Boys basketball notebook: Pairings set for Crossover Challenge in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Pairings for the first of two Crossover Challenge boys basketball events were set earlier this week.

The first Crossover Challenge is Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in downtown Cedar Rapids. The day-long event features 14 schools playing seven games.

The second Challenge is Feb. 7 in Central Iowa and will have 10 teams playing five games. ServPro is the sponsor.

The event is the brainchild of Cedar Rapids Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen, whose goal was to have mostly Class 4A schools from Central Iowa face schools from Eastern Iowa in order to be a guide for state rankings and postseason pairings.

“We have some of the best 4A schools across the state that will be competing in downtown Cedar Rapids on January 3rd,” McKowen said. “All the coaches are extremely excited for the third year of the Crossover Challenge. I appreciate how basketball coaches in the state are willing to sign up for challenging games. The goal of the two events is to get the best games possible for each team.”

The Challenge opener is between Norwalk (2-2 going into Thursday) and Cedar Rapids Washington (2-2) at 10 a.m. Game two pits Iowa City Liberty (3-2) against Johnston (1-4) at approximately 11:30.

Cedar Rapids Prairie (1-2) and Ankeny (3-2) are up next at 1 p.m. At 2:30, Linn-Mar (2-2) takes on North Scott (3-1).

The final three games are Cedar Rapids Kennedy (1-2) against Bettendorf (4-0) at 4 p.m., Dubuque Senior (3-0) against Ames (5-0) at 5:30 and Cedar Falls (4-0) versus Waukee Northwest (5-0) at 7.

That latter game features teams that are considered top five or better in Class 4A. The first official rankings from the Iowa High School Athletic Association will be released Monday.

Around the hoop

– Prairie set a school record Tuesday night with 18 3-pointers made in a 67-40 win at Western Dubuque.

The Hawks went 18 of 29 from beyond the arc. Guard Ayden Meier came off the bench to go 6 of 7 from 3-point range for a game-high 18 points.

It was the first win for Prairie (1-2), which had lost to Linn-Mar and Davenport North. The Hawks came into this season with high expectations considering a plethora of returning players from a team that went 19-4, won a division championship in the Mississippi Valley Conference and lost in a 4A substate final.

“The enthusiasm is there, the effort just needs to be consistent,” said Prairie Coach Todd Kuntz. “We’ve got a lot to learn and grow from, but we’ll get there. We know the potential we have, we know the talent we have.”

– Pete Messerli won his 100th game at Marion when his team beat West Delaware, 69-36, Tuesday night. This is Messerli’s seventh season at his alma mater.

– Kaiel Scott scored 25 points Tuesday night as Starmont beat North Linn, 50-46. That was the Stars’ first win over NL since 2007.

Specifically, that victory was 55-47 on Dec. 24 of that year. The 6-foot-5 Scott, a senior, is averaging 16.8 points in six games this season for Starmont (4-2).

– Solon is off to a 6-0 start thanks in large part to the play of junior guard Tate McCollum. The son of first-year University of Iowa men's basketball coach Ben McCollum, Tate is averaging 21.8 points per game.

The 5-foot-10 guard had 25 points as Solon edged rival Mount Vernon in a big Wamac Conference game Tuesday night, 57-56.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com