Linn-Mar tops Waterloo East in 4A substate semifinal, 79-63

MARION - Chris Robertson claims he might have to set his car's GPS if his team is able to win one more game. The way to Des Moines has gotten a little fuzzy for him.

When you haven't been to the state basketball tournament in four years, especially at a program like Linn-Mar, that's a drought of epic proportions.

'I don't know if I know how to get to Wells Fargo anymore, though I'd like to reacquaint myself,” Robertson deadpanned, after his team's 79-63 win over Waterloo East in a Class 4A substate semifinal Friday night. 'It's crazy. It hasn't been that long, but it seems like it has been a long time. I think that's the thing that people sometimes take for granted. It's not easy.”

Robertson and Linn-Mar just made it seem easy, qualifying a record nine consecutive times from 2004 to 2012, winning their first-round game each of those years. They've lost a substate final the past two seasons and have a tough assignment again Tuesday night.

Cedar Falls (18-4) is the opponent at 6:30 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. Linn-Mar (17-5) won a regular-season encounter by eight, but that was in early January, and both of these teams have been on a serious roll.

Linn-Mar has won eight in a row, CF 13 of 14. It should be fun.

'Coach talks a lot about how we need to get the tradition back,” said Linn-Mar's Beau Klostermann. 'Because we haven't been to state for awhile.”

'I've always known this program is top notch,” said Linn-Mar's Jared Printy, who transferred in this season from Cedar Rapids Washington. 'All the guys just come in and work and work and work. It's really great, and that's what we're going to continue to do. It's gotten us to this point, and now we're going to try and ride it all the way through.”

On a night when Jordan Bohannon, 4A's leading scorer at 25.3 points per game, wasn't particularly locked in from the field (2 of 10), Klostermann and Printy picked up the slack. Printy, a Western Michigan signee, lit it up the first half with four 3-pointers and 14 points, as Linn-Mar rolled to a 29-8 lead.

East (12-12) cut the deficit to 36-29 by halftime, and it was a three-point game early in the third quarter. That's when Klostermann began taking over.

The 6-foot-4 forward, who plans to walk on at Northern Iowa, had 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Linn-Mar regained solid control. Printy finished with a game-high 23 points, Bohannon 18, including 13-of-13 free-throw shooting.

'They started out in a 1-3-1 zone, and we shot the lights out,” Klostermann said. 'We had a huge run there, stepped up the defense, too, in the first quarter, and that's key for us.”

'This time of year, you've got to get off to good starts,” Robertson said. 'That's one of the things we talked about. It's easier said than done, but play loose and relaxed. Have fun, go after it. I thought our girls the other night (in a regional final win) were relaxed and loose and were having fun. Sometimes when you start feeling pressure, you just squeeze it a little bit. So I thought our start was really big.”

Linn-Mar did have significant issues defensively with 6-6 East center Isaiah Wade, who was unstoppable at times on the interior in an 18-point, 12-rebound performance. Foul trouble kept him out most of the first half.

Guards Raheem Nickelson and Averee Clark added 15 points apiece for the Trojans, with Clark 5 of 7 from the 3-point arc.

'East played hard. You've got to give them credit,” Robertson said. 'They kept coming after us, nothing was easy. It was just nice to have those seniors step up for us there in the end.”

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AT LINN-MAR

WATERLOO EAST (63): Mosiah Sanders 0-2 0-0 0, JaCee Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Isaiah Wade 8-18 0-2 18, Marquas Gafeney 4-10 0-0 9, Raheem Nickelson 6-12 2-5 15, Averee Clark 5-9 0-0 15, Jordan Garrey 0-0 0-0 0, Tyree Reed 0-0 0-0 0, Tyus Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Martekis Matlock 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 26-59 2-7 63.

LINN-MAR (79): Jordan Brandt 1-1 2-3 5, Jared Printy 9-14 0-0 23, Beau Klostermann 8-11 3-4 21, Riley Murphy 2-7 0-0 6, Jordan Bohannon 2-10 13-13 18, Reese Phillips 2-2 0-0 4, Tyler Vovas 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-46 18-20 79.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 36, Waterloo East 29. 3-point goals - Waterloo East 9-20 (Sanders 0-1, Wade 0-1, Gafeney 1-5, Nickelson 1-3, A. Clark 5-7, Matlock 2-3), Linn-Mar 11-26 (Printy 5-10, Brandt 1-1, Klostermann 2-4, Murphy 2-5, Bohannon 1-6). Rebounds - Waterloo East 30 (Wade 12), Linn-Mar 27 (Klostermann 9). Total fouls - Waterloo East 18, Linn-Mar 8. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Waterloo East 17, Linn-Mar 11.

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