Linn-Mar girls overcome Xavier’s upset bid, 47-41

MARION — She was fed up with the way her team was playing, but Linn-Mar girls' basketball coach Jaime Brandt didn't call a timeout. She didn't bring the verbal heat, the fire-and-brimstone speech.

In fact, she didn't say a word.

Instead Brandt substituted early in the third quarter Tuesday night. All five starters came out, five new players came in.

'I think they got the point,' Brandt said, after her club overcame Cedar Rapids Xavier, 47-41. 'Coaches just have to find ways to push buttons. For me, right now, it's getting them to play as hard as and as focused as I know we can. If they don't do that, we've got to make changes. They know that.'

'I think that just spoke for itself, that we all just need to play harder,' said Linn-Mar's Amanda Ollinger. 'The best way to do that is to get pulled out and re-evaluate yourself. Sometimes you learn a lot by watching the game, rather than just playing it.'

Brandt just kind of smiled when asked if she felt her team, ranked 13th in Class 5A, kind of slogged its way through this one. The Lions (12-4) led the majority of the game, but never by much.

In fact, Xavier (8-9) had the edge in the third, but a late flurry, keyed by back-to-back steals, put Linn-Mar ahead by five, 35-30, headed to the fourth. The Saints never could quite get those points back.

Ollinger, the University of Iowa signee, finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kamryn Finley added 17, seeming to come up with about every clutch bucket her team needed.

Meghan Joens had 12 points and Lexi Noonan 11 for Xavier.

'Xavier is a tough team to beat,' Brandt said. 'Every year, they are scrappy and play hard. Coach (Tom) Lilly does a great job of getting them up for games and getting ready to go. I think our problem continues to be putting those four quarters together. Sometimes we come out strong and don't finish. Then there are times we come out tonight and pick it up in the fourth quarter ... We need to build on consistency in all four quarters.'

'I think we need to learn to come out stronger as a team and try to put teams away, no matter who we are playing. Xavier is a good team, but we need to come out stronger and tougher. We need to be more like Xavier and attack at the beginning.'

AT LINN-MAR

C.R. XAVIER (41): Meghan Joens 3-5 6-6 12, Lexi Noonan 4-15 3-3 11, Amelea Ivester 1-4 0-1 2, Jenny Dickes 0-4 0-1 0, McKenna Andersen 3-7 0-0 9, Brylee Bastian 0-1 0-0 0, Kiana Stanek 1-4 0-0 3, Kylie Brown 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 14-42 9-11 41.

LINN-MAR (47): Amanda Ollinger 6-11 5-9 18, Alie Akers 0-2 0-0 0, Lexi Frese 3-8 0-0 6, Brittney Lancial 1-3 1-2 4, Kamryn Finle 6-13 3-4 17, Megan Murphy 1-5 0-0 2, Claire Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Carly Spies 0-2 0-0 0, Ally Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Allie Noggle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 9-15 47.

Halftime — Linn-Mar 22, Xavier 16. 3-point goals — Xavier 4-20 (Noonan 0-2, Andersen 3-5, Bastian 0-1, Stanek 1-4), Linn-Mar 4-16 (Ollinger 1-3, Akers 0-1, Lancial 1-1, Finley 2-4, Murphy 0-5, Spies 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds — Xavier 27 (Andersen 7, Linn-Mar 33 (Ollinger 16). Total fouls — Xavier 14, Linn-Mar 11. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Xavier 11, Linn-Mar 10.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com