High School Basketball

The Central Lee boys’ team will hit the road to take on Davis County tonight at 7:30 pm.

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will travel to Fairfield tomorrow, February 13th, with tip-off at 7:30 pm. Panthers head coach Eric Rawson talked about his team’s approach as the postseason looms,

“Yeah, I mean, we’re just gonna have to have some guys that step up. And again, don’t try to do too much and overcompensate. Gotta play within your abilities and trust each other and lean on each other. I think we do a really good job of that. Again, we’ll get through this little bump in the road. Life’s all about adversity and how you’re gonna handle it. And those guys are gonna meet it head on and we’ll certainly take on the challenge.”

Girls’ Regional Basketball

The regional brackets for Class 1A are set to start tonight at 7 pm and Classes 2A and 3A starting on Saturday, February 14th, at the same time. Here’s a look at our local competition.

In Class 1A Region 4, New London will make the trip to Lone Tree.

Wapello will host Burlington Notre Dame.

Over in Region 6, Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to Highland. 

WACO will face off against Pekin on the road. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

In Class 2A Region 8, Van Buren County will host Columbus. 

For Class 3A Region 5, the Southeast Conference will meet up in Washington as the Demons will face off against Fairfield. 

In Region 6, #8 Mediapolis will get another swing at Central Lee at home.

Girls High School Rankings

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released their 10th and final rankings for Classes 1A, 2A, and 3A and no teams were dropped from the top 15 in all five classes.

In Class 3A, Mediapolis vaulted up one spot to #8 as the Bulldogs finished the regular season with a perfect 21-0 record. Mediapolis ranks top five in the entire state in point difference (2nd), assists per game (2nd), steals per game (4th), and three pointers made per game (1st). Mediapolis will be looking to book their first trip to the state tournament since 2015. 

Boys’ District Basketball

The Class 1A district bracket is scheduled to start tomorrow, February 13th, with the preliminary round. The first round for Classes 1A and 2A is scheduled for Monday, February 16th, with all games tipping-off at 7 pm.

Class 1A Substate 5 District 9 is where most of our local teams were placed with #3 Notre Dame grabbing on to the top seed.

To start off the bracket, New London will host Highland tomorrow with the winner advancing to play the Nikes. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

On Monday, Winfield-Mt. Union and Danville will square off in the #4-#5 seed contest with the Wolves getting to host.

Holy Trinity Catholic will take on WACO at home. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

Over in Substate 5 District 10, Wapello will travel to Hillcrest Academy on Monday.

In Class 2A Substate 5 District 9, Central Lee earned the first round bye and will take on the winner between West Burlington and Cardinal with the Falcons getting to host. 

On the top half of the bracket, Van Buren County will hit the road to play Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont to open the first round.

In Substate 5 District 10, Columbus will face off against Durant on the road and Mediapolis will host Louisa-Muscatine for their first round showdowns. 

The Class 3A and Class 4A brackets will be released on Monday.

High School Wrestling

The boys’ district wrestling meets are scheduled for Saturday, February 14th.

In Class 1A, New London and WACO will make the trip to Lisbon, while Van Buren County, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and Wapello will travel to Sigourney.

For Class 2A, Fairfield and Fort Madison will wrestle at Centerville. Burlington Notre Dame, Mediapolis, Keokuk, and Washington will compete at Williamsburg. Lastly, Mt. Pleasant will journey up to Central DeWitt. 

Only the top-two place winners from each weight class will advance to the state tournament. 

High School Bowling

The Class 2A individual state tournament commenced yesterday and the top eight scores from the preliminary round moved on to the finals and Keokuk’s Jaelynn Ketterer snuck it at the #8 spot with 658 pins and bowled her way to a 4th place finish through bracket play. Emily Whitehead of Clinton won the Class 2A individual title. 

Josie Sapp and Allison Sapp of Keokuk finished in 15th and 17th place, respectively, while Mt. Pleasant’s Shyann Smith claimed 31st place with 499 total pins. 

For the Class 3A team championship, Des Moines Lincoln earned the banner with a 3-1 victory over Ottumwa. 

The girls’ state bowling meet will wrap up today with the Class 1A team tournament and the Class 3A individual tournament. 

The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) released the state qualifying meet assignments for the boys’ teams and Central Lee will host West Burlington, while Fairfield will travel to Monticello in Class 1A.

 In Class 2A, Clinton will play host to Burlington, Keokuk, and Mt. Pleasant.

