Jeff Johnson

North Linn’s boys’ basketball team lost a couple of weeks ago to Alburnett and slipped from first to second in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s rankings in Class 1A. The Lynx went from second to third last week despite not losing. But a 69-60 win this past Friday night at then-No. 1 Bellevue Marquette has moved North Linn back to the top spot in the class this week.

North Linn’s boys’ basketball team doesn’t lose very often, so a loss a couple of weeks ago to rival Alburnett got everyone’s attention. It seems to have refocused the Class 1A third-ranked Lynx, who knocked off No. 1 Bellevue Marquette, 69-60, Friday night.

Keota High School’s enrollment is 65, making it 328th out of 353 schools in Iowa playing boys’ basketball this season. But this is a historically winning program, with this season’s Eagles being 18-0 and ranked No. 6 in Class 1A.

No. 1-ranked teams in Iowa high school basketball picked up some big wins last week: Class 1A’s top-ranked North Linn girls beat 3A No. 1 Mount Vernon, while the 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy boys handled West Des Moines Valley. And there’s another big boys’ game on Friday, when 1A No. 1 Bellevue Marquette hosts No. 3 North Linn. The Call It Both Ways podcast discusses those games on this week’s episode, plus more notable performances.

Linn-Mr 6-foot-8 junior forward Davis Kern picked up his 1,000th-career point in a game last week. If he picks up his pace a little bit, he could approach the school career record for points, which Marcus Paige and Jason Bohannon have. Kern scored 32 points Monday in his team’s 77-38 win over Cedar Rapids Washington.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy notched an impressive 60-43 win Saturday afternoon over fourth-ranked West Des Moines Valley to put a stranglehold on the top spot in Class 4A in this week’s Iowa High School Athletic Association boys’ basketball rankings. The other No. 1s remain the same: Bellevue Marquette in 1A, West Lyon in 2A and Clear Lake in 3A.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders scored three goals in the third period to rally past Sioux City, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at ImOn Ice. The Riders won two of three games in a three-in-three weekend, playing three different goaltenders.

Iowa City West’s second-ranked boys’ basketball team built a 17-point halftime lead on No. 8 Cedar Falls, but needed a three-point play by Kareem Earl on the final minute to pull out a 45-43 win.

Holden Arnaman scored 27 points, and Reese Trepanier hit a huge go-ahead 3-pointer in the final two minutes as West Branch knocked off Class 2A No. 10 Iowa City Regina, 55-49, Friday night at Regina. The win tied the teams atop the River Valley Conference South Division and ended Regina’s 13-game win streak.

The Class 4A boys’ rankings saw a big shake-up this week (though Cedar Rapids Kennedy is still the clear No. 1) and that leads this episode of Call It Both Ways, a podcast about Iowa high school basketball.

Cascade’s Jackson Lieurance scored 47 points in a game last week, breaking a school record set by Creighton head coach Greg McDermott. He also set the school record for 3-pointers in a game. A few days later, West Branch’s Holden Arnaman scored a school-record 48 points.

Solon’s Class 3A fourth-ranked boys’ basketball team stayed unbeaten Tuesday night with a 70-54 win at No. 8 Marion.

Former Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer was elected Tuesday to the Baseball Hall of Fame, only the third catcher elected on his first attempt. Caleb Thielbar, who threw his first major league pitcher to Mauer, was in town Tuesday night as part of the Twins Winter Caravan, which made a stop at the Cedar Rapids Kernels Hot Stove Banquet.

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.