Prep Boys’ Basketball- The Southeast Conference (SEC) still has one team vying for a spot at the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) state tournament, but the All-Conference teams have been released in the meantime.
Player of the Year
Jaxon Clark has been named SEC Player of the Year for the second consecutive year and it is hard to argue with the decision. The senior is averaging the 3rd most points per game in the state with 28.6 and the most rebounds per game at 17.5.
With Clark in the captain’s seat, the Chiefs have gone 53-19 over the past three seasons with back-to-back trips to the Substate Championship after upsetting Center Point-Urbana Thursday night. Additionally, Keokuk is finally back on top of the conference standings since the 2014-15 season.
Keokuk
It’s been over a decade, but the Chiefs are conference champions once again and they did it in dominant fashion, handing their SEC foes double digit losses in all ten regular season conference contests.
Clark was a unanimous First Team selection. Finding a spot on the All-SEC Second Team was Jalen Clark, a sophomore, and Chayce Smith, a senior. Clark finished second on the team with 10.5 points per game to go along with five rebounds. Smith also claimed 10.1 points per game on 50.5% shooting from the field.
Kyler Beelman and Antonio Crockett were named Honorable Mentions.
Burlington
If it was not for Keokuk, then Burlington would have gone undefeated in conference play. Nevertheless, the Grayhounds finished the season with a 12-10 record with an 8-2 conference mark for 2nd place in the SEC.
As one of the three unanimous choices for First Team, Jett Morris burst onto the scene as a sophomore with 16.7 points per game for 3rd in the conference. The Grayhound finished 5th in the SEC for three pointers made per game.
On the Second Team was Kobe Edmunds and Michael Kantzavelos. Edmunds’ 1.9 steals per game finished 4th in the conference, while Kantzavelos dished out 4.2 assists per game for 2nd in the SEC.
Cj Chandler and Keshawn Wyldon made the Honorable Mention list.
Mt. Pleasant
The Panthers saw an eight-game improvement from last season to this year with four more conference wins this past year for an overall record of 10-12 and an SEC mark of 5-5. The result was two First Team nods in Isaiah and Noah Lange.
Isaiah Lange was superman for the Panthers, tabbing the 5th most points per game (14), 3rd most rebounds (7.9), and the 6th highest field goal percentage (59.2%). His play got even better when Noah Lange got back into the lineup after winter break. In his 12 games on the court, Lange put up 11 points per game to go along with nearly seven rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Pointedly, with Noah on the court, the Panthers went 8-4.
Finding a spot on the Second Team was Ryan Helling. The sophomore played in six less games, but still averaged the 2nd most three pointers made per game on 38.5% shooting to knock in 11 points per game.
On the Honorable Mention list was Aiden Humble and Grayson Lowery. In the two years as a starter, Humble buried 110 three pointers, which is the most in a two-year span going to the 2006-07 season. Lowery proved hard work paid off after going from first man off the bench to the starting lineup for 17 of the 22 games.
Washington
The Demons went 13-10 for the season and finished 4th in the conference with a 4-6 record. Although, one of their biggest victories of the season was a road upset against Burlington in the first round of the substate tournament.
Nic Stone was named First Team All-SEC for his conference leading 3.3 three pointers made per game. Due to his high three-point play, Stone cashed in for 15.4 points per game for 4th in the SEC.
Kael Williams was named to Second Team as he tied for the conference lead in steals per game with Honorable Mention Rajan Roth. Drew Conrad, also an Honorable Mention, led the SEC in assists per game with 5.1 and third in the conference with two steals per game.
Fort Madison
The Bloodhounds shocked some teams by compiling five wins on the season and knocking off Washington and Fairfield in their conference showdowns. As the third and final unanimous selection, Nolan Guzman was placed on the First Team.
One could argue that he deserved Player of the Year honors. The Bloodhound broke the school record for points in a game with 51. He was 2nd in the conference for points per game with 20 and 3rd in assists per game with 3.0. In the team’s wins, Guzman put up 33, 26, 21, 13, and 21 points, respectively.
Darius Foy and Jonah Tackett were named Honorable Mentions.
Fairfield
The Trojans won two games on the season, both in SEC play and both on the road. Ethan Bisgard and Eli Zillman were placed on the Honorable Mention list.