Prairie will likely host 4A substate final

CEDAR RAPIDS - With the

U.S. Cellular Center unavailable, you wondered where Metro boys' basketball teams would end up playing their Class 4A substate final. The winner is Cedar Rapids Prairie -- probably.The

Iowa High School Athletic Association released district and substate pairings for Class 3A and 4A Monday. 4A's Metro-heavy Substate 6 sees Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Kennedy winning the top two seeds and hosting semifinal games Feb. 24.Linn-Mar will play the winner of a substate opener Feb. 20 between Iowa City High and Prairie at City High. Kennedy gets the winner of the Cedar Rapids Xavier-Cedar Rapids Washington opener.The substate final is Feb. 28 at Prairie, unless the Hawks are playing. Then it would be at Linn-Mar. The Lions, by the way, are looking for their ninth consecutive trip to the state tournament.The only 4A Metro school not in Substate 6, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, got a No. 2 seed in its substate. The J-Hawks host either Marshalltown or Mason City in a Feb. 24 semifinal.Cedar Falls is the top seed in Substate 3. The substate final is Feb. 28 at Northern Iowa's McLeod Center.Top-ranked Iowa City West is the top seed in Substate 5, hosting either Davenport West or Burlington in the semifinals. That substate final is either at Muscatine or Davenport Central.Marion will host its 3A district opener Feb. 20, against Anamosa. The winner of that game will face either fourth-ranked Davenport Assumption or DeWitt Central in the district finals Feb. 23.A substate final is Feb. 27, at Iowa City West and would include either Clear Creek-Amana, Solon, Williamsburg or Benton Community.Substate 4 in 3A is loaded, with the possibility of Wamac Conference West Division leader Vinton-Shellsburg opposing East Division leaders Western Dubuque and Maquoketa, or Dubuque Wahlert from the 4A Mississippi Valley Conference.The state tournament is March 5-10 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.Here is a link to postseason pairings for all four classes:

https://www.iahsaa.org/secure/brackets.php?sport=bb