either.
The Bobcats are 9-2 after a 52-42 loss to Solon last night in a makeup game.
Since a Dec. 11 loss to DeWitt Central, WD had rolled off six straight wins, including a 12-point victory over Class 4A Dubuque Hempstead.
“We only play one senior, so actually we might be ahead of schedule,” said Coach Dennis Geraghty. “We’ve got three sophomores and a …

Here are the conference standings of the Wamac Conference. The dual standings reflect conference records only through Jan. 1 and were submitted by a league coach.
EAST DIVISION
DeWitt Central 2-0
Western Dubuque 2-0
West Delaware 1-0
Anamosa 1-1
Maquoketa 1-1
Solon 0-1
Mt. Vernon 0-2
Dyersville Beckman 0-2
WEST DIVISION
Benton Community 2-0
Independence 2-0
Williamsburg 1-0
Center Point-Urbana 1-1
Marion 1-1
Vinton-Shellsburg 0-1
Waterloo Columbus 0-2
Clear Creek Amana 0-2

Nick Moore (Iowa City West) — Attempting to be the 19th four-time state champion in Iowa history. Won the Class 3A 152-pound title last year with 49-0 record.
Austin Blythe (Williamsburg) — Junior heavyweight won the Class 2A state title in his second straight state finals appearance. He was 46-1 last season.
Christopher Halblom (Alburnett) — The junior capped a perfect season (39-0) by winning the Class 1A 112-pound title. The Pirates’ first state champ.
Zack Witte (C.R. Prairie) — Sophomore had a great run at the state meet last year, reaching the …