Cedar Rapids Xavier senior pitcher Jon Keller was a second-team pick. The all-Americans were selected by Rawlings, in partnership with Perfect Game USA baseball club in Cedar Rapids.

Sweeney has recovered well from Tommy John surgery in his right elbow last fall. The brother of Oakland A’s outfielder Ryan Sweeney has committed to play college baseball at the University of San Diego.

Keller has committed to play at Nebraska.

The list of 400 Rawlings all-Americans can be found on Perfect Game’s Web site:

www.PerfectGame.org.

Event begins at 6 p.m. It’s a $3 admission for those 7 or older.

JEFFERSON DECA HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL CRANDIC 3 POINT/SLAM DUNK CONTEST

Cedar Rapids, IA  March 16, 2010 – The 3^rd Annual CRANDIC 3 Point/Slam Dunk Contest will be held at Jefferson High School on Thursday, March 18, 2010 . The contest will be hosted by Jefferson High School’s DECA chapter. Top players from nine Cedar Rapids, Marion, Dubuque, and Iowa City schools were invited to participate. Winners of the contest will designate their favorite charity to which DECA will make a donation in their name.

DECA is an association of marketing students sponsored by Jefferson marketing teacher, Cyndy Hilby. The 3 Point/Slam Dunk Contest is a project created for the Advertisers of the Future marketing contest. Jefferson students were coached by Mt. Mercy’s SIFE organization led by Tom Castle. Seniors Joby Frey and Alexandra Jacobson led a committee of students in the planning of the event. Hilby has high praise for the students. “The project was completely student directed. Students have contacted athletic directors, contestants, judges, and local businesses. They have handled the promotion, ordered trophies and t-shirts, borrowed equipment, lined up staff volunteers, and taken care of every detail. I’m very proud of them, and we’re thrilled that this has become an annual event.”

Participants in the slam dunk contest include Jarred Uthoff and Logan Ruffridge from Jefferson High School, Marcus Washington from Dubuque Senior, Issac Gardener from Washington High School (Washington, Iowa), Shane Benton and Darius Stokes from Linn-Mar High School, Wes Waspun from Cedar Rapids Washington High School, and Alec Clasen from Xavier.

Participants in the women’s 3 point shooting contest are. Jade Rodgers, Max Martino, Austin Christensen, and Spencer Fontana from Kennedy High School; Alex Jacobson and Joby Frey from Jefferson High School, DJ Norman from Linn-Mar High School, Kasey Semler and Amanda Petersen from Marion High School, Josh Oglesby and Olyssa Oney from Cedar Rapids Washington High School, and Jon Keller, Joe Sayre, and Colleen Bouchard from Xavier High School.

Linn-Mar's Marcus Paige (right) talks to head coach Chris Robertson during the second half of their substate final basketball game against Pleasant Valley at the U.S. Cellular Center on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, in northeast Cedar Rapids. Linn-Mar won, 49-46. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

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 and owned a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

He is one of three area preps named first team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association, joining Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior center Jarrod Uthoff in Class 4A and Mid-Prairie senior forward Tanner Miller in Class 2A.

Another 11 players are second- and third-teamers.

Ames senior and North Carolina recruit Harrison Barnes is Iowa’s Mr. Basketball. The winner of the Morgan Wootten Award last week for national player of the year, Barnes averaged 26.1 points and 10.9 rebounds.

“I’m probably going to beef up a little bit in the off-season,” said Paige, also considered a big-time college recruit who has offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. “Then over the summer I’ll play (AAU) with … Martin Brothers.”

Uthoff helped Jefferson to its first state tournament since 1999. The 6-foot-8 junior averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 54 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line.

He has college offers from Albany, Northern Iowa and Northern Colorado, and several other Missouri Valley Conference schools have been recruiting him.

The 6-3 Miller used quickness and athletic ability around the hoop to average 18.6 points and help Mid-Prairie to the state tournament. He’s a University of Iowa football recruit.

