Cedar Rapids Washington throws immediate big punch, knocks off Linn-Mar

CEDAR RAPIDS — A boys’ basketball team that has played close games as a rule this season found a way to make sure they played a game Friday night that was an exception.

Cedar Rapids Washington rolled to an 18-2 lead in an almost flawless first quarter and eventually disposed of Linn-Mar, 52-37, on the Lions’ Hall of Fame Night.

“We were just locked in,” said Washington guard Jesse Sellers. “It was business from the start, out of the locker room. And you’ve got to stay locked in when it comes to games like this. We wanted revenge, we got it.”

Sellers was huge in helping Washington (8-7) get that revenge from a 54-49 loss at home in early January. He swished a trio of treys, none of them touching the rim, in the Warriors’ early offensive splurge.

The final of those three treys put Wash up 18-2 with three minutes still to go in the first quarter. Linn-Mar (6-7) stabilized and got within 20-10 after the first, and it was a 28-15 Washington lead at halftime.

Linn-Mar made an expected push in the third quarter, thanks to some full-court defense that turned over the Warriors. The Lions inched to 32-28 late but could not get closer the remainder of the game.

Yet another Sellers 3 made it 42-30 Washington with 5:20 to go. Sellers finished with a team-high 13 points, a total tied by forward Traijan Sain.

“It was nice to put together two (first-half) quarters like that,” said Washington Coach Justin Decker. “We haven’t done that all year. Holding them to 15 in a half, we didn’t really give them very many good looks or many touches, to be honest. We were still sharing the basketball offensively, doing what we needed to do.

“(After they came back), we just answered it, built the lead back up.”

Washington has played 11 games this season decided by single digits and lost five of those. Its season point differential was almost exactly one point (on the positive side) coming into this game and will increase a bit.

“We’re not going to blow teams out, we know that,” Decker said. “It’s just a matter of not turning over the basketball and getting good shots. That’s what we really did tonight.”

AT LINN-MAR

CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON (52): J.J. WIllis 1-2 1-2 3, Traijan Sain 4-8 5-6 13, Jaden Harris 2-5 2-2 6, Jesse Sellers 4-5 1-2 13, Will Hodges 2-4 1-4 6, Bryce Brim 1-4 0-0 3, Stevie Cain 2-4 0-0 4, Omoro Crusoe 1-1 2-2 4, Derrick Mayes Weather Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Tremeir Grimes 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Blocklinger 0-0 0-0 0, Mateyo Smallwood 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Toms 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-33 12-18 52.

LINN-MAR (37): Jayden Hill 0-3 0-0 0, Davis Kern 1-8 0-0 2, Ian Mindrup 2-4 0-0 4, Jaxson Young 4-10 6-7 14, Jackson Severson 4-12 0-0 10, Jack Robertson 0-0 0-0 0, Henry Read 1-2 0-0 2, Ian Bettis 0-1 0-0 0, T.J. Jackson 1-1 0-0 2, Creighton Fairley 1-3 0-0 2, Jackson Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Reid Recker 0-0 1-2 1, Owen Olmstead 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-44 7-9 37.

Halftime - Washington 28, Linn-Mar 15. 3-point goals - Washington 6-12 (Sain 0-1, Harris 0-1, Sellers 4-5, Hodges 1-2, Brim 1-2, Cain 0-1), Linn-Mar 2-12 (Hill 0-3, Kern 0-2, Young 0-1, Severson 2-4, Read 0-1, Fairley 0-1). Rebounds - Washington 29 (Sain 9), Linn-Mar 22 (Kern, Mindrup, Young 4). Total fouls - Washington 8, Linn-Mar 13. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Washington 14, Linn-Mar 12.

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