Top ranked Ames showed why it is the team to beat in the class 4A quarterfinal round of the boys state basketball tournament. The little Cyclones shot 64% for the game in a 69-42 win over Iowa City West. Doug McDermott scored 22 points and finished 10 of 10 from the field.
Second rated Linn-Mar took control by outscoring Cedar Falls 19-9 in the second quarter as the Lions cruised to a 64-41 victory in the 4A quarterfinal round. Cedar Falls had won the first matchup between the two in the final game of the regular season.
Linn-Mar’s Zach Bohannon who led all scorers with 17 points, says they all came out ready to play and it was nice to meet Cedar Falls as they were the only conference loss.
Cedar Falls coach Tom Bardal says Lin-Mar did a good job of getting the ball to Bohanan, and the defense was late getting to the outside shooters.
Third ranked Bettendorf got 16 points and 8 rebounds from Seth Van Deest in a 55-41 win over Sioux City East. Johnston outscored Urbandale 16-4 inthe fourth quarter to post a 43-37 win in a class 4A opening round game. Junior center Nick Smith scored 12 points and added 12 rebounds as the Dragons avenged two regular season losses to the J-Hawks.
Smith says "it’s amazing" as most of the team didn’t expect to get this far. The win avenged two regular season conference losses to Urbandale. Urbandale shot just 25% for the game and the inside duo of Reece Uhlenhopp and Tyler Lange combined to hit on only seven of 29 shots.
Defense led the Way for third rated Harlan in the opening round in class 3A. The Cyclones held Benton standout Levi Montague to just two points enroute to a 49-40 win.