Author: Nathan Bloechl

Girls’ Prep Basketball: Winfield Wins; Danville Holds On, Other Prep Finals:

Winfield-Mount Union 62, Wapello 25

Bradie Buffington had 13 points while Melina Oepping added 12 as Winfield-Mount Union rolled to a 62-25 win over Wapello last night.

Keely Malone chipped in with 11 while Keetyn Townsley poured in nine.

Wapello was led by Quinn Veach and her eight points.

Danville 54, New London 41 

Danville survived a night in which they shot 3-of-33 from three, holding on to defeat New London 54-41.

The Tigers, now 0-17, had the deficit within three in the fourth quarter but a late flurry propelled the Bears to the win.

Mackenzie Morris had 14 points to lead Danville, while Jaeda Molle had 13.

Natalie Burden led New London with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Sophie Malott had nine points and two rebounds for the Tigers, as well.

No. 12 (4A) Keokuk 85, Mount Pleasant 79 

Mount Pleasant forced overtime against the 12th ranked Keokuk Chiefs, but could not get over the hump in an 85-79 Chief win.

The win clinched the SEC Championship for the Chiefs, outright.

Mount Pleasant was led by Andrea Lopreato, who had a game-high 31 points.

Abby Wolter had 30 to pace Keokuk.

The Panthers are now 8-9.

Keokuk improved to 13-3.

Other area finals:

• Central Lee 52, Holy Trinity 50
• West Burlington 48, WACO 30
• Highland 64, Highland 35

Boys’ Prep Basketball: New London Throttles No. 10 Danville, Mount Pleasant Nets Road Win

New London 63, No. 10 Danville 54

The game of the night lived up to the hype as New London notched win No. 13, defeating Danville 63-54.

The 10th-ranked Bears trailed wire-to-wire as Blaise Porter erupted for 20 second half points, en route to a game high 23.

Devin Swanson added 14 points while Kooper Schulte chipped in with 10.

Caiden Gourley led Danville with 19 points, Drake Johnson had 13 while Sawyer Nelson finished with 10.

Danville is now 14-2.

New London improved to 13-1.

WACO 71, West Burlington 33

WACO just keeps on winning, as the Warriors picked up a 71-33 victory over West Burlington.

The Warriors started out hot and never let off the gas for the easy conference win.

The win moved WACO to 13-3.

West Burlington fell to 8-7.

Mount Pleasant 43, Keokuk 27 

Mount Pleasant swept the season series with Keokuk, in a 43-27 road win last night.

Owen Vansickel had nine for the Panthers in a balanced scoring night.

The Panthers were suffocating on the defensive end, limiting the Chiefs to just nine first half points, including just two points in the second quarter.

The win moved Mount Pleasant to 6-9.

Keokuk dropped to 3-8.

Other area finals:

• Holy Trinity 54, Central Lee 38
• No. 2 Washington 59, Burlington 49
• Hillcrest Academy 50, Pekin 39
• Cardinal 87, Van Buren 60

Boys’ Prep Basketball: 3A Substates Released

The IHSAA has released Class 3A substates, with regional teams competing in Class 3A.

Note these are just the pods, with dates, times and matchups still to be determined.

In Substate #4, No. 2 Washington — a Southeast Conference foe of Mount Pleasant — is the lead dog.

Joining them will be Benton Community, Center Point-Urbana, Central DeWitt, Grinnell, Solon, South Tama and Xavier.

Mount Pleasant will be competing in Substate #5.

Also in 3A-5 are:

• Clear Creek-Amana
• Fairfield
• No. 1 Fort Madison
• Keokuk
• No. 10 Marion
• Mount Vernon
• Oskaloosa

KILJ will be your home for tournament trail basketball, all throughout the month of February.

Men’s College Basketball: Wesleyan Hits Century Mark in Easy Win:

Iowa Wesleyan started the game on a 17-4, rolling to a 100-71 win over Bacone College last night in the CAC Clash.

Dylan Hurley led the Tigers with 15 points while Victor Munoz finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

Wesleyan shot 65% from the field, displaying their best offensive performance of the season.

The Tigers will take on Northern New Mexico College on Day Two of the CAC Clash in Lincoln, Illinois, today,

The game is set to start at 12:00 p.m.

Women’s College Basketball: Williamson’s Tigers Steamroll Bacone:

A 27-4 first quarter vaulted Iowa Wesleyan to an easy 85-43 win over Bacone.

The win moved the Tigers to 13-4, winners of two straight.

Kyla Moore led the team in points with 25. Moore was 4-5 from three-point range and also recorded five rebounds.

Brittany West chipped in with 23 points. She also had seven rebounds and six assists.

The Tigers will be back in action today, in their second game of the CAC Clash against Northern New Mexico College.

The game is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Burlington — Burlington got falls from Porter Humphrey and Micah Zaugg as the Greyhounds earned a 60-22 dual win over Mount Pleasant last night.

Abby Blint pinned Buston Carlson in 1:03, Gannon McNamee also earned a fall win.

Carson Coleman picked up a major decision at 126, beating Titus Counterman 14-5.

But from there, it was all Burlington.

