Metro Sports Report

Sluggish Lions down Waterloo East

WATERLOO -The numbers screamed mismatch.

After all, Linn-Mar walked into Fred J. Miller Gymnasium unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A. Waterloo East, conversely, had beaten exactly one team all year.

Tuesday night, though, the Trojans didn't exactly go quietly. Yes, Linn-Mar pulled away and claimed a 76-52 victory, but East stayed close for a good, long time.

"I told our kids in (the locker room) that we got by with one," said Lions Coach Chris Robertson after his team improved to 14-0. "We didn't play our best, but you've gotta give East a lot of credit. They outplayed us tonight in the first half."

Said Trojan Coach Anthony Thomas, "I think that was a very winnable basketball game."

East, now 1-12 overall, was aggressive early in both ends of the court. The Trojans attacked the basket offensively. Defensively, they stuck with Linn-Mar guards Marcus Paige and Matt Bohannon. Paige has committed to North Carolina; Bohannon is a Northern Iowa recruit.

East held a 14-12 lead midway through the first quarter. Linn-Mar took the edge for good in the second, but it was just a 32-25 game at the break.

"The kids gave me great effort," said Thomas. "I can't knock the effort."

But ...

"In the third quarter, we let it slip away once again," Thomas said.

Linn-Mar had some success pounding the ball inside in the opening half. After the break, Lion big men Ian McBrayer and Josh Montague really went to work.

McBrayer, at 6-foot-6, scored eight of his 17 points in the third quarter and all of them came on layups. Montague, a 6-7 senior, tallied 19 markers, eight in the last two quarters.

Skinny Prairie Hawks give Kennedy a battle

Jacob Aune took off his jersey in the Prairie locker room Tuesday night and revealed nothing but skin and bones.

"I know I'm skinny," he said. "I've been skinny my whole life."

Skinny, but tough.

The skinny Hawks from Prairie gave the brawny fifth-ranked Cougars from Kennedy a stiff battle Tuesday night before falling short, 62-48, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Kennedy.

Aune, a 6-foot-2 junior, said he weighs about 138 or 140 pounds, which means he was giving away at least 75 pounds to the football players who play basketball at Kennedy.

Christian French stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 225 pounds, Kyle Lamaak is 6-foot-4 and 215, Jake Manning (who doesn't play football) is 6-foot-5 and 213 pounds. That's what Kennedy had near the basket.

Meanwhile, Prairie countered with a 138-pounder and a 5-foot-8 point guard named Jerome Frazier who showed no fear.

"Playing against guys like Christian (French) is fun," Aune insisted, "being able to go into him and see what I can do."

Aune popped in 18 points and hit two 3-pointers to help the Hawks stay within striking distance. His 3-pointer pulled Prairie within 41-38 early in the fourth quarter.

No. 2 Lions flatten Waterloo East

The only thing that wasn’t working at Linn-Mar Tuesday night was the public address system and the foul board.

The Linn-Mar offense was hitting on all cylinders. The Lions routed Waterloo East, 80-15, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball fgame.

No. 2 Linn-Mar (16-1, 11-1 MVC) built a 51-9 lead by halftime.

On paper this looked like it would be a mismatch with the best team in the Mississippi Division taking on the weakest in the Valley Division.

Linn-Mar Coach Mike Brandt was happy afterward, even with this easy victory compared to a major win Saturday over Class 3A No. 1 Ballard.

“I was pleased we picked up our defense tonight,” Brandt said. "We played our game, which I was hoping for, and executed well all night long.”

All-American Kiah Stokes scored 30 points to lead the Lions.

Linn-Mar streaked to a 19-0 lead.

Telling the story of A Coach's Life

(Editor’s Note: Dan Kellams, a Marion High School graduate, is the author of “A Coach’s Life: Les Hipple and the Marion Indians,” the fascinating biography of one of Iowa’s greatest high school coaches. Kellams played four sports under the coach.)

At first, I had no intention of writing a book. Certainly not one that would take 10 years to finish.

The task began when I attended the 45th reunion of my Marion High School class in 1999. I had not seen most of my classmates for years, and the experience left me weak with nostalgia. Les Hipple, the coach who had dominated our high school days, had died a few months earlier. I told my classmates I was going to write something about Coach Hipple.

As the research began, word started going around that I was writing a book about Les Hipple.

“No, no,” I said. “I’m not going to write a book.  Something else ... an article maybe.  I can’t do a book.”

Eventually I realized that Les Hipple’s story had to be a book. The influence he had on so many athletes required it. And the arc of his career at Marion, where he rose to glory and fell in disgrace, had elements of classic tragedy that could not be summarized in an article.

Hired in 1945 to bring discipline to the school, he was fired in 1965 for being too strict. When everything around him changed, the coach did not, and it cost him a job he loved.