Ollinger finding her role

CEDAR RAPIDS - Amanda Ollinger is fitting in just fine with the Linn-Mar girls' basketball team.

Ollinger scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half to help the fifth-ranked Lions hold off scrappy Marion, 52-48, Saturday night in a Rivalry Saturday game at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Ollinger, a midyear transfer from Jefferson, was playing only her third game with the Lions (9-1). Her defense, with three clutch steals after Marion had taken a 31-28 lead late in the third quarter, sparked a 7-0 run to end the period. She scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Lions built a 50-40 advantage.

'Amanda is a great all-around floor player,” Linn-Mar Coach Jamie Printy-Brandt said. 'Offensively we were able to put her down on that block. She did a great job posting up and our guards did a great job hitting her down there.”

Ollinger, a junior who has committed to Iowa, was a first team all-stater last year as a soph. She played less than three minutes in her first game with the Lions, but had the winning three-point play in their win Friday against Cedar Falls.

'Anytime you bring someone in to a team that has been playing together for a while, it is definitely an adjustment,” Printy-Brandt said. 'But our team has handled it great. Amanda comes in humble and she works hard.”

Ollinger said she is just looking to fit in.

'Playing time doesn't bother me at all,” she said. 'I know how difficult it is for a team that has been playing together to welcome someone in. I'm just trying help the team whatever ways I can.

'I think we're getting more comfortable with each other. But it's not up to where we're 100 percent comfortable with each other.””

Lexi Frese added eight points and eight rebounds.

Amanda Sahm scored 16 points and scored 10 rebounds for Marion (9-3). Caitlyn Smith added 13 points.

AT US CELLULAR CENTER

MARION (48): Chloe Rice 1-9 2-2 5, Caitlyn Smith 3-7 4-4 13, Amanda Sahm 3-7 10-10 16, Michalyn Mohr 1-4 3-6 6, Mia Laube 2-6 1-4 7, Jozee Peyton 0-1 1-2 1, Isabella Sade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-38 21-28 48.

LINN-MAR (52): Lexi Frese 3-6 2-4 8, Brittney Lancial 0-3 1-2 1, Olivia Montague 4-8 3-3 11, Nikita Sharma 3-6 0-1 6, Kamryn Finley 3-7 1-2 7, Amanda Ollinger 6-15 5-5 17, Natalie Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Lannie Nietert 1-1 0-0 2, Megan Murphy 0-5 0-0 0, Claire Larson 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 20-52 12-18 52.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 24, Marion 23.

3-point goals - Marion 7-14 (Smith 3-7, Laube 2-2, Mohr 1-1, Rice 1-2, Sahm 0-1), Linn-Mar 0-14 (Frese 0-1, Lancial 0-1, Montague 0-3, Sharma 0-1, Finley 0-1, Ollinger 0-2, Murphy 0-4, Larson 0-1).

Team fouls - Marion 16, Linn-Mar 19.

Fouled out - Sahm.

Rebounds - Marion 30 (Sahm 10), Linn-Mar 40 (Ollinger 9).

Assists - Marion 9 (Rice 5), Linn-Mar 6 (Sharma 2).