Boardwork helps Linn-Mar girls stay unbeaten

CEDAR RAPIDS - A dominant rebounding performance can hide some shortcomings.

Like a turnover epidemic, for example. Or shabby free-throw shooting.

Class 5A sixth-ranked Linn-Mar owned the glass and held off Cedar Rapids Washington, 41-39, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball game Friday night at Washington High School.

'Washington is a really aggressive team, so we knew we had to match their intensity,” said Linn-Mar's Olivia Montague, who posted 17 points and 10 rebounds, leading the charge on the glass as the Lions (5-0 overall, 4-0 MVC) built a 48-24 rebounding margin. 'We work on (rebounding) a lot in practice.”

Linn-Mar scored the first 11 points, led 18-3 after a quarter and 24-6 midway through the second quarter before Washington (2-3, 1-3) settled in.

'The second half, the energy was there. But we've got to get off to better starts,” said Washington Coach Frank Howell.

'And we've got to rebound. Just a couple more here or there would have made a big difference.”

Two moments in the fourth quarter stood out, and both came off missed Linn-Mar shots.

With the Lions clinging to a 33-32 lead with about 3 minutes left, Montague missed a 3-pointer. She outhustled everyone to the loose ball along the sideline, saved it over her head to a teammate, received a return pass and drilled a trey.

Linn-Mar was just 10 of 27 from the free-throw line, including 6 of 17 in the final period. But after Montague missed a pair with 10 seconds left, Lexi Frese came away with the loose ball with 1.5 ticks left.

Frese made the second of two foul shots for a 41-39 advantage, Washington's Jessi Puk was a bit wide left on a 55-foot heave and the Lions prevailed despite 30 turnovers.

Linn-Mar's free-throw inaccuracy was a bit ironic, since Coach Jaime Printy Brandt was a 90-percent foul shooter in high school and college.

'We'll work at it,” she said. 'We've got to work on it. We still need to practice a lot of game situations, but I'm proud of the way we fought and battled to the end.”

Niki Sharma added eight points and nine rebounds for the Lions. Freshman Kamryn Finley registered eight points and seven boards.

Kandis O'Donnell led the Warriors with 12 points and six rebounds. Joniqua Clark added eight points.

Down 24-12 at halftime, Washington chipped away and got even at 27-all on Anne Visser's 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the third quarter. But the Lions scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and held a slim lead the rest of the way.

LINN-MAR 41, CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON 39

At C.R. Washington

LINN-MAR (41): Lexi Frese 2-4 1-2 5, Brittney Lancial 0-3 1-2 1, Olivia Montague 5-12 3-9 17, Niki Sharma 3-6 2-4 8, Kamryn Finley 3-10 1-5 8, Lannie Nietert 0-3 2-5 2, Megan Murphy 0-6 0-0 0, Claire Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Alie Akers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-46 10-27 41.

C.R. WASHINGTON (39): Joniqua Clark 3-6 1-2 8, Allie Semrau 1-4 0-0 2, Anne Visser 2-9 0-1 5, Courtney Squires 1-2 0-1 2, Kandis O'Donnell 2-8 8-11 12, Daris Corey 0-1 0-0 0, Lily Hartman 1-1 0-0 2, Payton Bruner 2-3 0-0 4, Jessi Puk 1-5 0-0 2, Brittany Cullen 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Hoeger 0-0 2-2 2, Jayla Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Alanna Arrington 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 11-17 39.

Halftime: Linn-Mar 24, Washington 12. 3-point goals: Linn-Mar 5-21 (Lancial 0-1, Montague 4-10, Finley 1-6, Murphy 0-4), Washington 2-17 (Clark 1-3, Semrau 0-2, Visser 1-6, Squires 0-1, O'Donnell 0-1, Puk 0-3). Team fouls: Linn-Mar 18, Washington 21. Fouled out: Nietert, Clark. Rebounds: Linn-Mar 48 (Montague 10), Washington 24 (O'Donnell 6). Assists: Linn-Mar 4 (four with 1), Washington 5 (O'Donnell 2). Steals: Linn-Mar 12 (Frese 4), Washington 11 (Clark, Visser, Puk 3). Turnovers: Linn-Mar 30, Washington 24.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com