Prep Boys’ Basketball- The Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) released their All-Conference lists for the boys’ teams of the North and South divisions and #4 Burlington Notre Dame swept the Player and Coach of the Year honors, as the Nikes punched their ticket to the state tournament for the first time since 2009.

North Division

Pekin’s Cole Millikin was on the top of everyone’s scouting report as the senior finished the season 3^rd in the North in points per game with 19.4 and led the conference in three pointers made per game.

Taking home Coach of the Year was Hillcrest Academy’s Stephen Bender. The Ravens finished the season with an 18-4 record and three points away from winning the Class 1A Substate 5 District 10 championship, falling 48-46 to Calamus-Wheatland. The Ravens are now back-to-back North champions.

All-SEISC North First Team

Joining Millikin on the First team was his teammate Henry Adam along with Rowan Miller and Kale Bailey for Hillcrest Academy and Oscar Cline of Louisa-Muscatine, who led the division in points and rebounds per game as the only member to average a double-double.

Winfield-Mt. Union, who finished 3^rd in the division, put Cody Milks on the First Team. Milks nearly averaged a double-double, securing eight rebounds to go along with his 11.5 points per game. He also notched three steals per game.

WACO’s Holden Hughes was the focal point of the Warriors this season, resulting in a First Team nomination. Hughes ranked 5^th in points per game with 15.1 and 8^th in rebounds per game with 7.9

Also finding a spot on the First Team was Wapello’s Justyn Faulker. The senior ranked second in the division with four steals per game and led the team in points (13.9) and rebounds per game (7.3), which were both top ten marks.

Ellis Hills-Carrier, a junior for Columbus, finished second in the division with 19.8 points per game and seventh in assists per game with three per outing. He was the lone Wildcat put on the First Team.

All-SEISC North Second Team

Winfield-Mt. Union’s Isaac Egli was a unanimous choice for the Second Team as he led the team in points per game and finished 4^th in the division with assists per game. Another Wolve joining Egli was Max Edwards. The senior collected the 4^th most rebounds per game in the division.

WACO’s Hayden Shelman earned Second Team honors after averaging 10 points per game on 32.7% shooting from three-point land.

Additionally, Drake Marin of Columbus and Kinnick Richenberger were placed on the Second Team. Both finished in the top 15 for the division in points per game.

Hillcrest Academy’s Gibson Scott, Landon Roling of Highland, Reece Holbrook of Lone Tree, and Pekin’s Alijah Brock also found a spot on the Second Team.

All-SEISC North Honorable Mention

Columbus: Drew Totemeier and Gabe Zuniga

Highland: Bryce Hazelett and Kyler Fink

Hillcrest Academy: Lincoln Miller and Kayden Estell

Lone Tree: Dom Garcia and Cade Willoz

Louisa-Muscatine: Dawson Wheeler and Owen Klockseim

Pekin: Nolan Glick and Riley Smith

WACO: Kellen Shelman and Nick West

Wapello: Wyatt Marlette and Cam Brewer

Winfield-Mt. Union: Nick Sparrow and Grant Anderson

Standings: Hillcrest Academy (15-1), Pekin (13-3), W-MU (13-3), WACO (11-5), Columbus (7-9), Wapello (5-11), Lone Tree (3-13), Highland (3-13), Louisa-Muscatine (2-14)

South Division

Burlington Notre Dame’s Shay Stephens has had quite the senior campaign, leading the Nikes back to the state tournament for the first time in 15 years, crossing the 1,000^th point plateau and inching closer to 1,500 points, and committing to Western Illinois University to play basketball. For his effort, he earned All-SEISC South Player of the Year.

His 24.5 points per game ranked 10^th in the state, while also leading the south division in assists and steals per game.

Along with taking the Nikes to their fourth state appearance in program history, Notre Dame head coach Dan Kies picked up his 200^th career victory in the substate championship. Leading his team to a SEISC South championship and a 23-2 record earned him the Coach of the Year award.

All-SEISC South First Team

Joining Stephens from the Nikes on the First Team was L.J. Harris. The junior is a force on the low block with the 7^th most rebounds per game and more importantly the 4^th most offensive rebounds per game in the South. Additionally, he chips in 9.5 points per game and three assists per game.

Mediapolis placed three on the First Team in Max Griffin, Will Luttenegger, and William Worrall. Griffin and Luttenegger both finished in the top five for points per game in the south division, while Worrall scored 10.2 points per game, which ranked 17^th in the dvision.

Silas Lotzow and Ayden Figuereo claimed a spot on the First Team for West Burlington. Figuereo led the team in scoring, while Lotzow nearly averaged a double-double with 13 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

Lastly, Will Hayes of Central Lee and Holy Trinity Catholic’s Layne Rung rounded out the First Team. Hayes averaged the 8^th most points per game in the division, while nabbing 6.9 rebounds per game. Passing the 1,000^th point plateau was Rung earlier this season as he finished second in the division in points per game with 19.5 and top 10 in steals per game.

All-SEISC South Second Team

New London’s senior tandem of London Franklin and Brigham Porter were placed on the Second Team. After Franklin’s slow start, the Tigers rattled off seven wins in their final 14 games, including a four-game winning streak at the tail end of the season. Porter led the team with 12.5 points per game, while Franklin added 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game to his 11.8 points.

