Prep Basketball- The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) had quite the Tuesday night slate as the top spots for both the girls’ and boys’ South divisions were up for grabs, while the North divisions were weening out the competition.
Boys’ North Division
WACO 50, Wapello 40
WACO’s win over Wapello last night extended their win steak to eight games after picking up a win over Winfield-Mt. Union 51-42 last Saturday in a road matchup. That makes it two tough road victories against quality North opponents this season for the Warriors.
Head coach Chayse Roth explained the importance of that win against the Wolves last Saturday,
“Yeah, this was huge for us. You know, they came in with one loss. We were undefeated. So, if they knock us off, we’re right there tied. So, if we wanted to stay where we wanted to be, you know, our goal was to be at the top of the North. We really had to buckle down and play big tonight, take care of the boards and keep that position on the top of the North. Where we want to be.”
Winfield-Mt. Union 47, Pekin 45
Winfield-Mt. Union and Pekin faced off last night with the two teams fighting for a chance to stay within the top three spots of the North standings. The Panthers nearly stole the game after outscoring the Wolves 19 to 7 in the fourth quarter, but Cooper Buffington’s 21 points kept Winfield-Mt. Union bobbing for first place.
Louisa-Muscatine 70, Columbus 62
The Falcons had to defend their own position in the conference after the Wildcats roared back in the fourth quarter to score 32 points. Still, Louisa-Muscatine prevailed as they attempt to move up the conference ladder.
Lone Tree 77, Highland 53
Near the bottom of the standings, the Lions kept the status quo with a contest that never really was in question.
Girls’ North Division
Columbus 47, Louisa Muscatine 19
The Wildcats held on to their top spot in conference behind Araina Vergara’s 18-point performance as Columbus jumped out to a 19 to 5 lead after the first quarter. Their lone loss in conference play comes against WACO who has been streaking as of late.
Lone Tree 67, Highland 24
The early season woes for the Lions appear to be behind them after demolishing Highland last night, leading 43 to 10 by the halftime break. The Huskies should still cruise to their second consecutive winning season, but the #14 ranking might have been premature.
WACO 51, Wapello 36
The Warriors just keep finding a way to win as their fifth consecutive win, two of which by one-point, has WACO vying for the top spot in the conference. Ella Huisenga and Brenna Graber have been an excellent 1-2 punch this season for a relatively inexperienced squad.
Pekin 67, Winfield-Mt. Union 36
Slow starts have plagued the Wolves this season after falling behind 22 to 8 by the end of the first quarter. Pekin is burrowed along with Highland in the middle of the standings with similar 5-4 marks against North competition.
Boys’ South Division
#6 West Burlington 62, Burlington Notre Dame 47
This game could have really muddied the waters at the top of the conference standings; instead, the Falcons have now picked up wins against the Crusaders and Nikes, who stand between them and another crack at the conference crown. Quincy Collins led the way with 24 points to go along with nine rebounds and three steals.
#6 Holy Trinity Catholic 65, Mediapolis 54
The Crusader offense continues to hum through their competition as Luke Hellige averages 25 points per game, he had an off night against Mediapolis only putting up 23 points. This ensures a three-horse race at the top between the Falcons, Crusaders, and Nikes with rematches set for later in the month.
Central Lee 64, Van Buren County 35
Izaak Loeffler (15 points) was the only one able to find any success for the Warriors on offense as they shot just 19.1% from the field. The Hawks provided some distance between them and the bottom three teams in the conference.
Danville 73, New London 52
It was one of those games where the final score does not indicate how close the margin was as the Tigers held a one-point lead midway through the third quarter, despite Danville scoring 25 points in the first quarter.
Jaden Bauer took care of the first half for the Bears, finishing the night with 26 points, while Kessler Whaley took over in the second half with 18 of his 22 points coming in the third and fourth quarters as Danville won their first conference game of the season.
New London showed improvement on offense, but it was two players who supplied 42 of their 52 points (London Franklin with 22 points and Brigham Porter cashed in for 20 points). The offense fell asleep in the clutch, managing only six points in the fourth quarter.
Girls’ South Division
Mediapolis 69, Holy Trinity Catholic 42
Two undefeated teams entered Mediapolis High School last night and the Bulldogs cemented their spot atop the South standings with a dominant showing with 21 steals and 43% shooting from the field. Josie Hutcheson led the team with 17 points in the win.
Mediapolis head coach Todd Borrison said this before the season about the strength of this team,
“Well, I think the fact that we can play up tempo and we got multiple ball handlers, and we start the game, all five of them. Kids can move and we don’t really have that one kid that we have to protect in our press. So we’re going to mix up defenses and we’re going to try to really be aggressive and just try to create tempo.”
That aggressive nature saw the Bulldogs put up 69 points against a defense that had not allowed more than 41 points this season.
Danville 47, New London 17
The Bears ventured back into the win column with their ninth straight victory over New London. Alaina Gourley continues to be the feature of the offense, putting up 20 points in the win. Mylee Miller led the Tigers with seven points.
Central Lee 54, Van Buren County 38
Central Lee’s loss to Danville back in December that saw the Hawks score only 26 points certainly does not help the resume, but the offense appears to have bounced back after outscoring the Warriors 19 to 5 in the first quarter and riding that momentum.
Sophia Jirak led the team with 16 points as the Warriors lost their 0.500 record in conference play.
Burlington Notre Dame 52, West Burlington 31
In a cross-town rivalry, the Nikes landed the first punch and the last punch, outscoring the Falcons 35 to 15. Kinsey Cameron captured 14 points in the winning effort as Notre Dame continues to gain confidence for a roster full of underclassmen.
