Boys’ State Basketball

The 2024 state tournament continued yesterday as the Class 1A championship game was set and Class 4A experienced an upset in the quarterfinals.

#4 Winfield-Mt. Union struck first against #1 North Linn as the vaunted Wolves defense held a team that averaged nearly 79 points a game to just seven first quarter points to lead 9 to 7 entering the second quarter. However, as head coach Klay Edwards talked about after the game, the tide flipped.

Mason Bechen led that charge for the Lynx as he scored 10 of his 32 points in the second quarter including a buzzer-beating three pointer to give North Linn a 28 to 23 lead at halftime. The Wolves attempted to keep the game close in the second half with Jake Edwards knocking down five threes and Cam Buffington finishing with 12 points, but the Lynx shot 53.3% from the field in the second half to win 67-51. Edwards led the way with 17 points as Abram Edwards and Carter Loyd chipped in 9 points. Winfield-Mt. Union finished the season 21-3 and coach Edwards knows this senior class will still be competing for titles. 

For the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Marquette Catholic and #3 Lake Mills played in a thriller that saw the game tied at 57 with less than ten seconds remaining. That’s when Marquette Catholic’s Kannon Still nailed a jumper with six seconds remaining to win 59-57. Still cashed in for 13 points as Spencer Roeder collected a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

#1 North Linn will take on #2 Marquette Catholic tomorrow, March 8th, at 1 pm.

Moving on to Class 4A, #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy handled business against #8 Dallas Center-Grimes 66-45. Joseph Bean was the top scorer for Kennedy with 18 points in the contest.

#5 Ankeny took down #4 Dubuque Senior 60-47 yesterday as Carson Johnson was unstoppable for the Hawks, totaling 26 points and four steals in the win. Cash Schoolen was the only other Hawk to finish in double figures.

#1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy will face off against #5 Ankeny tonight at 5:30 pm.

Despite the contentious atmosphere surrounding the matchup between #2 Valley and #7 Johnston, the Dragons never led in the game with Valley winning 64-57. Curtis Stinson nailed 8 of his 10 free throws to finish with the game high 22 points in the win.

The biggest upset of yesterday’s slate was #6 Bettendorf controlling the tempo of the game against #3 Cedar Falls to win 65-56. Caden Wilkins was all over the court for the Bulldogs as he collected a 20 point, 13 rebound double-double in the win.

#2 Valley will compete against #6 Bettendorf tonight at 7:15 pm.

The Class 2A semifinals will start out the day followed by the Class 3A semifinals with Class 4A to round out the night. 

High School Track and Field

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete at Iowa State today for an invitational with the girls’ team running tomorrow, March 8th.

The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Central College on March 14th to start their season.

The Winfield-Mt. Union and New London boys’ teams will travel to Danville on March 18th to get the season rolling. 

College Basketball

The #3 Iowa women’s team grabbed the 2-seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will take on either Wisconsin or Penn State in the quarterfinal round at 5:30 pm tomorrow, March 8th. 

The Iowa State women’s team earned the 4-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and was awarded with a double bye into the quarterfinals. The Cyclones will play on Saturday, March 9th, at 11 am.

The #6 Iowa State men’s team finished with a perfect record at home this season with a 68-63 win over #20 BYU last night. Tamin Lipsey (19 points) and Curtis Jones (18 points) combined for 37 points in the win. The Cyclones will travel to take on Kansas State on Saturday at 1 pm.

The Iowa men’s team will celebrate senior night on March 10th against Illinois at 6 pm.

Iowa Women’s Basketball

The Athletic has named Caitlin Clark the National Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Clark became the first player to finish first in both assists and scoring in back-to-back seasons as she became NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in their 93-83 win against Ohio State last Sunday.

This Day in Sports History

1982 – NCAA Tournament Selection televised live for the first time.

1986 – Wayne Gretzky breaks own NHL season record with 136th assist.

1988 – Jim Abbott, a one-handed pitcher, wins the 58th James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, becoming the first baseball player to win the award.

Boys’ State Basketball

The 2024 state tournament continued yesterday and Class 2A experienced the biggest upset of the tournament.

#2 Hudson faced off against #7 Grundy Center and despite the seeding, the Spartans held a 41 to 36 lead entering the fourth quarter. But, the Pirates utilized going to the line 25 times and sinking 20 of those free throws to win 55-51. Camden Davis collected a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

#3 Underwood had entered the tournament with an undefeated record, the Eagles are no longer undefeated after losing to #6 Unity Christian yesterday 59-55. The Knights rushed out to a 15 to 8 lead at the end of the first quarter and were able to keep the Eagles from flying away with the game. Dylan Bosma led the scoring with 25 points.