Holy Trinity Catholic’s Jack Ragar is going to be someone to keep an eye on for the rest of his career. The freshman commanded the Crusader offense, scoring 14.6 points per game and grabbing 6.6 rebounds per game, both top 10 measures in the south division. Crusader head coach John Hellige had this to say about the freshman,

“Yeah, we knew we were gonna have a good player in Jack, but he’s kind of blown away, even my expectations for a freshman year player. He plays like an upperclassman already…”

Joining them on the Second Team was Carson Morrison and Owen Swan of Central Lee, Leighton Rice of Danville, Notre Dame’s Eli Oleson and Griffin Kies, and Van Buren County’s Kinnick Millard.

Morrison finished with the 13^th most points per game, while Swan tabbed the 9^th most assists per game for the division. Rice finished with 5.2 assists per game to go along with his 10.3 points per contest. Oleson and Kies claimed 10.7 points per game apiece and each have had huge games on the Nikes path toward the state tournament. Lastly, Millard averaged 10.1 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game.

All-SEISC South Honorable Mentions

Central Lee: Kaden Swan and Brett Cook

Danville: Connor Hulett and Dillan Mason

HTC: Nathan Box and Corbin Van Niewaal

Mediapolis: Gannon Gunn and Henry Luttenegger

New London: Kye Reighard and Israel Lemley

Notre Dame: Payne Prottsman and Kellan Porter

VBC: Will Cocherell and Jace Duncan

West Burlington: Cayson Brown and Ari Jannings

Standings: Notre Dame (14-0), Mediapolis (11-3), Central Lee (9-5), West Burlington (8-6), Holy Trinity Catholic (7-7), Danville (5-9), Van Buren County (1-13), New London (1-13)

Des Moines, IA- There are no more undefeated teams left in Class 3A after #2 Maquoketa defeated #7 Mediapolis last night, 57-23, in the state quarterfinals last night. A legendary season for the Bullettes might have come to an end before the team wanted it to, but the memories will last a lifetime, and the standard has now been set.

“Yeah, that’s what we talked about in the locker room,” said head coach Todd Borrison. “I mean, not the outcome we wanted today. But yeah, 24-1, and we accomplished a lot. We have a lot on our resume from this year, and something that these kids can be really proud of. And we’ve been close a lot of times in the last eight, nine years. And this group busted through, and they set the tone for the teams to come. And that’s something we’re really proud of. And they’re the nicest kids, and they work really hard. And like I told them in the locker room, when we qualified, the first thing that came to my mind was like, all right, I got another week or week and a half, two weeks to practice with them. Cuz, it makes coaching fun when you’re around a bunch of kids that are doing it for the right reasons. And they work their tail off, and they wanna be coached, and it makes it fun.”

It was a clash of two veteran lineups with legacy on the mind. The Cardinals had clinched their first trip to the state tournament a season before for Class 4A and was ousted in the quarterfinals. Maquoketa head coach Chad Specht and the team agreed that they needed a tough schedule to prepare themselves for another run at state.

The Cardinals then played six ranked teams this season including the two-time defending Class 5A champion Johnston, who is currently undefeated and advanced to the state semifinals earlier yesterday. Their four losses on the season were against teams in Classes 4A and 5A. Their all senior starting five had answered the challenge to a 21-4 record.

Mediapolis’ six seniors—five starters—knew what heartbreak felt like after losing in the regional semifinals a year ago at home to Benton, 50-47. The Bullettes were back in the gym the next day, as the team traveled up to Wisconsin Dells for a summer tournament, competing against some of the best teams from neighboring states.

Both had felt challenged, especially Mediapolis after they had to knock off the #6 team in Class 3A in PCM in the Region 6 championship to get to the state’s capital. A moment that coach Borrison called his favorite of a season full of memories,

“…It was one of those games where our toughness got challenged, and it got real physical. And I just thought our kids really stepped up. And I always told them, I said, and I was talking to them about this first round game, to me, the nervy game, the tough game is getting here, and then winning that regional final. And for them to do it the way they did it on the road at #6 PCM, that really stands out to me.”

Unfortunately, the offensive firepower that saw Mediapolis average nearly 12 three-pointers per game and knocked down 31 threes in their first two regional matchups had seemingly disappeared. Maquoketa’s tough defense ruled by speed and height overwhelmed the Bullettes, causing six turnovers in the first quarter and allowing only eight shots.

Maquoketa took advantage of their height by dominating the offensive boards, collecting seven by the quarter’s end to take a 16 to 7 lead into the second quarter. The Cardinals were 21-2 entering last night when leading at the end of the first quarter. It became clear why that was true.

The Cardinals kept the pressure on defensively and continued to pound the paint with Aubrey Kroymann, who finished the night with 19 points, five offensive rebounds, three steals, and a block. Lacking made baskets, Mediapolis could not get set into their full-court pressure defense, resulting in a team averaging 19 steals per game managing just three for the night.

Overall, Mediapolis committed more turnovers, 29, than shots attempted, 25, while Maquoketa garnered 18 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over just eight times.

Despite the outcome, the senior class accumulated a four-year record of 84-12, all five starters were named 1^st Team All-Conference, Grace Holsteen and Todd Borrison swept Player and Coach of the Year honors for the conference. For coach Borrison, this senior class stands among the legends of the Mediapolis’ girls’ basketball program,

“It was, and they all just bought into whatever role we kinda try to designate for them, and we’re really proud of them. And we just, yeah, they’re just great kids. And they understand the game, and they knew that they were just gonna do whatever they had to do. Basically, they didn’t care who got the credit, and they knew that was gonna be our best formula. And so that made it really easy for us to coach.”

The last time Mediapolis qualified for the state tournament, the Bullettes made the trip in consecutive seasons. Only time will tell if the next group will repeat history.