Linn-Mar State of the Union
 Your #1 Source for all things linn-mar basketball

DES MOINES, Iowa -The Iowa Sports Connection has released their third regular season rankings in Iowa high school boy's basketball. Ames (4A), Bishop Heelan (Sioux City) (3A), Des Moines Christian (2A) and Rock Valley (1A) maintain their perch on the top of the four classes.

Listed below are the rankings in all four classes through December 23rd  
Iowa Sports Connection Iowa High School Boy's Basketball Rankings (Last weeks rankings in parenthesis)
  ISC - Class 4A Top 10
1-Ames (1)
2-Johnston (2)
3-Sioux City East (3)
4-Bettendorf (4)
5-Linn-Mar (Marion) (5)
6-Des Moines Hoover (6)
7-Southeast Polk (7)
8-Cedar Falls (9)
9-Waukee (NR)
10-Pleasant Valley (NR)  
New to Top-10: Waukee, Pleasant Valley
Dropped Out: Marshalltown, Iowa City West  
Others: Ankeny, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Des Moines Roosevelt, Dowling Catholic, Iowa City West, Lewis Central (Council Bluffs), Marshalltown, North Scott (Eldridge), Sioux City North, Waterloo East, Urbandale

OK, here they are. The latest Gazette boys’ basketball rankings (Super Ten and top five in each class).

There has been some shakeup. Cedar Rapids Washington makes a big leap after its victories last weekend over Waterloo East and Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

The Warriors are just 2-3, but here’s my reasoning for their spot in the Super Ten. They lost their first three games to an unbeaten team (Cedar Falls) and two ranked clubs (Bettendorf and Davenport Assumption).

They’re ahead of Jefferson for obvious reasons, they beat them on Jeff’s court. They’re ahead of Iowa City West because West lost last week to Waterloo East.

At any rate, let me know what you think and where I screwed up.

THE SUPER TEN (Record and last week)

—- 1. Linn-Mar              5-1 ——2
—- 2. C.R. Kennedy      4-1 ——1
—- 3. C.R. Washington 2-3—– 6
—- 4. C.R. Jefferson      4-1—— 3
—- 5. Iowa City West    4-1—— 4
—- 6. Iowa City High     3-2—– 5
—- 7. Solon                       6-0—– 7
—- 8. Western Dubuque 6-1—-10
—- 9. Washington (Iowa) 5-0— 8
—- 10. Marion                     5-2—- 9

By Class
—- 4A -- 1. Linn-Mar (5-1), 2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (4-1), 3. Cedar Rapids Washington (2-3), 4. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (4-1), 5. Iowa City West (4-1)
—- 3A — 1. Western Dubuque (6-1), 2. Washington, Iowa (5-0), 3. Marion (5-2), 4. Maquoketa (4-2), 5. Clear Creek-Amana (3-3)
—- 2A — 1. Solon (6-0), 2. North Linn (6-0), 3. BGM (6-0), 4. Maquoketa Valley (5-0), 5. Cascade (4-2)
—- 1A — 1. Keota (6-0), 2. Iowa Mennonite (5-0), 3. Central City (5-0), 4. Lisbon (5-1), 5. HLV (4-2)

Linn-Mar's 6'10 center, Dustin Pierce, has quit the team. He has joined the swim team, where he competed in his first JV meet a couple of days ago. We wish him much luck in his new journey. In two games this season, Dustin scored 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds.

In news that doesn't have to do with Linn-Mar basketball but still prep ball,

Scott Saville reports that Harrison Barnes was named the Sporting News prep athlete of the year December 18th. Barnes was honored by the Sporting News along with Yankees Pitcher Mariano Rivera, its pro athlete of the year, and Texas Quarterback Colt McCoy, its college athlete of the year.

The December 23rd, 2009 issue of the Cedar Rapids Gazette had an interesting article on the Cedar Rapids Prairie basketball program. Prairie has lost 51 straight Mississippi Valley Conference games. To read it click here.

Linn-Mar plays at Prairie February 5th. The Hawks are 36 point underdogs.

You can now leave comments on the articles in the news section! However, due to some inappropriate comments being left recently, your comments may take some time to appear on the website. Please keep your comments clean. Remember, this is a family-friendly website.

This is a video that became an instant classic as soon as it was posted. With 16 seconds left, score tied at 62. Jordan Printy gets the loose ball and finds Jason Bohannon going up court. Bohannon pulls up for the three at the buzzer for the win. Video from www.youtube.com/user/Trackie900

A brand spanking new State of the Union is coming. It should be posted Sunday, after Linn-Mar's games Friday and Saturday. You can watch it here under the shows tab or at our youtube page.

Friday's home game against Davenport Central will be available at www.youtube.com/lmtv. State of the Union's very own Tyler, Zafir, and TJ will provide commentary. They are also LMTV's sports reporters. According to Tyler, the full game should be put online Saturday. It will be in four or five segments and will include four different camera angles! They'll most likely do this for all home games.

From SavilleSEZ, Scott Saville's Blog (KCRG-TV9's Sports Anchor)
(Posted on December 3rd, 2009)
The recruiting war is on for Linn-Mar 6′4 junior center Kia Stokes.  Every school in the country is interested in the shot blocking machine. Stokes has already visited several big time schools. Kia has made trips to checkout Rutgers, Maryland, Stanford, Georgia, Iowa, and Iowa State .  Kia is the daughter of former Iowa All-American Greg Stokes, but she says her dad is not putting pressure on her to go to Iowa.  

Stokes says she will decide on a college sometime next fall before her senior basketball season.  Kia gained valuable experience with the U.S Junior National team last summer and look for her to have a monster junior season. 

I will feature Kia next week on the KCRG TV-9 News.

SOTU Notes:
As we previously reported, Kiah Stokes was named the best girls basketball player in Iowa by ESPN Rise in their preseason coverage of state and national girls basketball. ESPNU has her ranked as the 10th best player in the 2011 class, with a "grade" of 96 out of 100.

Last season, Kiah started 23 of Linn-Mar's 25 games. The 6'3" center averaged 15.6 points, 12.8 rebounds, 6.4 blocks, and .96 steals per game. In her first game this season, she put up 28 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. She also had 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 1 assist. She shot 86.7% from the floor. We expect big things from "Air Kiah".