#2 Hudson will take on #6 Unity Christian tomorrow, March 7th, at 12:15 pm.

Class 3A completed their quarterfinal matchups yesterday and #1 Decorah started their tournament with a stomping of #8 Williamsburg 66-42. The Raiders were held to only six points total in the second and third quarters. Ben Bockman nailed five three-pointers in the win as he finished with 29 points.

In the highest scoring matchup of the tournament through two days, #4 Assumption defeated #5 Ballard 84-73. Four players for the Knights finished with double figures as Kayvion Hodges cashed in for 19 points and grabbed 12 boards in the win.

#1 Decorah will face off against #4 Assumption tomorrow at 2 pm.

#3 Moc-Floyd Valley’s 27 point first quarter provided enough momentum for the Dutchmen to defeat last year’s champion #6 Bondurant-Farrar 67-50. Jesse Van Kalsbeek was a one man wrecking machine with 37 points, 14 rebounds, and five steals in the winning effort. 

#2 Waverly-Shell Rock and #7 Pella experienced the first overtime of the tournament in the last game of the night as the Go-Hawks’ Noah Frazell made the game-winning free throw with a second left to win 65-64. Cole Marsh was the leading scorer and rebounder for Waverly-Shell Rock with 17 points and 14 boards.

#3 Moc-Floyd Valley will compete against #2 Waverly-Shell Rock tomorrow at 3:45 pm.

The Class 4A quarterfinals will commence today and the Class 1A semifinals will round out the night as #1 North Linn will face off against #4 Winfield-Mt. Union at 5:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:15 pm.

High School Track and Field

The Mt. Pleasant and Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ teams ventured up to the University of Northern Iowa to compete in the Dickinson Relays yesterday and here’s the top performers.

For the Panthers, Jenna Schwartz finished in 48th place after leaping 4’6” in the high jump. Josie Gilmore finished in 50th place.

Ja’Kiyah Sanders and Bailey Jalas finished with an identical leap of 13 feet 4.25 inches in the long jump.

Ella Ensmiger heaved the shot put 35 feet 2.25 inches to grab 13th place. English finished in 28th. 

The relay teams ran well with the team of Sanders, Jalas, Courtney Raub, and Kynlee White finishing in 14th place with a time of 1:53 in the 4×200. The 4×800 relay team of Aliya Graber, Alexis Wagner, Pru Callaway, and Monroe James ran a time of 11:23 to earn 28th place. Lastly, Natalie Freeman, White, Wagner, and Raub grabbed 25th place in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:37.

The Wolves were led by Kaelyn Townsley’s 50th place finish in the 200 meter dash with a time of 29.08 seconds. The 4×200 meter relay team of Josie Nelson, Tessa Huston, Schlee, and Aurey Meeker finished with a time of two minutes, which was good enough for 47th place. 

College Basketball

The #3 Iowa women’s team grabbed the 2-seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will take on either Wisconsin or Penn State in the quarterfinal round at 5:30 pm on Friday, March 8th. 

The Iowa State women’s team earned the 4-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and was awarded with a double bye into the quarterfinals. The Cyclones will play on Saturday, March 9th, at 11 am.

The #6 Iowa State men’s team will suit up for a home matchup against BYU tonight at 8 pm.

The Iowa men’s team will celebrate senior night on March 10th against Illinois at 6 pm.

Big Ten Player of the Year

For the third year in a row, Caitlin Clark nabbed Big Ten Player of the Year. She is only the second player in Big Ten history to achieve this honor in back-to-back-to-back years–Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport. Clark leads the nation in assists with 8.6 per game and scoring, with 32.3 points per game. She also earned First Team honors.

Big 12 Honors

Audi Crooks was a unanimous selection to the Big 12 First Team. Crooks broke the Cyclones’ freshman scoring mark after averaging 18.3 points per game. She earned Big 12 Player of the Week twice this season and Freshman of the Week four times. 

This Day in Sports History

1945 – George Nissen of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, receives a patent for the first modern trampoline.

1954 – First ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: NC State beats Wake Forest, 82-80 (OT).

1982 – NBA highest scoring game: San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171-166 (3 OT).