West Branch can play basketball, too

WEST BRANCH - You start your season with a 20-point win over traditional power Mid-Prairie, and you're going to get noticed. The West Branch Bears are definitely getting noticed.WB goes into its rematch with the Golden Hawks tonight with an 11-1 record and No. 6 ranking in Class 2A. It's the first time it has been ranked since the 1999-2000 season.Guess this isn't only a football school, after all.“It's just a great group of young men,” said Coach Stephen Bender. “They are very team oriented.”Bender used an early season practice as an example. One part of the team lost a practice “competition” to the other part, which meant it had to run lines on the court.The coach looked up to begin the run, but saw something unusual.“Every single guy had stepped on the line,” Bender said. “I told them ‘Hey, wait, only the guys that lost have to run.' They just said ‘We're a team, we're all running.'”This team's seniors finished 3-17 three years ago, but just look at them now. Center Clay Cook is averaging a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, leading the state by a wide margin in offensive boards. Fellow 6-foot-5 player Logan Murry chips in 11 points a game, while Tyler Trimble, Grant Mastain and Jacob Sheyko provide solid play at guard.Junior guard Brandon Young and 6-foot-7 sophomore Rylan Murry are the other guys in the regular playing rotation. Bender is especially high on Murry, who averages 13.6 points and is versatile for his size.“This group really does a lot of things well,” Bender said.Like average nearly 20 assists per game and outrebound its opponents by almost 20 per game. That's been good enough for first place in a very good Cedar Valley Conference, though Bender knows his team can't get complacent.Games with Iowa City Regina and 3A power Mount Pleasant await after tonight.“Our upcoming schedule is very difficult,” he said.

This and that- When was the last time you saw four ranked Metro teams facing off against one another on the same night? You'll see it tonight as Class 4A top-ranked Linn-Mar (10-0) plays at No. 10 Cedar Rapids Washington (7-3) and No. 2 Cedar Rapids Jefferson (8-1) is at No. 6 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (9-1).Just look at the delectable possible individual matchups: Iowa recruit Josh Oglesby of Wash against Northern Iowa recruit Matt Bohannon of Linn-Mar. Division I recruit Wes Washpun of Wash against North Carolina commit Marcus Paige of Linn-Mar.Wisconsin recruit Jarrod Uthoff of Jeff against Oregon football recruit Christian French of Kennedy. Should be a great night of hoops.By the way, the 3A-4A substate groupings will be released Monday, with pairings coming Feb. 7. It'll be interesting to see how the Metro schools are split up, if at all.The district groupings in 1A-2A were released last Monday, with official pairings scheduled for Jan. 31.