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Boys' basketball Metro jamboree thoughts

Dec. 1, 2009 1:44 pm, Updated: Apr. 2, 2014 8:03 pm
Watched most of the three games at the Metro jamboree at
Cedar Rapids Xavier on Monday night. Apparently it's the final Metro jamboree, since most schools are beginning their regular seasons the Tuesday following jamboree Monday.In fact, Xavier hosted Monday night's event and didn't even play in it. Curious.Anyway, some thoughts.
Linn-Mar looked really good, definitely the best of the six teams participating. Particularly impressed with junior guard
Darius Stokes, son of former
Iowa Hawkeye and
NBAer
Greg Stokes, was a starting forward for the Lions.Linn-Mar beat
Iowa City West handily. The Trojans are a young team, with two sophomores and three freshmen on the roster. One of the ninth-graders started: guard Jeremy Morgan, son of former Iowa Hawkeye player and women's assistant coach
Michael Morgan. West could be dangerous by the end of the season.
Solon looked surprisingly good in a win over
Cedar Rapids Kennedy, which did not play particularly well. The Spartans lost just about everyone from an undefeated team that took the Class 2A state championship last season but apparently had plenty of talent behind the regulars.
Cedar Rapids Washington handled
Center Point-Urbana rather easily. The Warriors played without sharp-shooting guard
Josh Oglesby, who is out until January because of a suspension. The thing that stood out about Washington was its quickness. CP-U shot the ball well early and could improve on a 6-18 2008-09 season.If you were at the jamboree last night, let me know your thoughts on any or all of the six teams that played.