The Class 4A second-ranked Linn-Mar boys' basketball team took a 15-game winning streak into its biggest game of the regular season Tuesday night and, due to printing deadlines, the result of that contest won't be reported on these pages until next week.

But rest assured the Lions went into that game at then-No. 3 Cedar Rapids Jefferson brimming with confidence after a pair of one-sided Mississippi Valley Conference wins last week.

The Lions, 16-1 overall and 12-0 in the MVC before the Jefferson game, whipped Iowa City High and Cedar Rapids Prairie by a combined 145-95 in a pair of games last week. They used big second halves in each game to roll past the Little Hawks, 74-48, last Tuesday and blasted the Hawks, 71-47, last Friday.

Jefferson (14-2, 10-2 MVC before Tuesday night) lost to Cedar Rapids Washington last Friday to drop two games behind Linn-Mar in the MVC Division standings with four games to play.

The Lions, who have already secured the No. 1 seed in 4A substate 4 and should have learned their substate bracket early this week, certainly hold their conference fate in their own hands.

A very difficult stretch to finish the regular season awaits them. After Jefferson, they play at Iowa City West Friday before finishing with home games against nail-tough Cedar Rapids Kennedy (Feb. 16) and No. 9-ranked Cedar Falls on Thursday, Feb. 18.

Linn-Mar, which is outscoring its opponents by an average of 20.3 points (third largest margin in 4A) used terrific balance to knock back City High and Prairie last week.

Marcus Paige scored 15 points, Matt Bohannon 13, Shane Benton 10 and Josh Montague eight in the win over City High. The Lions led by only eight points at halftime before outscoring the Little Hawks, 38-20, in an electric second half.

It was a little bit more of the same at Prairie when the Lions turned a 10-point halftime lead into a 24-point win. Bohannon led the way with 15 points, Paige added 12, Darius Stokes 10 and Will Roth added eight.