Game Recap: Bettendorf VS Linn-Mar

On Tuesday evening the Linn-Mar Lions went on the road to face off against the Bettendorf Bulldogs. Throughout the evening both teams had their moments but in the end, the Bulldogs cruised to a major victory to begin the 2023-2024 high school season by a final score of 73-27. It's really early on in the year so both programs are still figuring things out. It'll be interesting to see how they look in about a month when we circle back. Until then, let's highlight who stepped up for both teams in the contest last night.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    Kicking off the 2024 season and [player_tooltip player_id='612984' first='Alyvia' last='McCorkle'] is looking in prime shape already. To start off this one the Bulldogs ran action for McCorkle to get to the bucket and she did just that to begin the scoring for her squad. From there, McCorkle stayed aggressive attacking the hoop but she didn't have a ton of success...until the second half. That's when she went crazy in the third quarter. Multiple times in a row she came down the floor and hit a deep three with a hand in her face from deep beyond the right wing. This outburst really sealed the game for the Bulldogs in a sense and it also helped McCorkle lead all scores with a game high 26 points on 9/20 shooting. This will be a big year for the Bulldogs and McCorkle is going to be a big contributor in that equation.     If you looked at the preview of this game, you knew going into it that the Lions best prospect was #22 [player_tooltip player_id='592198' first='Dreya' last='Kern']. Kern is a skilled guard, that has an experienced skill set, a fundamental scoring ability from all three offensive levels, and a smart head on her shoulder with better than average vision. This was the simple situation of the Bulldogs just having too much firepower. Kern had open looks and did her thing though. In the end, she led her team in scoring with 10 on 5/10 shooting and each one of those buckets were pretty smooth. There are a lot of take aways you could gather from this one but as long as this group builds on the positives and Kern stays confident, they should be alright looking toward the rest of their season.     Last week I mentioned [player_tooltip player_id='842677' first='Alivia' last='Carr'] and how I thought she was going to be the vital piece to her team's success this Winter. Last night that could not have been more true. To start the game it was all Carr for the Bulldogs. She was being a monster on the boards with her relentless pursuit of the basketball, she was keeping it simple over everything else, and she demonstrated her versatility on both ends. She started things off with buckets at the basket through contact, she was consistently getting to the line, and she was even attacking off the three point arc with the dribble. Not to mention, there were times when Carr would rebound on defense and bring it all the way down the floor to ignite their action on offense. All in all, Carr might not of led all scores last night but she was definitely my MVP of the game.     [player_tooltip player_id='1090511' first='Maddy' last='Blandford'] is going to be a constant for the Lions over the next two years after what I saw last night out on the hardwood. Blandford is a solid competitor, that understands what her strengths are and what the others around her are trying to accomplish. She might not jump off the video camera just yet but you can tell that she has glimpses of doing some positive things on both offense and defense. I expect Blandford to be a top three producer for this group all Winter long. She has all the intangibles to make that happen, now it's all about staying consistent with things.     This was the much anticipated debut at the high school level for 2028 - [player_tooltip player_id='643486' first='Jhaliana' last='Guy'] and it was a roller coaster of emotions per se. Guy was in a foul trouble throughout this entire contest but she still seemingly ended up shining later on. In particularly the fourth quarter. At this point in the contest, Guy had four fouls and was playing with no regrets. This confidence led her to hitting 5 three pointers within about 2 minutes of game time. Her first two 3's were from the top of the key, right at the three point line but her last three attempts were from the parking lot. She ended up pulling up for a 3-ball, three consecutive possessions in a row from a foot behind the Volleyball line and each shot was a swish, igniting the crowd into a frenzy to end the game. When the final buzzer sounded Guy had 17 points on 6/13 shooting, along with going 5/11 from behind the three point arc. Though it was a great team win and Guy went off in the fourth, this was not the game that I think anyone expected her to have but like I've said, it's early on. Give it a few weeks and let's see where she can go from here.     One of the youngest prospects on the floor last night was [player_tooltip player_id='1090514' first='Maya' last='Seim'] of the Linn-Mar Lions and I thought that she did a respectable job in her second Varsity outing. Seim made her mark in a few different categories throughout the evening. She ended things with 3 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist, which are all things that she is going to be able to build on moving toward the future for the rest of this season. This is a prospect with solid height at 5'9, coordination, balance, solid touch on the ball, and a better than average motor. If she stays locked in, she could be the Lions main piece by the time she becomes a Sophomore.

On Tuesday evening the Linn-Mar Lions went on the road to face off against the Bettendorf Bulldogs. Throughout the evening both teams had their moments but in the end, the Bulldogs cruised to a major victory to begin the 2023-2024 high school season by a final score of 73-27. It's really early on in the year so both programs are still figuring things out. It'll be interesting to see how they look in about a month when we circle back. Until then, let's highlight who stepped up for both teams in the contest last night.