High School Basketball
WACO swept Van Buren County last night with the girls’ team winning a low-scoring affair 44-38 and the boys’ sprinting past Van Buren County 76-58. Brenna Graber and Ella Huisenga each collected 14 points in the winning effort, while Sophia Jirak netted 12 points for Van Buren County. The boys’ team had four players finish in double figures with Isaac Rich leading the way with 16 points. Izaak Loeffler put up 21 points in the losing effort.
The Wapello boys’ team will host WACO tonight at 7:30 pm.
The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ team clobbered Clark County last night 61-39 as Luke Hellige went off for a season high 42 points, while the girls’ team fell 45-29.
The Central Lee boys’ team could not stop scoring last night in an 80-30 thrashing of Cardinal. The girls’ team did enough to exit with the home victory over the Comets, winning 56-47. The Hawks boys’ team will compete against Davis County on Thursday, February 13th, at 7:30 pm at home.
Mt. Pleasant was swept by Ottumwa last night with the girls falling 49-14 and the boys losing 58-42.
West Burlington will host Mt. Pleasant tonight at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm.
The Fairfield girls’ team will face off against Knoxville, while the boys’ teams will travel to Mid-Prairie with both games scheduled for 7:30 pm tonight.
The Columbus boys’ team will take on Louisa-Muscatine tonight at 7:30 pm on the road.
The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will host Pekin tonight at 7:30 pm.
The New London boys’ team will hit the road to compete against Davis County tonight with tip-off at 7:30 pm.
The Mediapolis boys’ team will travel to Tipton on Thursday at 7:30 pm.
High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball
Girls’ regional basketball tips-off on Thursday, February 13th, for Class 1A and on Saturday, February 15th, for Classes 2A and 3A with all games starting at 7 pm. Here’s a look at our local matchups.
In Class 1A Region 7 on the top half of the bracket, Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to Keota, Wapello will make the trip to Highland, and New London will take on Hillcrest Academy on the road.
In the bottom half of the bracket, WACO will face off against Burlington Notre Dame in a cross-divisional conference matchup at home. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. Holy Trinity Catholic will host Moulton-Udell.
In Class 2A Region 1, Van Buren County will compete against Pleasantville on February 18th on the road. In Region 2, West Burlington will play West Branch on Saturday at home with the winner advancing to tangle with Columbus; Danville will take on Louisa-Muscatine on February 18th at home.
In Class 3A Region 1, #14 Mediapolis will face off against Washington at home. In Region 4, Fairfield will travel to Williamsburg and Central Lee will make the trip to Mid-Prairie.
High School Boys’ Basketball Rankings
The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) released the sixth edition of their rankings and two local teams rounded out the top 10 for two classes.
In Class 2A, West Burlington kept their #10 spot after handing business at the Southeast Iowa Super Conference shootout with a 76-42 thrashing of Hillcrest Academy, winning the conference crown for the third straight season. The Falcons tout one of the best offenses in the state with four players averaging double figures and they are giving up the ball less than 10 times per game.
In Class 1A, two teams were knocked out of the top 10 and one of the teams grabbing the open spot? Burlington Notre Dame at #10. The Nikes were ranked #9 two weeks ago, but a rough schedule: Class 2A’s #9 Regina Catholic and #10 West Burlington, knocked the squad out of the top 10 after competitive losses.
But a 65-52 win over WACO in the #2-seed contest at the SEISC shootout propelled the Nikes back into the conversation with a 16-4 record, every loss coming against a team that has seen time in the rankings. This team runs through junior Shay Stephens and senior Jack Drew. Stephens averages 21.4 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists per night, while Drew nets 17.3 points per game.
High School Wrestling
The boys’ district meet is scheduled for Saturday, February 15th, with Van Buren County, WACO, and Wapello traveling to Pleasantville and New London will head to Wilton in Class 1A. For Class 2A, Burlington Notre Dame, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and Fairfield will compete in Centerville and Mt. Pleasant and Mediapolis will venture to Williamsburg.
High School Bowling
Fairfield hosted the Southeast Conference (SEC) tournament last night and the Keokuk girls’ team has claimed another conference crown by over 600 pins as Mt. Pleasant claimed second place with 2,135 total pins. Jaelynn Ketterer for the Chiefs was the top bowler with 406 pins. Fairfield finished in third place followed by Burlington and Washington.
Three Mt. Pleasant bowlers finished with the All-Conference tag. Bethany Drury led the Panthers with 320 total pins, which ranked 8th amongst the field. Shyann Smith with 300 total pins and Joanna Fortin with 286 points grabbed 11th and 12th, respectively, and All-Conference.
Fairfield’s Emma Cass finished in 6th place individually with 345 pins and Grace Forrest tabbed 320 total pins as both Trojans finished with All-Conference honors.
On the boys’ side, Burlington yanked the conference championship away with 2,807 pins as Keaton Lair finished as the top bowler with 479 total pins. Fairfield grabbed second place as a team and Mt. Pleasant collected 4th place with 2,457 pins.
Fairfield had three All-Conference bowlers in Ethan Cass (400 pins), Ian Aplara (370 pins), and Blake Ballew (351 pins). Henry Pforts had a terrific night, tabbing 397 pins–fourth best score–and an All-Conference nod for Mt. Pleasant.
The girls’ state qualifying meets are scheduled for Monday, February 17th, and Fairfield and West Burlington will compete at Davis County, while Mt. Pleasant will travel to Keokuk.
The boys’ state qualifying meets will take place on Tuesday, February 18th, and Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Keokuk to compete.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team will host Illinois Central College tomorrow, February 12th, at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #10 Iowa State men’s team will travel to UCF tonight at 6 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will look to snap their three game losing streak tomorrow, February 12th, on the road against Rutgers at 5:30 pm.
The Iowa women’s team downed Nebraska last night 81-66 to pick up their fifth consecutive victory. Lucy Olsen led the effort with 32 points. The Hawkeyes will host Rutgers on Thursday, February 13th, at 6:30 pm.
The Iowa State women’s team will face off against Kansas on the road on Saturday, February 15th, at 4 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1965 – Braves propose to pay 5 cents from each ticket to bring a new team to Milwaukee.
1974 – First Major League Baseball arbitration case; Minnesota Twins pitcher Dick Woodson seeking $29,000 wins; Twins offered $23,000.
1990 – In a huge upset, James “Buster” Douglas KOs Mike Tyson in the 10th round in Tokyo, Japan to win the world heavyweight boxing title.