Further proof that the Mississippi Valley Conference should be a beast next season comes in second-team 4A picks Josh Oglesby of Cedar Rapids Washington, Matt Bohannon of Linn-Mar and James Harrington of Cedar Falls. All are D-I recruits: Oglesby and Bohannon juniors and Harrington a sophomore.

Other all-staters include Lisbon senior guard Matt Knake, who was named to the Class 1A second team, and Marion’s Kasey Semler, a third-team pick in 3A.

INA All-State Teams

CLASS 1A FIRST TEAM

Front line — Jordan Dykstra (Rock Valley), 6-9, senior; Marcus Heemstra (Rock Valley), 6-9, senior; Eddie Diemer (Cedar Falls NU High), 6-6, senior. Back court — Ryan Powers (Calamus-Wheatland), 6-2, senior; Josh Vander Maten (Boyden-Hull), 6-3, senior; Chris Lindenmeyer (Bedford), 6-4, senior. Utility — Tim Schweitzer (Bedford), 6-7, senior; Brandon Eley (Colo-NESCO), 6-3, junior.

CLASS 1A SECOND TEAM

Front line — Brandon Doughan (Algona Garrigan), 6-2, senior; Andrew Schilling (Burlington Notre Dame), 6-2, senior; Jake Waters (Council Bluffs St. Albert), 6-2, senior. Back court -  T.J. Van Dyke (Madrid), 6-1, senior; Matt Knake (Lisbon), 6-0, senior; Brandon Wood (Rockford), 6-2, senior. Utility — Chase Cullen (Lynnville-Sully), 6-0, sophomore; Ryan Sikora (Ruthven-Ayrshire), 6-4, senior.

CLASS 1A THIRD TEAM

Front line — Damon Bryan (Montezuma), 6-3, senior; Houston Harreld (Northeast Hamilton), 6-2, senior; Carson Smith (Elk Horn-Kimballton), 6-1, senior. Back court — Paul Yak (Storm Lake St. Mary’s), 6-2, senior; Jordan Mouw (Boyden-Hull), 6-2, senior; Michael Kaufman (Orient-Macksburg), 6-2, junior. Utility — Kyle Denning (Cedar Falls NU High), 6-0, junior; Tim Olejniczak (Ankeny Christian), 5-11, junior.

CLASS 2A FIRST TEAM

Front line — Tyler Wolterstorff (Western Christian), 6-5, junior; Tanner Miller (Mid-Prairie), 6-3, senior; Seth Tuttle (West Fork), 6-8, junior. Back court — Branden Stubbs (Des Moines Christian), 6-2, senior; Tucker Henderson (Davis County), 6-2, senior; Trey Sathoff (Pekin), 6-3, sophomore. Utility — Trevor Hook (Grundy Center), 6-5, senior; Chris Thorne (Lake Mills), 6-3, senior.

CLASS 2A SECOND TEAM

Front line — Kyle Nikkel (Pella Christian), 6-6, junior; Josh Calhoon (Tri-Center), 6-6, senior; Scott Bruxvoort (PCM), 6-4, sophomore. Back court — Tanner Wentzien (Solon), 6-3, senior; Alec Crawford (Wilton), 6-3, senior; Brad Vogel (Central Lee), 5-8, senior. Utility — Zach Brehmer (Panorama), 6-0, senior; Zach Schmidt (Wapsie Valley), 6-4, senior.

CLASS 2A THIRD TEAM

Front line — Jordan Hay (North Cedar), 6-6, sophomore; Dustin Clark (Guthrie Center), 6-5, junior; Collin Thompson (MFL/Mar-Mac), 6-4, senior. Back court - Nick Clark (Fort Dodge St. Edmond), 5-10, sophomore; Taylor Jacobsmeier (Wapello), 6-1, senior; Bryce Irlbeck (Manning-IKM), 5-10, senior. Utility — Levi Ettleman (Logan-Magnolia), 6-3, junior; Chris Timmerman (Durant), 6-6, junior.

