Jeff Johnson

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have played terrific hockey on the road this USHL season, accumulating 21 of a possible 32 standings points. But they’ve won just three times at home in 18 games, tied for the fewest in the league.

North Linn lost its first game of the season last week to Linn County rival Alburnett and slipped from first to second in Class 1A in this week’s Iowa High School Athletic Association boys’ basketball rankings, with fellow Tri-Rivers Conference mate Bellevue Marquette assuming the top spot.

Cedar Rapids Washington’s boys’ basketball team trailed virtually the entire game Friday night against Cedar Rapids Jefferson. But a 15-2 run ended the game and gave the Warriors a 56-53 victory.

Cedar Rapids Washington’s girls’ basketball team went through the horror of a 1-21 season last season. But the Warriors are 6-8 this season, the winners of four out of five after knocking off Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 51-43.

The Call It Both Ways podcast is back with weekly high school basketball topics, including the Mount Vernon girls' rise from a one-win season to a No. 1 ranking, schedule changes, participation numbers, Eric Dettbarn's 500-win career and more.

Jason Dumont said he was retiring from football when he announced he was stepping down as head coach at Iowa City Regina in early November. The retirement didn’t last long, as he has been named head football coach at West Liberty, the school said Thursday.

Eric Dettbarn remembers eating supper one night in his small Monona home with his wife and legendary college basketball coach Roy Williams. It’s just one memory in a 38-year boys’ basketball coaching career at MFL MarMac that included picking up his 500th-career victory Tuesday night when his team beat Postville.

Dubuque Senior’s student section greeted Cedar Rapids Kennedy guard Trey McKowen with chants of “Slim Shady” because of McKowen’s similar blond hair style to rapper Eminem’s alter ego. But the Kennedy Slim Shady scored a game-high 17 points as his Class 4A top-ranked team beat No. 3 Senior, 57-34.

Drew DeRidder signed with the Iowa Heartlanders in the offseason despite knowing he’d begin the ECHL season as the club’s third goaltender. He finally is getting an opportunity to play and is making the most of it.

The Iowa Heartlanders rallied for three goals in the third period Monday afternoon at Xtream Arena to force overtime against the Cincinnati Cyclones, eventually winning, 5-4. But that’s just a small part of the story, as massive travel woes hit the ECHL club as it attempted to return home following two weekend games in Tulsa, Okla.

Senior guard Joe Bean scored one point in Class 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s win last weekend over fifth-ranked Waukee. Thursday night, Bean had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds as Kennedy knocked off 10th-ranked Linn-Mar, 79-53.

The Call It Both Ways podcast is snowed in for the time being, but has a few topics to discuss despite the lack of games. Those include a look at the Cedar Rapids Washington girls, Lansing Kee boys and other teams on the rise, takeaways from last Saturday’s MVC-CIML Shootout and revisiting conference realignment possibilities.

Lansing Kee has as strong a baseball tradition as any school in the state, but its basketball team has the communities of Lansing and New Albin buzzing this winter. The Hawks are 12-0 and ranked for the first time in school history, eighth in Class 1A.

Defenseman Colin Grable is the captain of this season’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders team. He will turn 21 next week, making him the oldest player on the team and one of the oldest in the United States Hockey League.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released its second boys’ basketball rankings of the season Monday afternoon. There is a new No. 1 team in Class 3A in Clear Lake. The other top-ranked teams remain the same in Cedar Rapids Kennedy (4A), West Lyon (2A) and North Linn (1A).