High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball

For Class 1A Substate 4 District 8, #10 Burlington Notre Dame exhibited why they are the #1-seed with a 76-47 clobbering of Wapello last night. Wapello ends the season with a 4-19 record. 

In the #4-seed versus #5-seed contest, Winfield-Mt. Union and Pekin met for the third time this season having split their previous matchups by a combined six points, the prediction was another tight finish; however, the Wolves had other ideas, shutting down the Panthers on their way to a 51-36 victory.

Winfield-Mt. Union’s suffocating zone defense generated numerous steals and kept Pekin’s offense to just 11 first half points; yet, the Panthers produced a couple of brief runs that cut the lead to single digits twice in the second half but the Wolves offense, which had three players finish in double figures, did enough to keep Pekin at arm’s length. Wolves head coach Klay Edwards was excited to see his team ride out the storm,

“Yeah, that’s what we were talking about that after the game, I told them I was most proud, like we knew they were going to make a run. You know, they’ve done it on pretty much everybody, made a huge run. And you know, we withstood that one where they cut it in half in the blink of an eye and, you know, we just kind of slowed down a little bit, got the ball inside, played inside out and kept defending. So, I was really proud of the kids for that.”

Jake Edwards led the scoring effort with 13 points as Nicholas Sparrow added 12 points along with Cooper Buffington’s 11 points. Winfield-Mt. Union will take on #10 Burlington Notre Dame on Thursday, February 20th, on the road. 

#2 Holy Trinity Catholic clobbered #7 Columbus last night 81-37 as Luke Hellige was unstoppable, cashing in for 43 points, while grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double. The Wildcats finished the season with a 6-15 record.

Lastly, #6 Danville had #3 WACO scrambled at the halftime break as the Bears held on to the lead 22 to 16, but some clutch shooting for the Warriors secured the win for WACO 49-43. Christian Stacy scored 18 points for WACO, while Conner Hulett’s 16 points led the Bears. Danville finished the season with a 9-14 record.

WACO will face off against #2 Holy Trinity Catholic on Thursday at 7 pm on the road. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

For Class 2A Substate 5: District 9, #4 Central Lee downed #5 Louisa-Muscatine 82-70 in a high scoring affair last night. The Hawks will travel to compete against the #1-seed #10 West Burlington on Thursday at 7 pm.

On the bottom half of the bracket, #3 Mediapolis crushed Cardinal 84-40. The Bulldogs will face off against #2 Mid-Prairie on Thursday at 7 pm on the road. 

Lastly, in District 10, Van Buren County fell to PCM last night 82-36. The Warriors ended the season with a 6-16 record. 

For Class 3A Substate 6, #8 Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to take on the #1-seed #3 Knoxville and #7 Fairfield will travel to #2 Mt. Vernon for their first round of postseason action on Monday, February 24th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call for the Panthers game with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball

Classes 1A and 2A will continue their regional action tonight at 7 pm. Here’s a look at our local matchups:

In Class 1A Region 7, Winfield-Mt. Union will play Springville on the road.

WACO will travel to Sigourney for their quarterfinal matchup. 

Holy Trinity Catholic will hit the road to take on Lone Tree. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

In Class 2A Region 1, Van Buren County will compete against Pleasantville on the road.

In Class 2A Region 2, West Burlington will travel to Columbus with a three-game winning streak on the line.

Danville will square off against Louisa-Muscatine at home.

In Class 3A Region 1, Mediapolis will face off against Benton at home tomorrow, February 19th, at 7 pm.

In Class 4A Region 4, Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk tomorrow. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. The winner will travel to Clear Creek Amana on Saturday, February 22nd.

The top half of the bracket will feature Burlington playing host to Fort Madison with the winner to compete against Central DeWitt on Saturday. 

High School Wrestling

The boys’ state tournament is scheduled to start tomorrow, February 19th, with KILJ 105.5 FM and kilj.com providing updates for our 32 local wrestlers throughout the day. 

High School Basketball

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will host Pella tonight at 7 pm for their regular season finale.

The Fairfield boys’ team will take on Clear Creek Amana tonight with tip-off at 7:30 pm at home.

High School Bowling

The girls’ state qualifying meets commenced yesterday and Mt. Pleasant will be sending a pair of bowlers to Waterloo for the state tournament. Here’s a look at how our local teams competed.

At Davis County, Fairfield grabbed 4th place with 1,949 total pins as the Trojans were led by Emma Cass’s 448 total pins, while West Burlington took 5th place with 1,754 pins with Sophia Blindt collecting 383 total pins.

At the Keokuk qualifier, the hometown Chiefs will be looking to defend their title after coming away with the top score by nearly 300 pins over second place Oskaloosa. Keokuk was paced by last year’s individual champion Jalelynn Ketterer with 677 total pins. 

Mt. Pleasant placed 4th as a team with 2,214 pins as the Panthers were led by Madalyn Millard’s 5th best score of the day at 586 pins and Bethany Drury will be heading back to the state tournament after sneaking into 8th place with 552 total pins. Burlington finished with 1,683 pins as Sarah Clemen’s 368 total pins led the way for the Grayhounds.

The state bowling tournament will begin on Monday, February 24th, in Waterloo. 

The boys’ state qualifying meets will take place today and Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk to compete. 

