Prep Basketball- A full month of basketball is in the books and as teams earn a two week break, now is as good a time as any to look at the conference standings for the Southeast Conference (SEC) starting with the boys’ teams.
Washington headlines the conference for the first time in three years as the Demons boast the only 3-0 record in the conference after avoiding an upset against Mt. Pleasant to end the first half of the season.
Fort Madison evened things up between themselves and Burlington after a Bloodhound victory to bring their conference records to 2-1. Fort Madison could also argue that should be 3-0 after receiving a late technical foul against Fairfield back on December 6th sealed their fate.
Keokuk defeated Fairfield to pick up their first conference win of the season to snare the Trojans at 1-2 in conference. The Chiefs thought themselves to be a preseason favorite, returning talented pieces in Jaxon Clark and Brenton Hoard, but the graduated Diego Garcia proved to be a harder piece to replace than previously thought.
Mt. Pleasant has played three close conference games but will attempt to beat Keokuk to collect their first SEC win of the season. Head coach Eric Rawson knows his team cannot focus on wins and losses, rather the little things that pop up at practice.
Conference Leaders
Points Per Game (ppg): Jaxon Clark (Keokuk)- 23.4 ppg, Nolan Guzman (Fort Madison)- 18.0 ppg, Riley Perkins (Fairfield)- 14.1 ppg
Rebounds Per Game: Jaxon Clark (Keokuk)- 14.8, Noah Lange (Mt. Pleasant)- 7.8, Lucas Konczal (Fairfield)- 7.7
Assists Per Game: Julian Dear (Fort Madison)- 6.2, Nolan Guzman (Fort Madison)- 4.2, Kenden Bowie (Fort Madison)- 4.0
Steals Per Game: Julian Dear and Nolan Guzman (Fort Madison)- 3.8, Brenton Hoard (Keokuk)- 2.8, Michael Kantzavelos (Burlington)- 1.9
Blocks Per Game: Dayton Lamar (Fort Madison)- 3.0, Jaxon Clark (Keokuk)- 2.0, Nehemiah Lewis (Burlington)- 1.7
The Fort Madison girls’ team is sitting where the boys’ team would like to be, on top of the SEC with a 3-0 record after a comeback win in an early battle for conference supremacy against Burlington 49-39 as Dayonna Davis cashed in for 26 points in the win.
However, defense has been the name of the Bloodhounds’ game, keeping each of their conference foes under 40 points.
Burlington’s early stumble moved them to tied for second in the conference with a 2-1 record with Keokuk and Washington. The Grayhounds did steal a win over the Chiefs on a last-second shot to take the game 49-48.
Keokuk was the team to beat entering the season with a preseason ranking of #14 in Class 4A and having gone undefeated in SEC play the year prior. The Chiefs were slow out of the gate therefore they rest out of the top 15 and hold a loss in their conference record for the first time since Mt. Pleasant won their matchup back in 2022.
Last year’s SEC Player of the Year Kendra Boatman seems to have Keokuk moving back in the right direction with a three-game winning streak, including a 67-17 win over Fairfield.
Washington appeared to figure out their three-point shooting problem in a 57-17 win over Mt. Pleasant last Friday, but Class 3A’s #7 Williamsburg showed that might not be the case in a 43-14 thrashing on Saturday in Washington. But the Demons sit in a nice spot entering the final seven conference showdowns for the 2024-25 season.
Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant sit at the bottom of the standings as they are both 0-3 in the SEC. Mt. Pleasant will readily accept the return of Abby Carthey, which is expected to take place in January after an injury has knocked the Panthers’ leading scorer from last year out of the lineup.
Fairfield has yet to win a game this season in seven tries and the main problem is a lackluster offense. The Trojans have failed to score over 33 points this season, shooting just 27.5% from the field, 19.7% from deep, and 41.3% from the free throw line. Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield will square off on January 10th at Fairfield.
Conference Leaders
Points Per Game (ppg): Mylee Stiefel (Burlington)- 17.8 ppg, Dayonna Davis (Fort Madison)- 16.9 ppg, Kendra Boatman (Keokuk)- 15.9 ppg, Hadley Wolfe (Fort Madison)- 13.3 ppg, Kylee Hill (Burlington)- 13.0 ppg
Rebounds Per Game: Kylee Hill (Burlington)- 10.5, Dayonna Davis (Fort Madison)- 10.1, Camryn Atterberg (Keokuk)- 8.3, Addison Clark (Mt. Pleasant)- 7.7
Assists Per Game: Kendra Boatman (Keokuk)- 5.3, Hadley Wolfe (Fort Madison)- 4.4, Mylee Stiefel (Burlington)- 4.2
Steals Per Game: Hadley Wolfe (Fort Madison)- 4.6, Kendra Boatman (Keokuk)- 4.3, Dayonna Davis (Fort Madison)- 3.6
Blocks Per Game: Halle Menke (Fort Madison)- 1.2, Camryn Atterberg (Keokuk) and Kylee Hill (Burlington)- 1.0, Nevaeh Logan (Keokuk)- 0.7
KILJ 105.5 FM or kilj.com will be on the call for Mt. Pleasant’s home conference matchup against Keokuk on January 3rd with the pregame show at 5:45 pm, tip-off at 6 pm.