Mount Pleasant, IA- Fall sports are slowly coming to an end for the 2023 season and making way for winter sports. Mount Pleasant will be leading the charge by hosting a jamboree on November 13th, so teams can see some action against other competition outside of inter-squad scrimmages.
Games are slated to last 45 minutes with four games on the schedule.
Starting off the night at 6 pm will be Lone Tree facing off against Burlington. The Lions bring back most of their lineup from last season that featured only one senior starter, Riley Krueger. Finley Jacque was the leading scorer last season as a freshman, shooting 38.5% from 3-point land.
Burlington ended their 40-game losing streak in their season opener last season in large part due to freshman Mylee Stiefel’s play. Stiefel led the team in scoring, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and free throw percentage all while missing three games last season.
Mediapolis will follow that matchup at 6:45 pm with the Bulldogs facing off against Keokuk. The Bulldogs are looking to build on their 20-4 record last season that saw them atop the SEISC-South with only one conference loss. However, they will look to replace 3-point threat Payton Bush and dominant post player Liz Lane.
Haley Steffener and Hanna Wagenbach, this year’s senior leadership, should be able to handle the responsibility as last year’s third and fourth team leading scorers, respectively.
Keokuk won the SEC conference last season with their only conference loss coming against Mount Pleasant. The Chiefs are primed to repeat the honor as they graduated only one starter from last season’s team, Kayde Martin. Kendra Boatman will look to lead the team after her star performance in her freshman season.
The penultimate game of the night at 7:30 pm will be against Fairfield and Winfield-Mt. Union. The Trojans graduated just one senior, Ashlyn Lisk, as last year’s junior heavy squad will be feature an almost all senior starting lineup led by Savannah Hollander.
Winfield-Mt. Union represented southeast Iowa at the state tournament last year after rolling off 19 straight wins to begin the season. However, the Wolves will almost be starting over in Wendy McCreight’s second season at the helm after graduating all five of their starters: Keely Malone, Bradie Buffington, Melina Oepping, Keetyn Townsley, and Anna Anderson.
Mount Pleasant and WACO will end the night at 8:15 pm. The Panthers finished last season with an 11-12 record with a 6-3 record in SEC play. Nevertheless, Mount Pleasant will have to replace Andrea Lopreato, who averaged a double-double for the past two seasons, Tristian Shull, Kate Schimmelpfennig, and Mackenzie Musselman.
Andi Scott will have to be the leader for the Panthers, as she was a constant source of energy for Mount Pleasant last season but saw her season end prematurely after a late season injury.
WACO enjoyed an 18-5 record last season with senior Ellah Kissell leading the way with 510 points on the season. The Warriors will be without her services along with Grace Coble, Katie Leichty, and Natalie West.
Emma Wagler and Marie Farmer will be the two returning starters for the Warriors and look for the seniors to lead this team that will have six upperclassmen.
Mount Pleasant’s season will officially begin on November 21st at Pella. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will have the call when the Panthers meet the Dutch.