A ‘Fine Nine’ for North Linn boys’ basketball team

IOWA CITY - Slide over a bit, Linn-Mar. Leave some room because you’ve got company now.

And Iowa City West. You’ve still got the record, but there’s someone knocking on the door, wondering if you might let them in.

That’d be North Linn, which won a Class 1A substate final boys’ basketball game Saturday night over Burlington Notre Dame, 56-52. Won a Class 1A substate final boys’ basketball game Saturday night over Burlington Notre Dame in come-from-behind fashion.

We’ll get to those specifics in a minute.

But let’s first acknowledge this program and this accomplishment. It’s a ‘Fine Nine,’ nine years in a row North Linn has qualified for the boys’ state basketball tournament in Des Moines.

NINE!

“Nine is ridiculous,” said North Linn’s Mason Bechen. “In my eyes, it’s very special because when I was in middle school, I was always watching Jake Hilmer, Ryan Miller, David Seber. Always looking up to them. Now to be able to play and continue that streak is definitely special.”

Think about this for a second. A small, rural public school located just outside one of the three small towns that make up this district (that’d be Troy Mills, with Walker and Coggon the others) is headed back to state for a ninth consecutive year.

Linn-Mar made it nine years in a row in Class 4A: from 2004 to 2012. Iowa City West has the state record for most consecutive state tournament qualifications, also in 4A, from 2011 to 2020.

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Keep in mind, there aren’t five classes like there are in girls’ basketball, there aren’t nearly the number of schools in 4A as there are in 1A. All of which makes what North Linn has done mind melting.

The quarterfinal opponent for the Lynx (23-2) at Wells Fargo Arena is Gladbrook-Reinbeck (22-3). It’s the 4-5 game seeding wise, G-R being the ‘4,’ and will take place at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 12.

One more tidbit. North Linn has advanced to a championship game the previous seven years, which has never been done.

“It doesn’t come easy, that’s for sure,” said North Linn’s Hayden Schmidt, who hit a couple of humongous 3-pointers in a fourth quarter that saw his team overcome a five-point deficit going into it. “We put in the hard work, we just don’t expect to get there. Our coach gets on our butt, we’re not just coming in and showing up. He always says don’t be big bad North Linn. We just stay humble and do the little things.”

Notre Dame (19-5) got points from some unexpected guys in building a four-point lead after the first quarter and a 26-19 edge at halftime. The Nikes’ spread grew to as many as 11 early in the third quarter, and it just didn’t look like this was going to be North Linn’s night.

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The Lynx cut the deficit to 41-36 after three quarters, and then went to serious work in the fourth. Schmidt’s first 3-pointer was followed by four Bechen free throws as North Linn took a 43-42 lead with 5:15 to go, its first lead since 8-6 in the first quarter.

Notre Dame went right back ahead on an ensuing 3-pointer, but Drew Ries literally took away a Nikes rebound and ended up with an and-one three-point play that put North Linn ahead for what turned out to be good, 46-45.

Schmidt’s second trey, set up off Cael Benesh penetration and and a kick pass to the wing, put the Lynx ahead, 51-45, with two minutes to go.

“We didn’t get down on each other for messing up. We stuck as a team,” said Schmidt, who had nine points in the game. “And our half-court defense took it all the way. Right after I hit my two 3s, that’s when we got the momentum. That’s just when we got our momentum. It was really important to get different guys scoring for us.”

“The difference was our six seniors,” Bechen said.

He finished with a game-high 22 points, though that was almost nine under his average. Cole Griffith added 11. And don’t forget unheralded Cade Garman, a senior forward who came off the bench and scored five big points in scant playing time.

“Offensively we had to have all five guys touching the basketball and getting good shots,” said Travis Griffith, in his first season as head coach after assisting Mike Hilmer the previous eight state trips. “We didn’t hit shots in the first half, but I thought we were getting good shots. Our halftime adjustment was to quit being the Mason Bechen/Cole Griffith Show and run a motion offense with five guys touching the basketball ... And I thought our half-court defense won this game.”

Shay Stephens is a very talented junior guard who led Notre Dame with 15 points. Jack Drew added 13.

Stephens, however, was just 6 of 19 from the field, missing some shots late, including a game-tying 3-point attempt with about four seconds left that Bechen rebounded. He was fouled with just over two seconds to go and made one of two free throws to ice this win.

Stephens guarded Bechen all game, and you wonder if that took it out of his legs late.

“I’m just happy for those six seniors,” Coach Griffith said. “I started with them in second grade, traveling all over the place. Look at all the plays those six seniors made tonight ... I’m just happy for them that they are going to finish their careers down there in Des Moines.”

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AT IOWA CITY HIGH

BURLINGTON NOTRE DAME (52): Colby Booton 0-1 0-0 0, Shay Stephens 6-19 2-3 15, Jack Drew 5-12 1-4 13, Eli Oleson 3-6 1-2 7, Payne Prottsman 0-4 0-0 0, L.J. Harris 2-2 0-1 4, Griffin Kies 2-5 0-0 5, Tatum Warner 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 20-52 4-10 52.

NORTH LINN (56): Drew Ries 1-8 2-3 4, Mason Bechen 5-13 11-12 22, Hayden Schmidt 3-5 1-2 9, Cael Benesh 2-5 0-0 5, Cole Griffith 5-9 1-4 11, Nolan Woods 0-2 0-0 0, Cade Garman 2-2 1-1 5, Waylon Raue 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Nielsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-44 16-22 56.

Halftime - Notre Dame 26, North Linn 19. 3-point goals - Stephens 1-9, Drew 2-8, Oleson 0-2, Prottsman 0-2, Kies 1-4, Warner 1-2), North Linn 4-15 (Ries 0-4, Bechen 1-4, Schmidt 2-3, Benesh 1-3, Woods 0-1). Rebounds - Notre Dame 28 (Stephens 12), North Linn 30 (Ries 8, Bechen 7). Total fouls - Notre Dame 15, North Linn 11. Fouled out - None. Flop warning - Bechen. - Notre Dame 4, North Linn 4.

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