Jeff Johnson

It’s just that his mom, Jan Jensen, has been one of the best post player coaches in the country for years. Jan is head women’s basketball coach at the University of Iowa, of course.

The Center Point-Urbana boys basketball team has won eight consecutive games and gained a No. 9 ranking in Class 3A. That eighth win came Tuesday night against Marion, 69-58.

Call it Both Ways Podcast with Gazette sports writers Jeff Linder and Jeff Johnson talk Iowa high school and college basketball

Very young, inexperienced, undersized, all that combined to make Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s boys basketball team less than stellar in the early going this season. But the Cougars have figured things out despite three freshmen who are playing big roles and are on a five-game win streak after Monday night’s 72-68 win at Linn-Mar.

Cedar Falls remained the No. 1 team in Class 4A and Algona Garrigan the No. 1 team in 1A as the Iowa High School Athletic Association released its weekly boys basketball rankings Monday. The other two top-ranked teams are new: Storm Lake in Class 3A and Carroll Kuemper in 2A.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are a good hockey team. They have gathered standings points in two-thirds of their games, have been competitive night in and night out. But they are 0-7 in games that have gone past regulation, including 0-5 in shootouts after a 2-1 loss Sunday to Fargo.

Neil James is listed at 6-foot-1, which might be stretching it. But he continually found success at the hoop Friday night, scoring 18 points on the inside as Iowa City West beat Iowa City Liberty, 73-48..

Nick Saracino will represent Italy at next month’s Winter Olympics. The 33-year-old St. Louis native has had quite an interesting hockey career, including a two-season stint with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

The Union Community boys basketball team got hot in the postseason last season and unexpectedly qualified for the state tournament in Class 2A. With the guts of that team returning, the Knights have a 14-1 record and No. 7 ranking.

Here are updated boys basketball standings for schools and conferences in the The Gazette area.

Tevin Schultz is a 6-foot-7 senior forward for Dubuque Senior’s boys basketball team, a four-year starter. He scored 26 points Tuesday night as his Class 4A fifth-ranked Rams won at 3A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Xavier, 59-36. He broke Senior’s record for most career points in the process.

Not a lot of change in this week’s Iowa High School Athletic Association boys basketball rankings. That’s except in Class 1A, where Algona Garrigan is your new top-ranked club.

Dennis Olejniczak died Saturday in Deocrah at the age of 86. He coached high school baseball at Janesville and Decorah for 56 years, winning three state championships and accruing over 1,400 victories.

Junior guard Maddox Kelley had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Class 3A No. 6 Solon boys basketball team beat rival Mount Vernon, 64-50, Friday night at Mount Vernon. Kelley came in averaging about six points per game.

Stephen Bender took over for the legendary Dwight Gingerich this season as head boys basketball coach at Hillcrest Academy. Gingerich, fourth on the all-time wins list in Iowa, left the former Iowa Mennonite School over the summer for Goshen College in Indiana. Hillcrest is 13-1 under its new coach.