Both meets are scheduled for Monday, February 16th, at 10 am.

Southeastern Community College

The women’s basketball team fell to Ellsworth Community College last night, 75-51. The Blackhawks will look to bounce back on Saturday, February 14th, against Iowa Lakes Community College at 1 pm at home.

The men’s basketball team will travel to Indian Hills Community College on Saturday at 7 pm.

The men’s and women’s wrestling teams will travel to North Iowa Area Community College for the District Championships on Sunday, February 15th. 

College Basketball

The Iowa State women’s team will tip-off at 1 pm on Sunday, February 15th, at home against Kansas State.

The #15 Iowa women’s team rallied past Washington last night, 65-56. Chit-Chat Wright led the team with 21 points, as Hannah Stuelke tabbed a 14 point/16 rebound double-double. The Hawkeyes will make the trip to Nebraska on Monday, February 16th, at 11 am.

The Iowa men’s team fell to Maryland last night, 77-70, to snap a six-game winning streak. Bennett Stirtz was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring 32 points and dishing out six assists. The Hawkeyes will be tasked with hosting #13 Purdue on Saturday, February 14th, at 4 pm.

The #5 Iowa State men’s team will look for redemption against #9 Kansas at home on Saturday at noon.

This Day in Sports History

1878 – Frederick W. Thayer patented the baseball catcher’s mask.

1937 – The Cleveland (now Los Angeles) Rams is granted an NFL franchise. 

1982 – Wayne Gretzky scores hist 153rd point of the season, breaking a then-NHL record. Gretzky holds the record with 215 points.

Prep Boys’ Basketball- The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) has revealed the district matchups for both Classes 1A and 2A with postseason action getting underway on Friday, February 13^th, with the preliminary round of action for Class 1A. Here’s a look at our local matchups.

Class 1A

Substate 5 District 9 will feature eight members of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference with #3 Burlington Notre Dame receiving the top seed in the bracket. The Nikes finished the regular season with a 20-2 record, which included a victory over a top 10 Marquette Catholic squad in Class 1A and 14 victories over teams that sport a record over 0.500.

They finished one game short of the state tournament last year after falling to North Linn, 56-52, in the substate championship. Notre Dame will be attempting to make their first trip to the state tournament since going in consecutive years in 2008 and 2009. They will take on the winner between…

(5-16) #8 New London vs (3-18) #9 Highland

The bracket will actually start in New London as the #8-seed Tigers will host #9 Highland on Friday at 7 pm. The two teams have not faced off against one another since the 2021-22 season when New London pulverized Highland 82-37.

It marked New London’s sixth win of the nine-game series going back to 2016. Only one of the matchups have been decided by less than 10 points, but it usually involves a lot of offense with at least one team scoring 64 points in the game.

To end the season, New London has won three of their last four games with back-to-back 70-point outings. Leading the pack will be London Franklin and Brigham Porter, as Franklin likes to slash his way through the lane, while Porter is pure from mid-range.

Highland, on the other hand, has lost 10 of their last 11 contests. Their season defense has been porous to say the least with 68.8 points allowed per game, which has jumped up to 70 points over the last 11 games. The Huskies will have their own pair to lean on in Bryce Hazelett (15.2 points per game) and Landon Roling (14 points per game).

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

Players to Watch: Israel Lemley (New London) vs Jacob Schneider (Highland) from 3-point range

First Round Matchups Starting on Monday, February 16^th, at 7 pm

(13-7) #4 Winfield-Mt. Union vs (12-9) #5 Danville

In another clash between the North and South Divisions, the Wolves will look to repeat history from their 2023-24 state tournament run when they knocked out Danville in a 61-40 final. It was Winfield-Mt. Union’s first victory over the Bears in their limited series going back to 2011.

Of course, Danville would like to rerun the 2021-22 season that saw the Bears qualify for the state tournament after Ty Carr’s 15 points led the team to a narrow 44-41 victory over the Wolves in the District Championship. With a history of success, neither team is to be taken lightly.

Danville has won five of their last six games after a 49-40 loss put them under 0.500 for the season. Their offense has picked up the pace, averaging 63.2 points over their last five wins compared to their season average 52.8 points per game.

Meanwhile, Winfield-Mt. Union has whispered their way to the end of the regular season after three dominant wins over SEISC-North opponents, losing their last two games by a combined seven points.

