Olson, Saunders do it a third time at state tournament Wednesday

CEDAR RAPIDS - While Taylor Olson was constantly worried about improving his dribbling and passing, there was a time, back in the day, when Cedar Rapids Jefferson teammate Alec Saunders was more concerned with his backstroke than his jump shot.

Olson always has been about basketball, while Saunders had a major fling with swimming. Believe it or not.

“I swam up until eighth grade,” he said, adding his specialties were the intermediate medley and freestyle sprints. “Then when I got to high school, I had a decision to make on what I wanted to keep doing. I stuck with basketball. I just enjoyed doing it more.”

Jefferson will be a heavy duty underdog Wednesday when it plays top-ranked and top-seeded Ankeny in a Class 4A quarterfinal in Des Moines. But no matter how the J-Hawks fare, Olson and Saunders should be saluted for being among those uncommon basketball players who have started games in three consecutive state tournaments.

That might not be a big deal for someone like Marcus Paige, a four-year starter at Linn-Mar, but it's an impressive feat, nevertheless.

“The big part, to me, is being able to get over the (jitters) and be confident playing for the third time here,” Olson said. “It's a great experience.”

The two looked calm and relaxed as they sat with teammates behind one of the baskets at Wells Fargo Arena Tuesday night, taking in Class 3A action. This is no intimidating deal the third time around.

“It feels normal to be here,” Saunders said.

Saunders averages nine points a game as a tenacious 6-footer playing as an undersized power forward. Olson has developed into an all-state caliber lead guard and Division I college talent who leads Jefferson in points (18.7 per game), rebounds, assists and steals.

Both say they want to continue their hoops careers.

“One thing that both guys have in common is that they are very considerate of other members of the team,” said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. “And they are both very unselfish.”

Ordman called Olson “precocious” as a kid who grew up loving the game. Saunders didn't begin playing organized hoops until fifth grade, when he attended a camp at Jefferson and was talked into playing for an AAU youth team.

The one thing the duo would like to say is they won at least one of the games they played in the state tournament. Jefferson had Sioux City East rally past it two years ago and last year shot 24 percent from the field in a loss to Des Moines Hoover.

But even if that doesn't happen, they've got a lot to brag about.

“I just remember in the beginning how it was,” Olson said. “Never being here before, just seeing everything, never playing in a place like this before. It was great.”