160-pounder Owen Baker pinned Mount Pleasant’s Jared Dorothy in 0:28, which was followed up by a pair of forfeits and two pins.

Mount Pleasant fell to 1-15, they’re now 1-4 in Southeast Conference action.

Burlington improved to 9-3, they’re perfect in conference duals at 4-0.

Wapello Sweeps New London Quad

Wapello earned wins over New London, Pekin and Van Buren County as the Indians brought out the brooms in last night’s quad at New London.

The host Tigers took down Van Buren County and Pekin.

Zach Harbison took out the do-it-yourself kit going 3-0 on the night individually with two falls and a forfeit.

New London was led by Josh Glendening, who finished 3-0 with three falls.

Of course Dominic and Marcel Lopez earned three wins with four tech falls combined between the two of them.

Gage Burden picked up a fall and two forfeits at 113-pounds.

Notre Dame Spoils Party in Wayland 

The third-ranked Notre Dame Nikes earned their second straight Super Conference dual meet championship, beating Mediapolis and WACO yesterday in Wayland.

Isaiah Fenton, Blaine Frazier, Sam West, River Belger, C.J. Walrath, C.J Davis and Carter West were all double winners for the Nikes.

WACO went 1-1 on the night, taking down the Bulldogs 60-24.

Jonah Clark went 2-0 with two falls for the Warriors, while freshman phenom Louden Huisenga, John Rice and Drew Diers all went undefeated, as well.

Mediapolis’ Quinten Aney went 2-0 with a fall and decision victory. Grady Gunn pinned both of his opponents wrestling for the Bulldogs at 126 pounds.

Columbus Sweeps in Riverside

Second-ranked 120-pounder Lane Scorpil went 3-0 with two falls and a forfeit helping guide Columbus Community/Winfield-Mount Union to three wins at Highland’s quadrangular yesterday.

Ty Scorpil and Ethan Palmer also picked up three wins for the Wildcats.

Columbus won 45-30 over Louisa-Muscatine, 51-18 over Cardinal and 51-18 over the host Huskies.

New London — Tonight will be box office stuff when Danville meets New London in a Super Conference doubleheader.

The evening will start with the girls’ clash, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

New London is still seeking win number one on the year behind new head coach Terry Hester.

They’ve made some strides over the course of the season and have recently gotten guard Ashlyn McSorely back into the rotation.

Junior Natalie Burden is averaging 7.0 points per game to lead New London.

The Danville girls’ are lead by seniors Makenzie Morris and Ava Smith, both hovering right around nine points per game.

The Bears are coming off a Tuesday win over Holy Trinity, entering tonight at 6-10.

They’ve won the last three straight in the series.

In the nightcap, No. 10 Danville will look to keep their dream season going when they hook up with Blaise Porter and a healthy Kade Benjamin.

The Bears are 14-1 on the year, while New London enters 12-1.

Danville is paced by senior guard Drake Johnson, averaging 13.6 points per game. Caiden Gourley scores 13.3 points per game, while senior Sawyer Nelson is averaging a double-double at 10 points and 10 rebounds per game.

New London junior guard Blaise Porter, who holds Division I offers from Bryan University and IUPUI, is scoring 19.4 points per game to lead the Tigers.

Kade Benjamin is second with 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

New London has won four straight between the two schools — but this is a whole different Danville group.

Both games can be heard on FM 105.5 and kilj.com.

Coverage will begin at 5:45 p.m.

Nathan Bloechl and Kent Bennett will have the call.

Other action in the Super Conference tonight will see:

• Van Buren County at Cardinal
• Highland at Columbus
• Pekin at Hillcrest Academy
• Central Lee at Holy Trinity
• Lone Tree at Louisa-Muscatine
• West Burlington at WACO
• Winfield-Mount Union at Wapello

KILJ — In the Southeast Conference tonight, the Mount Pleasant boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will take on Keokuk in a home-and-home affair.

The girls’ will be at Mount Pleasant while the boys’ will travel to Keokuk.

Tonight marks the first action of the week for both teams, who have had ample time to get their legs right before the stretch run.

Mike Davis’ Keokuk girls’ are 12-3 on the year and are currently ranked No. 11 in Class 4A in the latest IGHSAU poll.

They took down Mount Pleasant 73-40 earlier this year but the Panthers have won four of five — their best stretch of the year.

Both games tonight will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln (Ill.) — The Iowa Wesleyan men’s and women’s basketball teams will be in Lincoln, Illinois today for the CAC Clash today — with both teams hooking up with Bacone College.

The Wesleyan women, 12-4 on the year will tip first, with the men to follow.

Bacone’s women are 1-22 on the year, their men’s program is 1-20.

Today’s games will tip at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Des Moines — The Drake University football team released its 2022 schedule, head coach Todd Stepsis announced on Wednesday.

The slate features 11 games including eight against Pioneer Football League opponents.

The Bulldogs begin the 2022 season with a test at Missouri Valley Football Conference powerhouse North Dakota State on Saturday (Sept. 3). The Bison are coming off their ninth FCS national championship.

Drake welcomes Missouri S&T in the home opener at Drake Stadium on Sept. 10 before hitting the road to face Idaho of the Big Sky conference on Sept. 17.

Conference action will begin on September 24th.