Their loss to Mediapolis in the SEISC Shootout brough their season record against South division to a miserable 0-4 with three of the four losses being by double figures. Head coach Klay Edwards prides his team on their defense, and they will have to be the focal point if they want to make a run.

The winner of this game will play the winner between Notre Dame and New London/Highland.

Players to Watch: Cody Milks (Winfield-Mt. Union) and Connor Hulett (Danville)

(14-7) #3 Holy Trinity Catholic vs (11-10) #6 WACO

This will be the second time this season that these two teams will meet on the hardcourt and Holy Trinity Catholic is hoping to make it six straight against WACO, as they hold the overall advantage since 2009 at 18-12.

After a close 54-53 victory in early February for the Crusaders back in the 2023-24 season, Holy Trinity Catholic has dominated this showdown, winning by an average of 23.3 points per game, including a 72-39 blowout in last year’s district semifinals.

Both of these teams lost some key pieces to last year’s squads. Holy Trinity Catholic lost their all-time point scorer in Luke Hellige and program leader in assists Adam Sobczak, while WACO had Christian Stacy, their leading scorer, transfer to Marion and graduated Isaac Rich and Clayton Miller.

Holy Trinity Catholic has been one of the bigger surprises of the season as they shook off a 4-5 start to the season to win 10 of their last 12. Layne Rung, who tabbed his 1,000^th career point earlier this season, leads a dynamic offense averaging 59.2 points per game. Luckily for the Crusaders, they’re at home, where they are 10-3 for the season.

WACO’s head coach Chayse Roth thought his offense would take a while to progress. Nevertheless, his offense down the stretch has struggled, producing less than 50 points in 8 of their last 14 games, including three games of less than 40 points. WACO looks to build off their last victory of the season where they produced 61 points and drilled six threes on 37.5% shooting from beyond the arc.

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

The winner will play either #2 Pekin or #7 Seymour.

Players to Watch: Layne Rung (HTC) and Holden Hughes (WACO)

Substate 5 District 10

(18-4) #2 Hillcrest Academy vs (5-16) #7 Wapello

As the odd-man out, Wapello will have to venture to Kalona to take on the SEISC-North champion, Hillcrest Academy to start their postseason journey. The past is not pointing in their favor as the Ravens have won the last nine games of the series with the last seven being by at least 13 points.

Hillcrest Academy is a sneakily good team with their four losses coming against: #3 Burlington Notre Dame, Keota, Class 2A’s #10 Pella Christian, and Pekin. All but two of their wins have come by double figures.

On the other hand, Wapello has lost their last four games of the season, and their wins come against teams with a combined record of 15-48. This will be a tough ask for the squad.

Players to Watch: Kale Bailey (Hillcrest Academy) and Kinnick Richenberger (Wapello)

The top seed of the district belongs to Calamus-Wheatland, who is 20-2 on the season with both losses coming against a ranked Marquette Catholic squad in Tri-Rivers play.

Class 2A Substate 5 District 9

(12-8) #3 West Burlington vs (4-18) #6 Cardinal

Not many would have blamed West Burlington if they dropped off of the map after losing four of their five starters, including All-State talent Mason Watkins, and the coach that helped lead them to consecutive district and conference championships along with their program’s first state tournament appearance.

Alas, the Falcons have learned to play scrappy this year, leading to a ferocious 51-50 overtime victory over Mt. Pleasant last night in a hostile environment. The remaining piece of their state tournament trip, Ayden Figuereo, plays quick and aggressive, while Silas Lotzow cleans up the boards and puts in the second chance buckets.

Cardinal is in the midst of their fifth straight losing season and their eighth losing season over the past ten years. All of their wins have come against Class 1A foes, and their defense has allowed two of their opponents to score over 100 points this year. Even worse, they are just 1-4 in games decided by two possessions.

The winner will move to play #2 Central Lee. The Hawks have put together consecutive winning seasons, the first time they have done that since at least 2006-07 to 2011-12. Central Lee split their matchups against West Burlington this year, winning 67-41 early in the season and losing 49-46 in late January.

Players to Watch: Ayden Figuereo (West Burlington) and Alijah Frase (Cardinal)

(7-13) #4 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont vs (6-16) #5 Van Buren County

The Warriors will be making the long trip west to play the Rockets for their first-round matchup. Van Buren County has matched their win total from last season, but they have not supported a winning season going back to 2016-17.

