Lions chase record-tying 39th straight MVC win

MARION -- The Mississippi Valley Conference is a perpetual grind.

Generally, nearly half of the teams are ranked at any given time. Other teams are dangerous, particularly on their home floor.

Land mines are everywhere.

"Every night, you go out and it could happen," said Linn-Mar girls' basketball coach Mike Brandt. "You can get beat."

That makes Linn-Mar's winning spree all the more impressive.

The Lions (9-0 overall, 5-0 MVC) -- ranked third and defending state champions in Class 4A -- take a 38-game league winning streak into Tuesday's showdown with No. 6 Iowa City West (7-0, 5-0). Tipoff is 7:30 at the Linn-Mar gymnasium.

Survive that, and the Lions match the conference record of 39 in a row, set by the Stacy Frese-led Cedar Rapids Washington team of 1993-95.

"You're lucky if you have a team come along like that once in your career," said Paul James, who coached that Washington team and now serves as the school's athletics director. "I'm sure (Brandt) feels the same way ... when you get that much talent and get them to mesh together, it's a pleasure to work with.

"I don't mind (the record being surpassed). I like to see teams come along and do well. It's a great ride when you go through it."

Linn-Mar surely has had talent in recent years. Jaime Printy, who graduated in 2009, went on to become the Big Ten freshman of the year last winter.

Last year's backcourt -- D.J. Norman and Kayla Klopfenstein -- went on to play at Southern Utah and Truman State, respectively.

Then there's Kiah Stokes.

The 6-foot-3 post was coveted and courted by all the elite Division-I programs; she chose two-time defending national champion Connecticut.

Stokes is averaging 28.0 points, 14.3 rebounds and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 73.9 percent from the floor.

The lone returning starter from last year's title team, Stokes has been more assertive this season.

"I've been a little more vocal in demanding the ball," she said after her school-record 39-point explosion against Cedar Rapids Jefferson on Dec. 7.

Her teammates haven't balked.

"As much talent as we've had, the big thing with the last few teams is how unselfish they've been," Brandt said. "All these kids have had one thing in mind -- to win.

"If we have one kid that scores most of the points, or if we have 10 kids score evenly, it doesn't seem to matter to them."

Linn-Mar's last conference loss came Feb. 8, 2008, a 62-56 defeat to Iowa City High. The Lions won the following night at Iowa City West, and haven't been beaten by a league opponent since.

The majority of the 38 victories have been of the lopsided variety -- 26 by 20-plus points; 18 by 30-plus.

The closest call came last year at Iowa City West. Stokes fought through illness, the Lions rallied to force overtime  and ultimately won, 63-59.

West will be a handful again Tuesday. The Women of Troy average 75.1 points per game, the second-highest rate in all classes in Iowa.

"They're a very good team, very quick," Brandt said. "They'll be a very tough team.

"Our No. 1 goal (Tuesday), like every game, is to play the best we can play, to play to our potential. If we do that, I'll be happy."

Linn-Mar has won 38 consecutive Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball games. Here is the streak:

Date

Opponent

Score

Feb. 9, 2008

at Iowa City West

62-44

Dec. 2, 2008

Iowa City High

70-35

Dec. 5, 2008

Cedar Falls

72-33

Dec. 9, 2008

Cedar Rapids Kennedy

66-45

Dec. 12, 2008

Dubuque Senior

73-37

Dec. 19, 2008

at Cedar Rapids Prairie

72-31

Jan. 6, 2009

at Waterloo West

64-33

Jan. 9, 2009

Cedar Rapids Xavier

51-37

Jan. 13, 2009

at Waterloo East

98-23

Jan. 16, 2009

Iowa City West

48-41

Jan. 22, 2009

at Cedar Rapids Washington

50-31

Jan. 26, 2009

at Dubuque Hempstead

61-21

Jan. 27, 2009

Dubuque Wahlert

68-39

Jan. 30, 2009

at Cedar Rapids Xavier

47-39

Feb. 6, 2009

Cedar Rapids Prairie

77-32

Feb. 10, 2009

at Cedar Rapids Jefferson

71-47

Feb. 13, 2009

at Iowa City West

55-25

Dec. 1, 2009

at Iowa City High

66-56

Dec. 4, 2009

at Cedar Falls

68-38

Dec. 15, 2009

Dubuque Hempstead

66-23

Dec. 18, 2009

Cedar Rapids Prairie

65-20

Jan. 5, 2010

Waterloo West

56-32

Jan. 8, 2010

at Cedar Rapids Xavier

45-32

Jan. 9, 2010

at Dubuque Senior

74-34

Jan. 12, 2010

Waterloo East

85-13

Jan. 15, 2010

at Iowa City West

63-59 (OT)

Jan. 19, 2010

at Cedar Rapids Kennedy

62-49

Jan. 21, 2010

Cedar Rapids Washington

62-48

Jan. 26, 2010

at Dubuque Wahlert

78-50

Jan. 29, 2010

Cedar Rapids Xavier

48-34

Feb. 5, 2010

at Cedar Rapids Prairie

70-32

Feb. 9, 2010

Cedar Rapids Jefferson

69-46

Feb. 12, 2010

Iowa City West

82-58

Nov. 30, 2010

Iowa City High

60-48

Dec. 3, 2010

at Dubuque Wahlert

63-32

Dec. 7, 2010

Cedar Rapids Jefferson

73-36

Dec. 14, 2010

at Cedar Falls

57-11

Dec. 17, 2010

Cedar Rapids Prairie

52-23