Warriors' destiny depends on 'D'

Frank Howell's primary message since the regular season ended has consisted of two words, two syllables.Get. Back."Transition defense has been our big focus," said Howell, the girls basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Washington. "We can't give up easy baskets. It's something we have to figure out, and a lot of it comes back to getting back and getting the ball stopped."When the Warriors defend, they're next to unbeatable. When they don't, they're ordinary. Washington (15-6) is 12-0 in games in which it allows fewer than 60 points. When it surrenders 60-plus: 3-6.The Warriors host late-surging Linn-Mar (10-12) in a Class 5A regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Lions already have one big postseason upset under their belts, dropping Cedar Rapids Prairie, 53-51, in Round 1 behind Alexis Libenguth's career-high 23 points."They're peaking at the right time," Howell said. "Last time we played them, we defended really well (in a 54-33 win Jan. 25). We have to do that again, or we're going to be in trouble."Linn-Mar is 3-1 in February. The Lions won back-to-back double-overtime games over Cedar Rapids Xavier and Dubuque Wahlert, then lost a close game at Cedar Rapids Kennedy before pulling the Prairie shocker."I'm really pleased with our progress the last few games," Lions Coach Mike Brandt said. "Those double-overtime games really helped our composure."Against Washington, we have to handle their pressure, and we can't give up second, third and fourth shots."In other area 5A games, Kennedy (15-7) is at Waterloo West (15-6), No. 1 Iowa City High (19-2) hosts Clinton and No. 10 Iowa City West (16-5) entertains Bettendorf (11-11).Kennedy has won seven straight games, and defeated the Wahawks in December."We played awesome that night," said Kennedy's Madi Meier, who hit a school-record seven 3-pointers in a regional-quarterfinal win over Cedarrapids Jefferson, "We need to play awesome again."Iowa City West is the regining big-school state champion and has the state's leading scorer in Ally Disterhoft. The University of Iowa signee averages 26 points per game.In Class 4A, third-ranked Benton Community and No. 5 Xavier accepted first-round byes and join the regional fray Saturday.Both are heavily favored: Benton (19-2) hosts Grinnell (9-13) while Xavier (12-9) entertains Solon (11-11).

SATURDAY'S CLASS 5A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 3Marshalltown (4-17) at Des Moines East (19-2)Cedar Rapids Kennedy (15-7) at Waterloo West (15-6)

Region 4Clinton (5-16) at Iowa City High (19-2)Bettendorf (11-11) at Iowa City West (16-5)

Region 6Johnston (8-13) at Waukee (16-5)Linn-Mar (10-12) at Cedar Rapids Washington (15-6)

SATURDAY'S CLASS 4A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 2Charles City (11-10) at Clear Lake (17-4)West Delaware (8-14) at Waverly-Shell Rock (19-2)

Region 3DeWitt Central (6-16) at North Scott (13-8)Dubuque Wahlert (8-13) at Western Dubuque (17-4)

Region 4Keokuk (11-9) at Washington (13-7)Solon (11-11) at Cedar Rapids Xavier (12-9)

Region 5Fairfield (10-12) at Oskaloosa (18-4)Grinnell (9-13) at Benton Community (19-2)