Defensively, the Warriors are surrendering 68.4 points per game. Even in four of their six victories, Van Buren County allowed over 50 points.

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont enters postseason play on a five-game losing streak, falling by at least 10 points in each of the contests. That was right off the heels of the Rockets rallying to five wins in six games. Defense, again, is the issue as the Rockets have allowed 61 points per game.

The winner will move on to play the top-seed of the district, Regina Catholic.

Players to Watch: Gavin Spaur (EBF) and Will Cocherell (VBC)

Substate 5 District 10

(14-6) #3 Mediapolis vs (3-18) #6 Louisa-Muscatine

Mediapolis has put together their best season in terms of winning percentage since 2018-19, when they finished the season 13-5. Helping them get there is their record against tough teams. The Bulldogs have gone 9-5 against teams with a winning record and held Burlington Notre Dame to one of their lowest scoring outputs of the season.

Louisa-Muscatine has found their offense as of late, posting scores of 64 or more in four of their last six games. The problem? They are 3-4 this season when scoring 60 points or more. They have also lost their last five games, allowing more than 70 points in all of them.

The winner will advance to the district semifinals and play #2 Mid-Prairie.

Players to Watch: Max Griffin (Mediapolis) and Oscar Cline (L-M)

#4 (7-15) Durant and #5 (9-12) Columbus

After losing seven games in-a-row, Columbus has ventured back into the winner’s column with consecutive victories over Cardinal and Louisa-Muscatine, scoring over 70 points in both contests. This exposition of offense was a nice change of pace after scoring less than 50 points in six of their last 7 losses.

If Columbus wants to come out on top, then they have to score over 60 points. The Wildcats are 9-1 when they accomplish this feat.

Durant is on their second four-game losing streak of the season after being blown out in their last three contests. The Wildcats have shown that they can hang with tough teams, losing by only five points to Mid-Prairie before winter break.

Where Durant might have the upper hand is the Wildcats have a tough defense, holding five of their seven opponents under 50 points in their victories.

So, it will be a battle of the team’s strengths.

The winner will travel to Northeast.

Players to Watch: Owen DeLong (Durant) and Ellis Hill-Carrier (Columbus)

Upcoming

The first round for Classes 1A and 2A will commence on Monday, February 16^th, with the second-round set for Thursday, February 19^th. The District championships are scheduled for Tuesday, February 24^th, with the Substate Championships the following Saturday, February 28^th. All games will tip-off at 7 pm.

The Class 3A and Class 4A brackets will be released on Monday.

New London, IA- The world of sports continues to evolve beyond the just the physical landscape at the high school level, but to the digital scene as well. Esports has exploded onto the scene ever since the first recorded video game tournament in 1972 was held at Stanford University.

The world of video games has taken on a whole subset of culture with different professional leagues for specific games such Overwatch or League of Legends and streaming platforms providing popularity for watching streamers leisurely or professionally perform.

With the rapid development of the Esports arena, Iowa High Schools saw an opportunity to get more students involved in the growing space. The result was the creation of the Iowa High School Esport Association (IAHSEA) in 2019, which is recognized by both the IHSAA and IGHSAU. The timing could not have been better placed.

As COVID-19 in 2020 resulted in lockdowns and a shutdown of in-person interactions, people were still looking for ways to connect with one another and one of those avenues was through online gaming. One of the schools to establish their Esports program during this time was New London.

Despite the virtual aspect of the sport, it behaves like any other sport season with different games being played at different times of the year: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Rainbow 6 Siege during the fall, Overwatch 2 and Rocket League in the winter, and Mario Kart 8, Valorant, and Marvel Rivals in the spring.

The Tigers, led by head coach Cory Reid, has experienced success since the inception of the program with multiple state tournament appearances in Marshalltown. Just recently, New London improved upon their 3^rd place finish for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate last year to a silver medal performance this year and consecutive state trips to Rainbow 6 Siege for the fall.

Last winter, the Tigers finished in 4^th place for Rocket League and they will be looking to make the state tournament for both Overwatch 2 and Rocket League this winter season as this week marks the final week of the regular season.

New London has handled business thus far this week, sweeping Central Springs on Monday in Rocket League and North Fayette Valley yesterday in Overwatch 2. The squad for Rocket League also sits atop the Class 1A East Standings with a perfect 6-0 record.

As the popularity continues to grow for Esports, New London will look to continue their perennial trips to the state tournament in Marshalltown.