Greenfield wins stats battle; Lions win the war (VIDEO)

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Taylor Greenfield and Kiah Stokes have March plans, and they extend beyond the girls' state basketball tournament.They'll spend spring break together, along with their families, sunning in the Dominican Republic. They may mention, in fleet passing or in detail, their meeting Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center.Greenfield owned the personal statistical battle. Stokes won the game.With Stokes bottled up offensively -- and spending much of her energy playing defense on Greenfield -- the supporting cast carried the day in Class 4A second-ranked Linn-Mar's 50-40 Rivalry Saturday triumph over 3A No. 1 Ballard."It shows were not just a one-person team," Stokes said after the Lions improved to 15-1. "I'm glad this team doesn't have to rely only on me."Stokes had a modest 10 points, and seven of those came in the fourth quarter. But Kailee Karr (14 points), Jenna Eells (11) and Mykaela Brandt (11) picked up the slack."We weren't going to let Kiah beat us," Greenfield said. "But they had some other people step up, which surprised me. They hit some big shots."It was a tight game until the final minutes, when the Lions held Ballard (15-1) scoreless from the 7:11 mark until Greenfield's basket with 50 seconds to go. In that stretch, Linn-Mar stretched a two-point lead to 11.Greenfield, who has signed with Stanford, tallied 23 points (though she shot 8-of-23 from the field). Connecticut recruit Stokes spent a good share of time guarding her on the perimeter."Coach (Mike Brandt) asked if I thought I could stop her," Stokes said. "I said, 'Yeah, I'll try.' "Stokes didn't completely stop her friend and rival (they became close during AAU ball and the recruiting process), but she slowed her enough."(Stokes' 6-foot-3 frame and long wingspan) is a factor I never have to worry about," said Greenfield, a 6-2 guard. "She was able to alter what I wanted to do."At the offensive end, Stokes didn't register her first field goal until the final minute of the first half. But her teammates' aid kept the Lions afloat. Eells had three 3-pointers and scored all of her 11 points before intermission, and Linn-Mar took a 23-20 lead into the locker room."A lot of teams key on Kiah, and we know we've got to be able to hit shots," Eells said.Ballard took a brief lead at 29-27 in the third quarter, and the Bombers were still right in it, trailing 36-34 with 7 minutes to go. But they went cold, and Linn-Mar pulled away.Stokes grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked five shots.

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

BALLARD (40): Sierra McVicker 0-2 0-0 0, Sammy Jensen 1-9 1-1 3, Devynn Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Greenfield 8-23 4-4 22, Sidney Jamison 0-1 0-0 0, Kristy Carr 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Sage 3-6 0-0 9, Grace Hall 2-2 0-2 4, Katie Ahrenholtz 1-4 0-2 2. Totals 15-49 5-9 40.

LINN-MAR (50): Mykaela Brandt 2-5 7-10 11, Rachel Thrune 1-5 0-0 2, Kailee Karr 4-10 4-6 14, Jenna Eells 3-6 2-2 11, Kiah Stokes 4-8 2-5 10, Leandra Martins 0-1 0-0 0, Shanice Cheatham 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 14-37 17-25 50.

Halftime: Linn-Mar 23, Ballard 20.

3-point goals: Ballard 5-21 (McVicker 0-2, Jensen 0-3, Roberts 0-1, Greenfield 2-9, Sage 3-5, Ahrenholtz 0-1), Linn-Mar 5-8 (Brandt 0-1, Karr 2-3, Eells 3-4).

Team fouls: Ballard 21, Linn-Mar 13.

Rebounds: Ballard 29 (Greenfield 10), Linn-Mar 36 (Stokes 16).

Assists: Ballard 6 (Jensen 3), Linn-Mar 9 (Karr 4).

Steals: Ballard 6 (Greenfield 4), Linn-Mar 3 (three with 1).

Turnovers: Ballard 4, Linn-Mar 9.[gallery order="DESC"]