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 — Greg McDermott has his own stuff to worry about.
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 …

DES MOINES — Maybe this will turn out to be another Willis Reed deal.
For those of you not initiated with the legendary NBA tale, Reed spurred the New York Knicks to victory in Game 7 of the 1970 finals despite a torn muscle in his thigh that kept him out of Game 6.
It’s a back injury, specifically a stress fracture of the fifth lumbar vertebrae, that has afflicted Western Christian leading scorer Tyler Wolterstorff at the worst possible time. The Wolves play Solon in tonight’s Class 2A state tournament championship …

DES MOINES — Their top six players from last season graduated. So did 90 percent of their scoring.
But these are the Solon Spartans, and all they do in most sports is win, baby.
“There were a lot of doubters who thought we’d only finish about halfway up our conference,” Tanner Wentzien said after his team out-defensed IKM-Manning, 42-34, in a Class 2A state tournament semifinal Thursday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena. “But we won our conference, and now we’re playing for a state title.”
The Spartans (25-2) go for two 2A titles …

Sportswriter Jeff Johnson will provide live coverage of today’s Class 2A semifinal game between Solon (24-2) and IKM-Manning (25-0).
Tipoff is set for 3:45 p.m. Check out the live blog below.
Solon vs. IKM-Manning — Class 2A semifinal

DES MOINES — Have you ever seen a bunch of Lions line dance?
No, that’s not a punch line to a bad joke. It’s the tale of this Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal.
The Linn-Mar Lions lived and made Clinton die at the free-throw line in their 67-60 Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal victory last night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Linn-Mar (23-1) went 24 for 30 from the charity stripe, 19 of 22 in the second half, to finally subdue a scrappy bunch of River Kings and keep its impressive quarters record intact. …

CEDAR RAPIDS — All the banging and crashing done against them. All the size they had to confront inside.
And the thing that doomed the Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawks in their Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal was the 3-point shot. Go figure.
It was a trio of treys that were pivotal as Sioux City East rallied in the fourth quarter to end Jefferson’s season, 51-43, Wednesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
“We tried to stop their inside game the whole game,” said Jeff’s Jarrod Uthoff. “Then they hit those outside shots.”
Jefferson (18-5) led …

DES MOINES — Before you could get the words “major upset” out of your mouth, IKM-Manning went on a huge run that saved its undefeated season and ruined Turkey Valley’s first trip to the state boys’ basketball tournament.
The second-ranked and second-seeded Wolves rallied from seven down in the second half, scoring 15 consecutive points at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to hold off Turkey Valley, 55-48, in a Class 2A quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
IKM-Manning (25-0) plays Solon (24-2) in the semifinals …

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 …

THE TEAMS
Team (W-L) Apps Titles
Carroll Kuemper (15-11) 12 1
Des Moines Christian (26-0) 5 0
IKM-Manning (24-0) 1 0
Mid-Prairie (19-5) 7 0
Solon (23-2) 5 1
Turkey Valley (19-6) 1 0
Wapsie Valley (20-5) 7 0
Western Christian (22-3) 16 5
SCORING LEADERS Avg.
Branden Stubbs (DMC) 25.8
Tyler Wolterstorff (WC) 19.3
Tanner Miller (M-P) 18.7
Zach Schmidt (WV) 14.9
Tanner Wentzien (Solon) 13.0
Michael Aldeman (M-P) 12.9
Jared Croghan (IKM) 12.8
Ryan Blumer (DMC) 12.3
Bryce Berg (CK) 12.0
Taylor Sickles (WV) 11.5
REBOUNDING LEADERS Avg.
Zach Schmidt (WV) 9.6
Mitch Balik (TV) 7.8
Dilan Moss (WC) 7.2
Colin Ritzman (WV) 7.0
Jarad Gaskill (IKM) 7.0
PREDICTIONS
Quarterfinals
Des Moines Christian 70, Carroll Kuemper 51
Western …