Southeastern Community College                                                     

The men’s basketball team will travel to take on Richard J. Daley College on Thursday, February 20th, at 7 pm.

College Basketball

The #8 Iowa State men’s team will play at home tonight at 7 pm against Colorado.

The Iowa men’s team will take on Oregon tomorrow, February 19th, at 7:30 pm at home.

The Iowa women’s team clawed their way back against #8 Ohio State yesterday to force overtime but the Buckeyes had too much fire power and sprinted past the Hawkeyes to win 86-78. Lucy Olsen put up 27 points in the loss. The Hawkeyes will host #3 UCLA on Sunday, February 23rd, at 1 pm.

The Iowa State women’s team will face off against Houston tomorrow at 6:30 pm at home.

This Day in Sports History

1944 – 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall signs a contract to play baseball with the Cincinnati Reds just one day after playing in a high school basketball game; debuts later that year.

1967 – During a softball exhibition game, pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out six consecutive big leaguers: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, and Maury Wills.

1981 – 20-year-old Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky becomes first player in NHL history to score 5 career hat-tricks before age 21; scores 5 goals and 2 assists in 9-2 Oilers’ home win against St. Louis.

Prep Boys’ Basketball- The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) released their final brackets for Classes 3A and 4A with one Southeast Conference (SEC) showdown to be had in first round play set to start on Monday, February 24^th, at 7 pm.

Class 3A

Substate 6 is the place to look for our local teams with all of the possible SEC teams placed within the confines of the bracket, though our local teams will have to prepare to travel.

#3 Knoxville is the team to beat in the substate as the #1 seed and tasked with the job of trying to slay Goliath will be the #8-seed Mt. Pleasant in the battle of the Panthers.

Knoxville is a perfect 20-0 on the season as they shoot nearly 40% from three-point range and typically defeat their opponents by 30 points. Mt. Pleasant lives and dies by the three-point shot with their squad shooting 35% from deep and only 40% from the field.

KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

Mt. Pleasant Player to Watch: Aiden Humble (11.2 points per game on 35.8% three-point shooting)

Knoxville Player to Watch: Landen Norris (19.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game)

In the #4-seed vs #5-seed contest, Fort Madison will get to play host to SEC foe Washington in their third matchup this season. The Demons have fallen to the Bloodhounds both times this season, including a 90-87 double-overtime marathon that saw Dayton Lamar and Logan McDole each put up at least 30 points.

The regular season sweep evened up the series since 2009 at 16 games apiece and ended a four-game winning streak for Washington. If the Demons want to win, then they will have to better protect the interior, while the Bloodhounds will look to cut off their three-point supply, which they hit 14 in their last matchup.

The winner will face off against either #3 Knoxville or Mt. Pleasant on Thursday, February 27^th, at 7 pm.

Fort Madison Player to Watch: Nolan Guzman (14.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game)

Washington Player to Watch: Logan McDole (13.2 points and 3.5 assists per game)

The #7-seed Fairfield will venture north to compete against #2-seed Mt. Vernon. The Mustangs have already taken down one SEC team this season in Fort Madison and will look for another one tomorrow, February 18^th, against Washington for their senior night.

Some rather one-sided losses keep Mt. Vernon from being considered apart of the upper echelon of Class 3A squads but this team does handle its business in a difficult part of the state, averaging 58.7 points per game.

Fairfield was free falling after winning four straight out of winter break, dropping eight consecutive matchups, including two by four points or less. Yet, a little magic against Mt. Pleasant ended their dramatic fall from a possible conference contender as they snuck away with a 51-50 comeback victory.

For the Trojans to truly have a chance, everyone will have to get involved beyond their top two leading scorers in Riley Perkins and Eli Zillman.

Fairfield Player to Watch: Riley Perkins (Game still runs through him with 15.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game)

Mt. Vernon Player to Watch: Kellen Haverback (17 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.5 steals per game)

Lastly, Keokuk will get a home game as the #3-seed, and they will get to host the #6-seed Oskaloosa. The Chiefs are going to try and bounce back from losing the SEC title in a 44-40 tilt against Fort Madison, but this team certainly has the respect of the region.

Oskaloosa currently sits 2-1 against the SEC this season with a matchup against Burlington tonight, but they have also dropped their last seven games, despite scoring 60 or more points in three of their matchups.

Expect Keokuk to take advantage of their size advantage and run the court. The winner will take on either Fairfield or Mt. Vernon on Thursday.

Keokuk Player to Watch: Jaxon Clark (23.7 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game)

Oskaloosa Player to Watch: Tommy North (13 points per game)

Class 4A

Burlington will play in Substate 5 as the #5-seed with their first-round matchup against the #4-seed North Scott. The Grayhounds are still searching for their first win against a Class 4A school this year, despite winning five games this season.

The Lancers are 10-9 on the year with a couple impressive wins on the season, including a win over last year’s runner-up Bettendorf 60-50. Still, their 58.8 points allowed per game is a clear weak spot of a team that has shown the ability to put up a lot of points.

The winner will face off against #6 Dubuque Senior on Thursday.

Burlington Player to Watch: Nehemiah Lewis (13.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game)

North Scott Player to Watch: Josiah Harrington (19 points and 7.1 rebounds per game)