CLASS 3A FIRST TEAM

Front line — Nathan Buss (Charles City), 6-9, senior; Henry Kriegel-Coble (Mount Pleasant), 6-4, junior; Joe Daniel (Davenport Assumption), 6-5, senior. Back court — Casey Kasperbauer (Carroll), 6-0, sophomore; Michael Kauffman (Harlan), 5-10, senior; Zach McCabe (Sioux City Heelan), 6-7, senior. Utility — Tyler Putz (Forest City), 6-0, senior; Alex Malloy (Sioux City Heelan), 6-4, junior.

CLASS 3A SECOND TEAM

Front line — Jordan Holdsworth (Carroll), 6-5, junior; Ricky Torres (Denison-Schleswig), 6-6, junior; Nathan Buccheit (Pella), 6-3, senior. Back court  — Isaac Gardner (Washington, Iowa), 6-4, senior; Chad Malloy (Williamsburg), 6-0, senior; Scott Hahn (Mount Pleasant), 6-4, junior. Utility — Jared Stogdill (Norwalk), 6-1, junior; Tyler Ellerman (Dallas Center-Grimes), 6-8, senior.

CLASS 3A THIRD TEAM

Front line — Patrick Burmester (DeWitt Central), 6-9, junior; Austin Vier (Huxley Ballard), 6-6, junior; Brandon Scherff (Denison-Schleswig), 6-5, senior. Back court — Ryan McMahon (Algona), 5-8, junior; Zach Otting (Western Dubuque), 6-3, junior; David Bloemendaal (MOC-Floyd Valley), 6-1, senior. Utility — Kasey Semler (Marion), 6-0, junior; J.T. Vonderhaar (Davenport Assumption), 6-5, junior.

CLASS 4A FIRST TEAM

Front line — Doug McDermott (Ames), 6-8, senior; Adam Woodbury (Sioux City East), 7-0, sophomore; Jarrod Uthoff (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), 6-8, junior. Back court — Marcus Paige (Linn-Mar), 6-1, sophomore; Chanse Creekmur (Marshalltown), 6-6, senior; Kody Ingle (Southeast Polk), 6-2, senior. Utility — Harrison Barnes (Ames), 6-8, senior; TrayVonn Wright (Waterloo West), 6-7, senior.

CLASS 4A SECOND TEAM

Front line — Josh Oglesby (Cedar Rapids Washington), 6-4, junior; Will Artino (Waukee), 6-10, senior; Matt Bohannon (Linn-Mar), 6-4, junior. Back court — James Harrington (Cedar Falls), 6-0, sophomore; Danny Rudeen (Sioux City North), 6-2, senior; Corey Schafer (Johnston), 5-11, junior. Utility — Brandon Voss (North Scott), 5-9, junior; Travis Perry (Urbandale), 6-2, junior.

CLASS 4A THIRD TEAM

Front line — David Johnson (Clinton), 6-2, senior; Jordan Thomas (Sioux City East), 6-4, senior; Grant Lang (Ankeny), 6-4, junior. Back court — Mitch Michaelis (Pleasant Valley), 6-0, senior; Creon Reed (Des Moines North), 6-1, senior; Marcus Washington (Dubuque Senior), 6-0, senior. Utility — Dau Jok (Des Moines Roosevelt), 6-3, senior; Quincy King (Des Moines Hoover), 6-0, senior.

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 was with Regis for their sixth and seventh as sophomore coach. I learned an awful lot from (former Regis coach) Dick Breitbach. Just to be mentioned with them, that’s a nice record to have.”

You wonder what would have happened had Linn-Mar’s Marcus Paige not picked up mononucleosis and been 100 percent for this tourney. But now there’s next season to get amped about considering Linn-Mar’s top three scorers (Paige, Matt Bohannon and Shane Benton) return.

“We do have a lot of guys coming back,” said Bohannon, who had a game-high 18 points. “Hopefully we’ll get back here next year.”

“We are going to miss our seniors,” added Paige, who had 12 points, including a dunk. “But hopefully we’ll be able to make another run next year.”

Linn-Mar celebrates with its fans after receiving its Class 4A third-place trophy.

