Linn-Mar rolls past North Scott in Class 4A boys’ basketball substate opener

MARION — They need to set a season-high win streak to move on here in the postseason. But the way the Linn-Mar Lions played Monday night, they seem capable of getting one.

Jaxson Young scored 19 points, Ian Bettis had a career-high 16 and Linn-Mar shot 56 percent from the field to put away North Scott, 64-42, in a Class 4A substate opener at Linn-Mar.

“I think we actually played pretty well this game,” said Young, the fine senior guard, his team’s leading scorer this season. “We usually don’t get a lot of assists, but this felt like it was a good passing game for us. If we play like that, we can pretty much beat anybody. I just feel like that was a really good game for us.”

The Lions (12-10) will probably need to play like Monday to have a chance to win their next game. It’s at rival Cedar Rapids Kennedy (18-3) in a 4A substate semifinal Friday.

Linn-Mar won the first matchup between the teams, 70-63. Kennedy returned serve late in the season, 58-54.

“I’m definitely looking forward to this one,” Young said. “Going to be a huge one over there.”

Linn-Mar went on a second-quarter tear, holding North Scott (10-12) to just four points and grabbing a 34-16 halftime lead. Guard Jack Robertson, son of Coach Chris Robertson, leaked out in transition, took a pass and had an and-one three-point play right at the buzzer.

Young was too much for North Scott, with his quickness and penetration skills. Forward Ian Bettis started for just the fourth time this season and was nearly flawless from an offensive standpoint, hitting 8 of 9 shots from the field.

He posted up and hit shots, faded out to the baseline and splashed 15-foot jumpers. Not too shabby for a guy averaging 4.8 points per game coming in.

“Trying to play my role,” Bettis said. “The goal was just to come out and play as hard as we could. We know we can beat every team out there. It’s just if we go out and show up to play and hustle. So that was the goal. Just come out and play.”

“Ian played very well tonight,” Young said. “Sometimes he’s not always the most aggressive big. But if he knows he’s got a mismatch, I like that little spin he puts in there and banks it in. That’s a good shot. So when he’s going, he’s going. I like watching it.”

As you can gather by its record, Linn-Mar has been an up-and-down team all season. It tied its season-high win streak here.

That’d be three. Grow it to four, and the Lions will be in a substate final. Grow it to five, and they’ll be in the state tournament for the first time since 2012.

“It’s definitely been up and down,” Young said. “Some of our losses, they’ve been by, like, five points. It’s been just little stuff in our losses. But when we win, we play the right way, the way we’re supposed to play. If we’d played like that every day, we should have had a better record. Definitely not the season I was hoping for from last year. But we keep going forward.”

AT LINN-MAR

NORTH SCOTT (42): Kavon Phillips 5-14 0-0 10, Caden Dewey 0-1 0-0 0, Kyler Gerardy 3-6 2-2 10, Oliver Hughes 1-11 0-0 2, Drew Kilburg 1-3 5-6 7, Sam Skarich 0-3 1-2 1, Tyler Watkins 1-2 0-0 3, Zach Johnson 1-4 0-0 3, Eli Engelkes 0-2 0-0 0, Caleb Engelkes 1-1 0-0 3, Cody Sunny 1-3 0-0 3, Andrew Eichmeier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-51 8-10 42.

LINN-MAR (64): Davis Kern 4-11 0-0 8, Ian Bettis 8-9 0-0 16, Jayden Hill 0-4 0-0 0, Jackson Severson 1-2 0-0 3, Jaxson Young 8-14 2-2 19, Jack Robertson 2-2 2-4 6, Henry Read 2-3 0-0 4, T.J. Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Owen Olmstead 0-1 0-0 0, Reid Recker 0-0 0-0 0, Creighton Fairley 2-3 0-0 5, Noah Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Norton 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 28-50 4-6 64.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 34, North Scott 16. 3-point goals - North Scott 6-28 (Phillips 0-3, Dewey 0-1, Gerardy 2-4, Hughes 0-6, Kilburg 0-1, Skarich 0-3, Watkins 1-2, Johnson 1-3, E. Engelkes 0-2, C. Engelkes 1-1, Sunny 1-1, Eichmeier 0-1), Linn-Mar 4-13 (Kern 0-2, Bettis 0-1, Hill 0-3, Severson 1-2, Young 1-1, Read 0-1, Olmstead 0-1, Fairley 1-2, Norton 1-1). Rebounds - North Scott 27 (Phillips, Dewey, Hughes, Johnson 4), Linn-Mar 34 (Kern 9. Total fouls - North Scott 9, Linn-Mar 8. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - North Scott 5, Linn-Mar 7.

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