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 Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) starting with the boys’ teams.
The SEISC-South division is a three-horse race for the top spot with last year’s conference shootout champion West Burlington leads the pack with a 5-0 record having defeated Holy Trinity Catholic earlier this season.
Burlington Notre Dame and the Crusaders are both sitting in second place with a 4-1 mark in conference after the Nikes narrowly lost to Holy Trinity Catholic 55-54 heading into winter break as Luke Hellige cashed in for 24 points in that win.
Mediapolis, Central Lee, and Van Buren County round out the middle of the pack as Danville and New London are still searching for their first conference victory. The two will play in New London on January 7th.
Conference Leaders (South)
Points Per Game (ppg): Mason Watkins (WB)- 27.7 ppg, Luke Hellige (HTC)-25.3 ppg, Quincy Collins (WB)- 19.1 ppg, Jack Drew (BND)-18.8
Assists Per Game: Adam Sobczak (HTC)- 8.2, Shay Stephens (BND)- 6.0, Mason Watkins (WB)- 5.6
Rebounds Per Game: Ayden Figuereo (WB) 9.3, Luke Hellige (HTC)- 7.3, Quincy Collins (WB)- 7.0
Steals Per Game: Jaden Bauer (Danville)- 3.8, Mason Watkins (WB)- 3.0, Tate Welcher (New London)- 2.8
Blocks Per Game: Will Hayes and Brayden Wyrick (Central Lee)- 1.7, Ayden Figuereo (WB)- 1.1
Switching over to the SEISC-North Division, two years removed from sitting atop the conference standings and competing for the SEISC crown, WACO has sprinted out to a 5-0 conference record under first-year head coach Chayse Roth.
The Warriors have scraped across a win at home against Pekin 53-52 and on the road against Hillcrest Academy 48-46, while winning the rest of their conference showdowns by double digits. The lone blemish was a season opening 22-point loss to Holy Trinity Catholic.
Hillcrest Academy slides in at 2nd place with a 5-1 conference mark with Winfield-Mt. Union trailing behind at 4-1 with a 61-37 loss to the Ravens weighing over them. The Wolves can score in droves but have also failed to score 50 points in five of their seven matchups.
Pekin holds the last winning record in conference at 3-2 followed by Lone Tree and Columbus at 2-3. Louisa-Muscatine is heavily involved in the stat leader list but that has not equated to wins, going 1-3 in North play. Highland is 1-4, while Wapello is the caboose, searching for their first win.
Conference Leaders (North)
Points Per Game (ppg): Finnegan Cline (L-M)- 21.0 ppg, Christian Stacy (WACO)- 18.0 ppg, Jake Edwards (W-MU)- 17.9 ppg
Assists Per Game: Henry Adam (Pekin)- 5.8, Justyn Faulkner (Wapello)- 5.4, Rowan Miller (Hillcrest Academy)- 5.2
Rebounds Per Game: Finnegan Cline (L-M)- 9.8, Cooper Buffington (W-MU) 8.7, Oscar Cline (L-M)- 7.8
Steals Per Game: Christian Stacy (WACO)- 3.6, Jake Edwards (W-MU)- 3.0, Oscar Cline (L-M) and Will Adam (Pekin)- 2.8
Blocks Per Game: Finnegan Cline (L-M)- 2.4, Oscar Cline (L-M)- 1.8, Jacob Schnieder (Highland)- 1.6
Mark your calendars for January 7th, the SEISC-South for the girls will pit the two leaders, Holy Trinity Catholic and Mediapolis, against one another to see who, possibly, will remain unbeaten in conference play.
The Crusaders are following in last year’s squad’s footsteps, finishing with a 12-2 conference mark and clobbering Lone Tree in the SEISC shootout. However, this year’s team is not dominating, at least on the scoreboard, as Holy Trinity Catholic has failed to score 50 points at all this season but has held their opponents under 40 points in all but one of their seven games, equating to a perfect record at the break.
Mediapolis is also undefeated, hoarding a 5-0 record in South play and dominating while doing so as all of their wins are by double digits with five of their seven wins by 40-points or more. The Bulldogs have dropped their last two games against the Crusaders.
Central Lee enters in at the third spot, holding a 3-2 record with Danville right behind at 2-2 after a shaky start to the season. Van Buren County trails at 2-3 with West Burlington and Burlington Notre Dame sporting 1-4 records in South play. New London is still looking for their first win of the season.
Conference Leaders (South)
Points Per Game (ppg): Amelia Grier (Mediapolis)- 15.5 ppg, Ellah Wagenbach (Mediapolis)- 13.1 ppg, Josie Hutcheson (Mediapolis)- 12.8 ppg, Adalyn Kruse (HTC)- 12.0 ppg
Assists Per Game: Josie Hutcheson (Mediapolis)- 7.0, Bryn Wright (Mediapolis)- 6.4, Anna Bendlage (HTC)- 3.6
Rebounds Per Game: Kenna Sandoval (Central Lee)- 11.2, Adalyn Kruse (HTC)- 9.4, Madalynn Knapp (BND)- 7.3
Steals Per Game: Josie Hutcheson (Mediapolis)- 6.0, Lizzy Mason (Central Lee)- 5.3, Amelia Grier (Mediapolis)- 5.0
Blocks Per Game: Mylee Miller (New London)- 1.8, Josie Parrott (Mediapolis)- 1.6, Kenna Sandoval (Central Lee) and Adalyn Kruse (HTC)- 1.0
Switching to the SEISC-North, Columbus finished with their first winning season in seven seasons last year and now the Wildcats are a perfect 6-0 in the North and 8-1 overall. Five of their wins are by double digits, but a loss to the Hawks shows there is still some growth to be had for this team to take a swing at the Crusaders or Bulldogs.
Highland has been the biggest surprise of the season with freshman phenom Kamryn Fink leading the Huskies in usurping Lone Tree from the Class 1A rankings and inserting Highland at the #14 spot. However, losses to Columbus and WACO have the Huskies, Warriors, and Lions tied at 4-2 apiece in the North.
Hillcrest Academy and Pekin are both 3-3, while Louisa-Muscatine and Winfield-Mt. Union sit with one win apiece, though the Wolves have been dealing with early season injuries to their starting lineup. Lastly, Wapello is still searching for their first conference win of the season.
Conference Leaders (North)
Points Per Game (ppg): Claire Withrow (Hillcrest Academy)- 18.8 ppg, Kamryn Fink (Highland) and Malia Yoder (Hillcrest Academy) – 17.0 ppg, Lily Coil (Columbus)- 16.7 ppg, Kynlee Buffington (W-MU)- 15.0
Assists Per Game: Katie Herrig (Highland)- 5.0, Malia Yoder (Hillcrest Academy)- 3.6, Ariana Vergara (Columbus)- 3.6
Rebounds Per Game: Kamryn Fink (Highland)- 16.1, Abby Guise (Pekin)- 12.5, Kynlee Buffington (W-MU)- 11.7
Steals Per Game: Ariana Vergara (Columbus)- 5.9, Malia Yoder (Hillcrest Academy)- 5.8, Hailey Brun (Highland)- 5.1
Blocks Per Game: Kynlee Buffington (W-MU): 2.7, Alyson Ford (Lone Tree)- 1.6, Kamryn Fink (Highland)- 1.5
Tomorrow, December 25thhaveeee will survey the Southeast Conference landscape as some early season surprises have altered the terrain.