Linn-Mar tops Xavier in 4A substate playoff

MARION - Marcus Paige had the shiner, but you should have seen the other guy.Paige and his Linn-Mar teammates beat up Cedar Rapids Xavier for the third time, 69-45, last night in a Class 4A substate semifinal. Paige, who was sporting a black eye courtesy of an errant elbow Wednesday in practice, led all scorers with 22 points.Teammates Shane Benton and Matt Bohannon added 19 and 10 points, respectively, to advance top-ranked Linn-Mar (22-0) to Tuesday night's substate final against North Scott, a 46-44 winner over Pleasant Valley.Xavier, which finished 7-16, was led by senior center Ryan Mains' 10 points.“They always say it's hard to beat a team three times, but we didn't think about that at all,” said Paige, a junior guard who has committed to North Carolina. “We tried to erase those last two games from our memory and come out like we haven't played them before and the score was 0-0.”The first few minutes were sloppier than the conditions outside the Linn-Mar gym. Both teams had steals and missed layups, and Bohannon even muffed a dunk.Lions Coach Chris Robertson blamed his team's week layoff for the early turnover fest.“This is a long week. Having the bye is nice, but it's a long time to go without playing,” Robertson said. “The guys don't really like practicing this time of the year. We tried to stay focused and I think that was evident early. We were aggressive, which is good, but we weren't very sharp offensively.”Still, the Lions scored 10 unanswered points to open a 17-8 lead after a quarter. The Saints scored first in the second quarter on an Alec Clasen free throw before Linn-Mar went on an 8-0 run, including back-to-back layups by Benton, the latter off a perfect pass from Bohannon, for a 25-9 advantage.Robertson welcomed forward Ian McBrayer (groin injury) back to the starting lineup but said center Josh Montague (knee) will not play unless the Lions reach state.

- By Nick Pugliese