Saints working hard for state trip

CEDAR RAPIDS - Last year, the Cedar Rapids Xavier boys' basketball made it to the Wells Fargo Arena and to the semifinal game of the state tournament.

The Saints placed third, the best finish in school history.

This year, Xavier is 11-2 overall (7-2 in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division) is excited to see how it will do and an attempt to get back to Des Moines.

Some players think the Saints can go even farther this year.

'I have already seen how things are going differently this year,” sophomore Jackson Joens said. 'The practices are much more intense and everyone is working hard outside of practice to make sure they do their part in getting where we need to be in the near future.”

Joens is in his second season playing the wing and power forward for the varsity team. He is confident in his team's abilities to get where they need to be for the playoffs.

'I think we have the tools to get farther than we did last year,” he said. 'We just have to put it together and work hard as a team. We are focusing on improving in the defense area.”

Many of the players said they are working as a team to get where they need to be - and win a state title for the first time in Xavier's boys' basketball history.

'I know we will get there this year if everyone works as hard as they should,” sophomore Matthew Mims said. 'We'll be expecting big things.”

The Saints are at Linn-Mar tonight for a girl-boy doubleheader, starting with the girls' game at 6 p.m.