Paige, No. 6 Linn-Mar dunk Xavier, 67-34

MARION - Jimmy Roth had a sure two points. This was a dead, locked cinch of a basket, an uncontested layup with an opponent not within 30 feet of him.

But the Linn-Mar forward saw the big picture. Teammate Marcus Paige, who created the steal and pass that put Roth in this position, was steaming down the court behind him.

With an obvious flair for the dramatic, Roth waited a second, flipped the ball in the air and let Paige do his thing: a reverse dunk off his alley-oop. The crowd went nuts, Paige and Roth celebrated, and those at the scorer's table simultaneously yelled “Oh!!”

“I wasn't really sure what he was going to do,” Paige said with a chuckle, after his team's dominating 67-34 victory over Cedar Rapids Xavier Friday night. “It was just me and him. When he got under the basket and kind of looked at me, I could tell he was going to throw it. All I was thinking was ‘I hope I make it because Coach is going to be mad.' It worked out pretty well.”

Everything worked out pretty well for Paige and the Class 4A sixth-ranked Lions (13-3, 9-2 MVC Mississippi Division) in this laugher. They made 11-of-13 shots in a spectacular 28-point first quarter that propelled them to this unexpected rout.

These teams played a nine-point game a couple of weeks ago, but this was an ‘NC,' and we're not talking about North Carolina, where Paige is headed next year. Everyone was involved in the offense, defense and rebounding.

“I thought our defense was very good,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. “I think the guys are learning that if you're solid defensively and you finish with rebounds, it gives us a chance for some run-out possessions, which is when we're at our best.”

Paige hit 12 of 13 shots in a 29-point night, two over his 4A-leading average. Center Derik Gogg had eight points and 11 boards.

Ben McDermott led Xavier (6-11) with 10 points.

“Collectively, this is probably one of the top two games we've played this year,” Paige said. “This and the South Sioux City (Neb.) game (against Iowa signee Mike Gesell). Everyone just came out ready to go. We've been coming out flat a lot the last five or six games. It was good that we came out ready to play today.”

AT LINN-MAR

C.R. XAVIER (34): Carter Valentine 2-7 0-0 4, Kevin Hosch 1-3 0-0 2, Mac Mattke 2-14 0-0 4, Ben McDermott 4-4 1-2 10, Trey Sampson 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Ropp 1-5 0-0 2, Matt Nelson 2-6 0-0 4, Tanner Frazier 0-3 3-4 3, Reggie Schulte 1-2 0-0 2, Patrick Mullin 1-1 1-2 3, Zach Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Robbie Thinnes 0-0 0-0 0, Corbin Woods 0-1 0-0 0, Benjamin Breitbach 0-0 0-0 0, Gregory Foxhoven 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-47 5-8 34.

LINN-MAR (67): Andy Henry 4-4 2-2 10, Jimmy Roth 3-8 0-0 7, Derik Gogg 4-6 0-0 8, Zach Martins 2-5 0-0 6, Marcus Paige 12-13 3-4 29, Matt Meier 1-2 0-0 3, Nate Dick 0-3 0-0 0, Jon Schlotterback 0-2 2-2 2, Josh Wick 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Hutchins 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Nelson 1-1 0-0 2, Kyle Mortensen 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Sloterdyk 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Holland 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Hackett 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Manternach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-45 7-8 67.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 43, Xavier 17.

3-point goals - Xavier 1-8 (Valentine 0-1, Mattke 0-1, McDermott 1-1, Sampson 0-1, Ropp 0-3, Frazier 0-1), Linn-Mar 6-14 (Roth 1-4, Martins 2-4, Paige 2-3, Meier 1-2).

Rebounds - Xavier 20 (Mattke 5), Linn-Mar 31 (Gogg 11).

Total fouls - Xavier 10, Linn-Mar 6.

Fouled out - None.

Turnovers - Xavier 9, Linn-Mar 9.