Jeff Linder

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.

Despite an overtime loss at West Des Moines Valley, Cedar Rapids Prairie continues to climb in The Gazette’s area high school girls’ basketball Super Ten rankings.

Waverly-Shell Rock won the last three bouts — all by fall — and rallied past No. 8 Linn-Mar, 42-36, in a Class 3A boys’ wrestling regional dual Tuesday night at Linn-Mar High School.

Time, TV and notes for Wednesday’s women’s basketball game between No. 3 Iowa and Northwestern.

Analysis, guesses and projections on the second half of the 2023-24 Big Ten women’s basketball race

Caitlin Clark scored 38 points, and the Iowa women’s basketball team used a midgame surge to jet in front for good in a 92-73 win over Nebraska.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark needs 138 points to reach Kelsey Plum’s record as the all-time NCAA Division-I women’s basketball scorer.

Libby Fandel scored a school-record 34 points and played a brilliant all-around floor game, and Cedar Rapids Xavier defeated Iowa City Liberty, 53-45, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game Friday night at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

Somewhat rested and revitalized after suffering its first setback in more than two months, the fifth-ranked Iowa women’s basketball team hosts enigmatic Nebraska on Saturday.

Time, TV and notes for Saturday’s women’s basketball game between No. 5 Iowa and Nebraska.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union will release girls’ basketball postseason pairings next week, most likely Wednesday. In the meantime, here is the final draft of The Gazette’s mock pairings.

Girls’ basketball: Class 1A top-ranked North Linn hit 13 3-point shots, committed only three turnovers and upended 3A No. 1 Mount Vernon, 60-48.

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.

The top-ranked team in Class 1A since the start of the season, North Linn is in the midst of a typically outstanding winter. The Lynx (15-1 overall, 12-0 Tri-Rivers Conference West Division) wrapped up their third straight divisional title — and their 10th in the last 12 years — with a 60-25 win over Central City on Tuesday.

Girls’ basketball area Super Ten: No change among the top 6 after another weather-affected week.