Sophomore A.J. Green goes 8-for-8 in 3-pointers as Cedar Falls topples C.R. Xavier

CEDAR RAPIDS - He's got such a baby face. The braces make him look even younger.

But A.J. Green has a very grown-up basketball game.

The sophomore guard put together a classic performance Tuesday night at Ron Thillen Gymnasium, burying all eight of his 3-point attempts as Class 4A ninth-ranked Cedar Falls rallied past Class 3A eighth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier, 64-57. He finished with 28 points.

When everything is going in, as it was here, it's easy to start jacking up shots now and ask questions later. But Green never did that, which was so very impressive, especially for a 10th-grader.

'I just knew I had to let the ball come to me,” he said. 'Don't force anything. Just let the shots come to me, and let my teammates make plays. They did that.”

Xavier (13-7) played a good three quarters, taking an eight-point halftime edge and 45-40 lead to the fourth. But Cedar Falls (16-4) cut into that deficit, went ahead two minutes into the fourth and put things away for good, 53-47, on a Taylen Alexander trey with 3:50 to go.

This was Xavier's fifth loss in a row, which is exactly not the time of the season you want to go on a losing streak. The Saints have had some untimely injuries, with guards Matt Mims and Mitch Burger missing games with bad ankles, though they both played here.

Burger finished with a team-best 21 points, Mims had 18.

'I feel like we're at a point where we're figuring stuff out right now,” Burger said. 'We just have to find a way to get back to the way we were playing (earlier) in the year. I felt like the first half we played really good. The second half, we just had stretches where we let it get out of control and lost A.J. There are things we can fix, and I'm pretty sure we'll get back on track very soon.”

The schedule was backloaded for Xavier, considering three of the losses in this stretch have come to ranked 4A teams CF, Linn-Mar and Iowa City West. But losses to Waterloo East (by 22 points) and Waterloo West (allowing 97 points) have been head scratchers for everyone.

'We've had bad timing with some injuries,” said Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. 'That threw off our chemistry and timing a little bit. We haven't been very good defensively. I think fundamentally (there) is where we've struggled, especially against the two Waterloo schools. Actually, I thought we were better tonight. But we lost track of a star player at times, and you can't do that.”

Green came in averaging 16.6 points per game. Six-foot-seven center Tray'Von Fagan is CF's leading scorer, and Xavier held him to 11, eight under his average.

The Saints conclude the regular season Thursday night at 3A third-ranked Dubuque Wahlert. They are tied with Iowa City High for first place in the MVC's Mississippi Division (9-6).

City High ends Thursday night at Cedar Rapids Kennedy. On a positive note, Xavier's 3A district and substate appear very manageable, so there shouldn't be any panic.

'I don't know. We're definitely in a funk,” Luehrsmann said. 'It's unavoidable when you lose five in a row. It's a hard thing to go through. But as I told them, our goal at the beginning of the year was to peak come tournament time. I still feel like we can do that. If you win games at that time of the year, you'll trade those for some disappointing losses in the MVC. That's what we're selling. Hopefully they're buying, and we can rebound.”

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AT C.R. XAVIER

CEDAR FALLS (64): Isaiah Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Ben Gerdes 4-7 2-2 10, Tray'Von Fagan 2-9 7-10 11, A.J. Green 9-12 2-2 28, Taylen Alexander 3-7 4-4 11, Denison Harrington 0-2 0-0 0, Luke Loecher 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell Bower 1-2 0-0 2, Jacob Leisinger 0-2 0-0 0. 20-45 13-18 64.

C.R. XAVIER (59): Jackson Joens 1-4 0-0 3, Ryan Stulken 1-2 0-0 2, Max Techau 3-9 0-0 6, Matt Mims 6-10 4-4 18, Mitch Burger 8-16 0-0 21, Nolan Butkowski 2-4 0-0 5, Bryce Schulte 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-46 4-4 59.

Halftime - Xavier 30, Cedar Falls 22. 3-point goals - Cedar Falls 9-15 (Gerdes 0-1, Fagan 0-1, Green 8-8, Alexander 1-3, Harrington 0-1, Bower 0-1), Xavier 9-22 (Joens 1-3, Stulken 0-1, Mims 2-5, Burger 5-11, Butkowski 1-2). Rebounds - Cedar Falls 28 (Gerdes 7), Xavier 22 (Techau 7). Total fouls - Cedar Falls 10, Xavier 16. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Cedar Falls 5, Xavier 7.

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