High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball
For Class 3A Substate 6, the top of the bracket paired two Panther squads against one another in the #1-seed #3 Knoxville hosting the #8-seed Mt. Pleasant and it was Knoxville who ran away with the victory in the second half, winning 61-39. Mt. Pleasant battled through the first half even taking a 16 to 14 lead into the second quarter after Ryan Helling knocked down a three at the buzzer; unfortunately, the offense just could keep pace for the rest of the contest. Helling led the way with 10 points followed by Isaiah Lange with nine points. Mt. Pleasant finished the season with a 2-20 record.
Fort Madison jumped on Washington early, outscoring the Demons 21 to 5 in the first quarter to eventually go on to win 72-50. Darius Foy dominated the paint to the tune of 17 points for the Bloodhounds, while Logan McDole scored 23 points for the Demons. Knoxville will host Fort Madison on Thursday, February 27th, at 7 pm.
In the bottom half of the bracket, Fairfield held tough with Mt. Vernon, but proved unable to tame the Mustangs, falling 66-57. The Trojans ended the season with a 6-16 record.
Keokuk kept Oskaloosa at arms-length, picking up a 49-43 win to advance to the substate semifinals. The Chiefs will travel to Mt. Vernon on Thursday at 7 pm.
For Class 1A Substate 4 District 8, Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against #10 Burlington Notre Dame for the district championship tonight at 7 pm at Central Lee. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
For Class 2A Substate 5: District 9, #10 West Burlington will compete against Mid-Prairie for the district championship tonight at 7 pm at Mt. Pleasant High School.
High School Girls’ Postseason Basketball
In Class 2A Region 2, Danville will compete against #2 Regina Catholic tomorrow, February 26th, at 7 pm at Muscatine High School for the regional championship. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. Bears head coach Matt Morris is eager to see how his team will compete against the Regals,
“You know, they got three kids that can really put the ball on the ground and rack it and shoot it. So, we’re gonna have to work hard on the perimeter and we’re going to work on team defense. Really, just, executing and working as a group. It’s going to take a total team effort. I mean that teams got a lot of experience. They’ve been to state. We haven’t, but super proud of our kids and it’s just a great opportunity for our kids, our team, and our school, and our community to, you know, rally together and do it one more time.”
High School Bowling
The state bowling tournament began yesterday with the Burlington boys’ team entering as the 7th seed and the Keokuk girls’ team looking to repeat as the Class 2A champions as the #2-seed.
On the boys’ side, Burlington defeated Denison-Schleswig in the consolation semifinals 3-1 to set up a matchup against the #8-seed Norwalk for the 5th place match. The Grayhounds fell behind early before forcing a fourth game; unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome Norwalk as Burlington claimed 6th place.
For the girls’ Class 2A team bowling tournament, Keokuk overcame an early 1 to 0 deficit to defeat Decorah 3-1 and advance to the championship match to take on the #1-seed LeMars. The Chiefs were in trouble early after losing the first two games, but they are champs for a reason, winning the last three games 234-208, 212-164, and 206-193 to hoist back-to-back Class 2A team titles.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will have Madalyn Millard and Bethany Drury bowl individually today along with Jaelynn Ketterer, Sophie Rule, Natalie Alberts, and Addison Spicer for Keokuk. Pray Lawson of Keokuk will bowl individually for the boys’ Class 2A tournament.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team will travel to Sauk Valley Community College tomorrow, February 26th, at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The #9 Iowa State men’s team will play Oklahoma State tonight at 7 pm on the road.
The Iowa men’s team will travel to Illinois tonight at 8 pm.
The Iowa women’s team will square off against Michigan tomorrow, February 26th, at 6 pm on the road.
The Iowa State women’s team will take on UCF on the road tonight at 6 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1924 – Marie Boyd scored 156 points in a Maryland High School basketball game (163-3).
1941 – The Boston Bruins set a then-NHL record of 23-game unbeaten streak (15-0-8).
2019 – Caitlin Clark sets the Class 5A state tournament single-game scoring record with 42 points in a game for Dowling Catholic High School against Waukee High School, winning in triple overtime.