The Metro had three 4A state entrants for the first time, and all three should be very good in 2010-11.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson returns four starters, including certain all-stater Jarrod Uthoff. Cedar Rapids Washington has its top two scorers (Josh Oglesby and Wes Washpun) back.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy should be a fine team, too. It won its division in the Mississippi Valley Conference and has a lot of firepower returning.

And, of course, there’s Linn-Mar, which went unbeaten in the MVC.

“Everybody is going to be very good,” Robertson said. “I don’t think you’re going to see anyone go undefeated next season.”

Here are short video interviews with Bohannon and Paige:

SICL All Conference Teams

Solon's Joe Weeks (10) leaps for a rebound in the Class 2A Championship game against Western Christian during the Boy's State Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Friday, March 12, 2010. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

DES MOINES — Ladies and gentlemen, here’s your overwhelming favorite for the Class 2A state basketball championship in 2011. If it’s fair to look a year ahead.

The Western Christian Wolfpack pocketed their sixth title last night, preventing Solon from a 2A repeat with a 58-45 victory at Wells Fargo Arena.

The almost overwhelming thing about this WC team is that there was one senior of any significance. Of course, point guard Bryce Groeneweg was the all-tournament captain, so he’ll be missed.

But everyone else is back, and that includes a lot of height. Scary.

“Yeah, we should be OK,” chuckled Western Christian Coach Jim Eekhoff.

“They’ll be terrific,” Solon Coach Brad Randall said. “They’re big and athletic. We played a lot of great competition this year, but you can’t really emulate all the things they do well over an extended period of time.”

Before we get too carried away with WC, let’s talk first about this Solon group. The Spartans lost their top six players and 90 percent of their scoring from last season’s title team, yet pieced together a 25-3 season.

Rewarding to say the least.

“I’m happy with how far we got,” said Solon’s Tanner Wentzien, who had a team-high 19 points and was named to the all-tournament team with teammate Hale Rickels.

“I’m really proud of these kids,” Randall said. “They got so much out of themselves, and to be at this point is just terrific. I thank God for the opportunities I had this year. This has been a special year.”

Solon — which shot just 31.5 percent from the field — got off to a great start, running to an 11-3 first-quarter lead, but Western Christian (25-3) inched back within 13-10 at quarter’s end and took a 23-22 halftime lead on a late layup. WC extended its lead to 37-28 after three, with the Spartans getting only as close as three the rest of the way.

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Playing with a stress fracture of the fifth lumbar vertebrae, WC’s leading scorer Tyler Wolterstorff was terrific in a 19-point outing.

“I’m in pain,” Wolterstorff said. “But there’s no way you can sit out. This was such a big game. My team needed me.”

Six-foot-7 center Dilan Moss was also a big thorn for Solon, scoring 10 second-half points and hauling in 12 rebounds. Guard Dustin Douma added 14 points.

“Their big guys were a huge factor, I thought,” said Wentzien.

“They’re hard to box out, that’s for sure,” said Solon’s Zach Velez-Westphal, who had nine points and six boards off the bench.

Solon's Zach Velez-Westphal (dark jersey) wraps up Western Christian's Matt Westra after a rebound during their Class 2A state championship basketball game Friday night.

Southeast Polk's Nate Greim (20) and Jake Guenther (12) run back to their bench past Marcus Paige of Linn-Mar follow the Ram's victory over the Lions in a Class 4A semifinal game during the Boy's State Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Friday, March 12, 2010. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

DES MOINES — The Linn-Mar Lions lived by the line and died by the line. All in two days.

“We just didn’t convert,” summed up Coach Chris Robertson said after his team had its 22-game win streak snapped by Southeast Polk, 41-38, in a Class 4A state tournament semifinal Friday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena. “We kind of shot ourselves out of the game.”

And not just from the free-throw line, though we’ll start there.

Linn-Mar (23-2) was an impressive 24 of 30 in its quarterfinal victory Wednesday night over Clinton, but things soured badly Friday to the tune of 10 for 20. Meanwhile, a Southeast Polk team playing without suspended starting forward Tony Sandquist went 22 of 27.

