Cedar Rapids Prairie Hawks

The seven-game MVC-CIML Shootout boys’ basketball event went down Saturday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids. In one of the marquee games of the inaugural event, defending Class 4A defending champion West Des Moines Valley used a fourth-quarter spurt to down Linn-Mar in a matchup of the second and fourth-ranked teams. Top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy also beat No. 7 Waukee.

Off to a dominating start in her junior campaign with a record of 20-2 and ranked No. 1 at 130 pounds, Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Mackenzie Childers is using her state title from a year ago as her motivation for working hard.

Jim Dostal was an all-state football player at Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the late 1970s, early 1980s. He was an all-American linebacker at Coe College and an assistant or head football coach in the high school and college ranks for nearly 40 years. He died Wednesday at the age of 59.

The final area girls’ basketball unbeaten? That will be determined next Tuesday. This Tuesday marks the first night of January action for some teams. Here’s a look at area conference races as we resume.

Here is The Gazette’s first 2023-24 installment of area high school boys’ wrestling individual rankings.

The Iowa high school boys’ wrestling is paused until 2024. The season resumes with 6 1/2 weeks of competition until champions are crowned in Des Moines. Here are some notable events for the second half of the season.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union is likely to announce its girls’ basketball regional pairings in mid- to late January. Here is The Gazette’s first version of mock pairings ... all five classes, all 346 teams.

It’s been almost two years since Cedar Rapids Prairie’s boys’ basketball team has won two games in a row. The Hawks accomplished that Friday night with an 81-58 victory over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.