These early March trips west down I-80 to the state capital to prolong the girls' high school basketball season are becoming somewhat routine for the Linn-Mar Lions.

Sort of like what their male counterparts at the school have experienced for much of the past decade.

Class 4A top-ranked, top-seeded and unbeaten Linn-Mar beat out-matched Bettendorf, 58-40, in a regional championship game Feb. 23 and advanced to its third straight Iowa girls' state tournament - and fourth in five years - this week at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The Lions (23-0) were set to play No. 8 seed Johnston (15-9) in a 4A quarterfinal Wednesday at 10 a.m. The winner advanced to the semifinal round Friday at noon at Wells Fargo.

Linn-Mar Coach Mike Brandt couldn't be reached for comment early this week.

Despite its regular appearances at the state tournament over the past five years, Linn-Mar hasn't won a state championship since the first five-player season in 1985.

This year's team has the capability to end that drought. Led by junior high school all-America candidate Kiah Stokes, and seniors Kayla Klopfenstein and D..J Norman, the Lions looked to be the class of the 4A field before play began Wednesday.

That, of course, is not intended to take anything away from an elite eight that includes No.2-ranked Des Moines East (23-0), No. 3 Waukee (23-1), No. 4 Ankeny (21-2), No. 5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (20-2) and No. 6 Pleasant Valley (20-3), in addition to the No. 1-ranked Lions (23-0), and unranked Ames (17-7) and Johnston (15-9).

The winner of this eight-team tourney can certainly consider itself a true state champion. It's a party for the state's elite and everyone RSVP'd.

Playing in front of a slew of the nation's top NCAA Division I coaches on hand to watch junior sensation Stokes - including Tennessee's Pat Summit, Oklahoma's Sherri Coales and Purdue's Sharon Versyga - the Lions skated past Bettendorf at the Tipton High School gymnasium to earn the trip to state.

Stokes didn't disappoint the gathering, scoring 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. Klopfenstein and Norman each scored 13 points, Klopfenstein added three assists and Norman three steals.

Stokes, Klopfenstein and Norman combined to hit 17 of 27 field goal attempts.