CEDAR RAPIDS -- Good bye, "downer."Hello, spoiler.Monticello erased an 11-point third-quarter deficit and edged Class 2A 15th-ranked North Linn, 45-42, in a Tri-Rivers Conference girls' basketball game at Rivalry Saturday at Washington High School."The last two games had been a real downer for us," said Jordan ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- When Todd Borrison agreed in November to be part of Rivalry Saturday, he was unaware that his team would be playing a top-five team on the road."We just used it as a win-win situation," said the girls' basketball coach at Class 4A ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Some bizarre circumstances moved Kaleigh Sieck in the starting lineup.Saturday, she proved she belonged.Sieck scored 11 points to help Class 3A sixth-ranked South Tama defeat No. 9 Union, 41-31, in a non-conference girls' basketball game at Rivalry Saturday at Washington High School.A ...

 Admit it, you expected Mount Vernon to plummet in girls' basketball this season, didn't you?All that height from two straight state finalists: Gone. More than three-fourths of their scoring: Vanished.But as we head down the stretch of the regular season, the first area team to ...

A broken wrist hasn't broken the spirit of the Monticello Panthers.Class 2A sixth-ranked Monticello is without Brooke Stahlberg until late January, but the Panthers have persevered."It hasn't slowed us down," said Monticello Coach Donnie Kremer. "We've had some other girls step up. The team, as ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Overall Wamac Conference girls' basketball champion? It's Mount Vernon.The Class 3A second-ranked Mustangs had a little bit more down the stretch and edged No. 8 Williamsburg, 54-50, in an interdivisional dandy between Wamac division leaders and the Rivalry Saturday finale at U.S. ...

Solon 50, Iowa City Regina 42It took a while, but Kelsey Dircks accustomed herself to the U.S. Cellular Center surroundings.Dircks hit three 3-pointers in the final 9 minutes as Class 3A 13th-ranked Solon rallied past Iowa City Regina, 50-42, at Rivalry Saturday.     "At the beginning of the ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Jennifer Keitel was soaked.She had the game-winning basket and the game-saving block. Her reward -- an ambush of open water bottles upon entering a cheerful locker room.Keitel's turnaround jumper with 15 seconds put DeWitt Central ahead, then her block on Janay Pritchett's last-ditch drive ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Taylor Greenfield and Kiah Stokes have March plans, and they extend beyond the girls' state basketball tournament.They'll spend spring break together, along with their families, sunning in the Dominican Republic. They may mention, in fleet passing or in detail, their meeting Saturday at ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Linn-Mar and Ballard. Stokes and Greenfield. UConn and Stanford."I think it's going to be fun," said Linn-Mar girls' basketball coach Mike Brandt. "It will be fun to watch those two go at it."Rivalry Saturday makes its seventh appearance at the U.S. Cellular ...