Linn-Mar uses its size to beat C.R. Jefferson

MARION - There’s one thing you can say about this Linn-Mar boys’ basketball team. It has size.

And it used it to beat Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 63-53, Friday night on the back end of a girl-boy double-header in Lionland.

It was the first win in two games for Linn-Mar, which starts a pair of 6-foot-4 guys and has a pair more come off the bench. Then there 6-7 freshman Davis Kern.

He scored nine points and pulled down 15 rebounds, part of a pasting on the glass by the Lions. The official final board total was 49 to Jefferson’s 33, with Linn-Mar time and time again getting second, third and sometimes four cracks at the bucket.

“Our coach always tells us to crash the offensive glass, and that’s what we do,” said Linn-Mar Jayden Hill, who had a nine-point, six-rebound performance. “We’ve got a lot of size.”

Guard Jackson Severson led Linn-Mar in scoring 17 points, many of those coming late at the free-throw line. Forward Ian Mindrup and guard Jaxson Young added eight and nine points, respectively.

Now about this Kern kid. He’s got braces but a mature game for his age, a guy who very well could end up as this program’s next Division I college player in a few years IF he can continue to grow his game.

“Future is really bright,” said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. “He’s very skilled for as young as he is. He’s just going to get better. The mistakes he makes are a product of being young. But, yeah, he’s got a very high ceiling.”

“I was really nervous at first,” Kern said. “But as it goes on, I think I can look for my shot and help us play well as a team.”

Linn-Mar had a six-point lead after a quarter and doubled that to 12 at halftime. The Lions built a 51-29 edge after three quarters, with Jefferson throwing on a last-gasp press defense that turned over Linn-Mar and led to the J-Hawks get as close as 10 points.

That’s a good sign for a team that went 2-19 last season. Jefferson won its first three games this season: over Clinton, Davenport North and Mount Vernon.

Andreas Williams had a game-high 22 points for the J-Hawks. Guard Ayrondus Hodges added 12, including a steal right after the opening tap that led to a dunk.

“We are proud of the boys for not quitting,” said first-year Jeff Coach Wes Bruns. “We preach to keep fighting, never give up. We did not rebound well tonight, rushed some shots, and found ourselves getting down. Linn-Mar spaces the floor well and makes that extra pass. They did a nice job. We will keep working to get better, the boys are really trying to get things rolling here, and we as coaches really appreciate their effort.”

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Robertson said. “I thought the majority of the game, we did a lot of good things. We rebounded, made an emphasis on throwing the ball inside, and we definitely did get it in there. Good things happens. Then we did a lot of stupid things down the stretch. We’ve got to learn.”

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AT LINN-MAR

C.R. JEFFERSON (53): Dominic White 2-4 0-1 4, Kaden Haller 2-7 0-0 4, Caden Schroeder 2-8 1-1 5, Ian Wiederin 1-3 0-0 2, Ayrondus Hodges 5-12 2-4 12, Andreas Williams 8-15 4-7 22, Brayden Kindhart 0-4 0-0 0, Carson Dighton 0-1 0-0 0, Kay’Zure Lewis 2-5 0-0 4, Logan Augustine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 7-13 53.

LINN-MAR (63): Davis Kern 4-10 0-1 9, Jayden Hill 3-10 2-3 9, Ian Mindrup 4-6 0-1 8, Jackson Severson 3-7 10-11 17, Jaxson Young 1-7 7-10 9, Jack Robertson 2-3 0-0 5, L.J. Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Ian Bettis 2-3 0-0 4, Owen Olmstead 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 19-26 63.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 33, Jefferson 21. 3-point goals - Jefferson 2-23 (Haller 0-2, Schroeder 0-4, Wiederin 0-2, Hodges 0-5, Williams 2-3, Kindhart 0-4, Lewis 0-2), Linn-Mar 4-21 (Kern 1-6, Hill 1-5, Severson 1-4, Young 0-1, Robertson 1-2, Olmstead 0-3). Rebounds - Jefferson 33 (Wiederin 6), Linn-Mar 49 (Kern 15). Total fouls - Jefferson 16, Linn-Mar 15. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Jefferson 14, Linn-Mar 19.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com