Jeff Johnson

The seven-game MVC-CIML Shootout boys’ basketball event went down Saturday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids. In one of the marquee games of the inaugural event, defending Class 4A defending champion West Des Moines Valley used a fourth-quarter spurt to down Linn-Mar in a matchup of the second and fourth-ranked teams. Top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy also beat No. 7 Waukee.

Defense was king Friday night for Class 4A 10th-ranked Iowa City West’s boys’ basketball team, which used it to knock off Class 3A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Xavier, 61-53.

The Call It Both Ways podcast with The Gazette's Jeff Linder and Jeff Johnson is back from the holiday break with its first episode of 2024. They discuss Jim Dostal's legacy, the IHSAA's first basketball rankings and games to watch this week (including a full Saturday).

Since 2000, the well-known Bohannon brothers of Marion carried on a tradition of ringing in the new year by shooting hoops right at midnight. The 25th year of that tradition saw the family be extended to youths in the area.

Jim Dostal was an all-state football player at Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the late 1970s, early 1980s. He was an all-American linebacker at Coe College and an assistant or head football coach in the high school and college ranks for nearly 40 years. He died Wednesday at the age of 59.

Hunter Lellig is from Waterloo, played junior hockey for his hometown Waterloo Black Hawks. After five years of college hockey, he is playing professionally back home with the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL.

The Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team played well at times Tuesday night in their Big Ten road game at 21st-ranked Wisconsin. The teams were tied at halftime, but a run midway through the second half gave the Badgers an 83-72 win, dropping Iowa to 0-3 in the league.

Forward Jack Larrigan has played over 140 regular-season games in the USHL. He has played for three teams, the latest the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, where he has excelled.

As the new year rapidly approaches, it seems the perfect time to reflect on the the Corridor’s two hockey clubs have done so far this season. Here’s a look at how the Iowa Heartlanders and Cedar Rapids RoughRIders have fared and what their goals should be heading into 2024.

It’s been almost two years since Cedar Rapids Prairie’s boys’ basketball team has won two games in a row. The Hawks accomplished that Friday night with an 81-58 victory over Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released its first official boys’ basketball rankings of the 2023-24 season Friday. No. 1 teams include Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Decorah and North Linn.

Prep basketball area rankings, news and more from Linder and Johnson on this week’s Iowa Prep Sports podcast.

The MVC-CIML Crossover Shootout event is January 6 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids. It features seven games, most of them pitting a school from the Central Iowa Metro League against one from either the Mississippi Valley Conference or Mississippi Athletic Conference

Maurice Blue has been part of the Cedar Rapids Washington football program for around three decades as a player and coach. He became the first Black head coach in Metro history in 2017. Wednesday he said he has resigned from the position.

Dustin Elsbury has been named head varsity football coach at Iowa City Regina. He had been an assistant at the school under Jason Dumont, who recently retired from coaching.