Jeff Johnson

Jacob Kraft drove with his mother from their home in Rochester, N.Y., to Cedar Rapids to fully move in with his local billet family in preparation for the 2022-23 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders season. Mom made him get checked out medically after he complained of a sore throat, with the diagnosis being mononucleosis, which kept him out the first month of the USHL season.

With three starters back, MFL MarMac was expected to have a good boys’ basketball team this season. The Bulldogs haven’t disappointed, winning their first seven games in blowout fashion, with its “closest” game being 26 points.

It was Field Trip Day at Xtream Arena on Wednesday, with the Iowa Heartlanders and Kalamazoo Wings partaking in an ECHL game that began at 10:35 a.m. Around 1,500 local elementary school kids attended the game, providing a unique atmosphere.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s boys’ basketball team won its first two games this season, but it’s been a rougher go since then. The J-Hawks have lost three in a row, including decisively at the hands of Waterloo West on Tuesday night.

Cal Burke made his National Hockey League debut last week with the Colorado Avalanche. As a member of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the 2014-15 season, he played on a forward line with Ross Colton and Adam Gaudette. All three can say they made it to The Show.

Despite a number of players getting late starts to the season because they played on a football team that won a state championship, Cedar Rapids Xavier’s boys’ basketball team is off to a hot 4-0 start after Friday night’s 63-50 win over Linn-Mar.

Linn-Mar’s girls’ basketball team held Cedar Rapids Xavier to four points in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead it used to pick up a 57-45 win Friday night. Linn-Mar is ranked 15th in Class 5A, Xavier No. 1 in 4A.

Dyersville Beckman senior Padraig Gallagher was displeased with a “mere” 14-point effort Monday night against North Linn. The 6-foot-5 Northwest Missouri State recruit followed with 30 points the next night in a win and is one of the top players in the area.

North Linn’s boys’ basketball team is defending Class 1A state champions and has played in a state title game an unprecedented five years in a row. The Lynx lost three starters to graduation, including all-state point guard Austin Hilmer. Yet, as a 65-51 win over Dyersville Beckman proved Monday night, this Lynx team remains really, really good.

The Iowa Heartlanders are in the midst of a five-game road trip to Canada in which they play at Quebec and Newfoundland. It’s not the worst roady head coach Derek Damon has been part of.

Iowa City High’s Ben Kueter has been named the 2022 Gazette area prep football player of the year. He’s an Iowa commit, for both football and wrestling. The Gazette’s coach of the year is Mount Vernon’s Lance Pedersen, who led his Mustangs to the Class 3A state championship game.

Alex Pirus played in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars and Detroit Red Wings in the 1970s. After his playing career, he found his calling as a chaplain for Hockey Ministries International. He conducts bi-weekly services for those interested Cedar Rapids RoughRiders players and personnel.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s boys’ basketball team returned a pair of all-state guards this season. But an 82-37 win Tuesday night over Marion proved these Cougars have a lot more players to go with Kenzie Reed and Colby Dolphin.

Noah Johnson transferred from Linn-Mar and scored a game-high 19 points in Washington’s 58-33 season-opening win Monday night over Mount Pleasant. The Warriors’ four other starters have played together for multiple years.

The Iowa Heartlanders won a pair of overtime games over the weekend over the Cincinnati Cyclones, the top team record wise in the ECHL. Both wins were 4-3, including Sunday afternoon when defenseman Matt Murphy scored in OT on a breakaway.