HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: Senior ready to rise to top

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By Chase Lynn, Dubuque Senior seniorDUBUQUE - The game was ugly but the outcome beautiful.A 52-47 win over the Linn-Mar Lions last week sent Coach Wendell Eimers and the Dubuque Senior boys' basketball team to Iowa state basketball tournament for a the third straight season."In close games like that, it's awesome to have seniors out there who have been through this before," Eimers said.The Rams boast a record of 22-1. Their lone loss was to a Chicago-based school, Marian, led by Kentucky commit Tyler Ulis."I think the loss to Marian motivated us to keep getting better and made us understand if we aren't at our best, we can lose," Eimers said.Last season, Senior finished third at the state tournament. This year, gold is on the the Rams' minds.We've been down here a couple of years," said senior Kyle Haber, a Brown University commit. "We've seen how cool everything is and how it all works. The only way to improve from last year's finish is make championships and hopefully win it."Haber has been a large part of the two previous Senior state qualifying teams. The 6-foot-7 veteran is averaging 19.7 points this season and has scored a total of 454 points. Haber's calmness has influenced his teammates and played a major role in the Rams' success."We are more relaxed this year," he said. "I think if we can stay calm the whole time, we have a good shot at winning it all."Senior will tip off Wednesday night at 6:35pm in Wells Fargo against West Des Moines Valley. The Rams will most likely meet up in the semifinals with red hot Cedar Rapids Kennedy, an MVC foe the Rams defeated earlier this season, 70-62.'They (Kennedy) like to press and get after you on defense so if we are fortunate enough to beat Valley, the Kennedy game would be an interesting matchup," Eimers said.If they can make it past the those first two games, Senior will be playing in the state finals for only the second time  in school history.In the finals they would most likely meet up with Bettendorf or back-back returning state champs Iowa City West, a team the Rams dominated in late December at a sold-out Nora gym. West crushed the Rams' state championship dreams in last season's state semifinals."We all know we will have to play well to move on and that will be our main goal," Eimers said.