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Sandquist will be back for tonight’s title game against heavily favored Ames. Linn-Mar is relegated to the consi against Sioux City East this afternoon at 1:45.

“The intensity of that game might have gotten to a few of us,” said Linn-Mar’s Marcus Paige. “But we had to get our offense to do a little more than it did tonight, especially when we were fouling as much as we did. They did a great job. They were patient, got what they wanted, got the ball in (Cody) Ingle’s hands. And they made free throws.”

Ingle is 6-foot-4 forward Kody Ingle, who managed 20 points despite hitting just three of 12 field-goal attempts. Again, you look to the line, where he hit 12 of 14.

Southeast Polk (21-3) had all of four first-half field goals but led by two, 22-20, because it made all 10 free throws.

“Not a lot of people gave us a chance,” said Ingle. “But we believed we could do it, and we got the win.”

Despite a good start precipitated by strong interior play from Darius Stokes and Will Roth, Linn-Mar could never stay offensively consistent, shooting 31.3 percent from the field in the second half. The Lions didn’t make a single 3-pointer (0 for 6), another telltale stat.

Linn-Mar’s Shane Benton missed two free throws with 42 seconds left and Southeast Polk leading, 38-36. Jake Guenther hit two biggies for SEP. with 13.1 left to extend its lead to 41-38.

Linn-Mar called timeout at midcourt with 7.7 to go, but a good double team on point guard Paige out front led to a hurried and guarded 3 attempt in the corner by Matt Bohannon that grazed the front rim.

“It looked like they were in zone, but they acted like they were in man to man, and that kind of threw us off guard,” said Bohannon, who led his team with 11 points. “We had a shot. I just ended up missing it.”

“We didn’t make a 3. We were 10 for 20 from the line, they were 22 of 27,” said Robertson. “There’s the ballgame, really, right there.”

The videos, in order, are of Linn-Mar’s final shot and interviews with Paige and Bohannon.

His Iowa State Cyclones just had another frustrating year. Center Craig Brackins announced Friday he’s entering the NBA draft, and forward Marquis Gilstrap’s attempt at an extra season in Ames was nixed by the NCAA.

Still, the ISU head coach took time to voice his support of beleaguered colleague Todd Lickliter. The Iowa Hawkeyes head coach has been the subject of intense fan and media scrutiny about his future.

“It’s tough to do your job when there’s those kind of rumors floating around,” McDermott said. “Our jobs aren’t easy to begin with, (and) that makes it a little bit (more) difficult.

“What you can’t lose sight of is that Todd Lickliter is a wonderful person. He shouldn’t be judged as a person by whether he won or lost a game.”

McDermott was at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday afternoon to watch his son, Doug, and the Ames Little Cyclones win their 52nd straight game, 59-46, over Sioux City East in a Class 4A state tournament semifinal. Doug McDermott was wonderful with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

The 6-foot-7 senior will play at Northern Iowa next season.

“I’ve missed a lot of games this year with my schedule,” Greg McDermott said. “Just a proud father, like any father would be. He’s worked hard and spent a lot of time with the game. His hard work has paid off.”

Coach McDermott was asked if he thought this Ames team is the best ever in Iowa, as many folks (especially in Central Iowa) seem to think.

“Oh, boy,” he said. “I can only speak to the last 30 years. This is just a complete team, with guys that can handle the ball, shoot the ball, pass the ball. It’s just a complete team. And they’ve got great size and athletic ability across that front line. So they can beat you in a lot of ways.

“Probably most importantly, they do a pretty good job of playing together. When you have a team that’s this talented, it’s rare to see one that’s also this unselfish.”

Tourney tidbits

Rock Valley won the Class 1A state championship via a 68-51 win over Calamus-Wheatland, making its first state trip. The all-tournament team was Jordan Dykstra, Nic Bakker and Marcus Heemstra of RV, Corey Gifford of Lynnville-Sully and captain Ryan Powers of C-W. Powers’ grandfather played on Wheatland’s 1A title team in 1960.