High School Boys’ Postseason Basketball
The Class 3A championship match is set after a contentious set of semifinal matchups. #5 ADM was on the verge of pulling off the upset as they led 49 to 39 entering the fourth quarter over #1 Clear Lake. However, the Lions are undefeated for a reason as they ripped off 27 fourth quarter points to steal the win away 66-57. Thomas Meyer knocked down 31 points in the win.
A low-scoring showdown between #6 MOC-Floyd Valley and #7 Xavier came down to the wire after the Saints buried a three with 24 seconds remaining to tie the game; yet, Blake Aalbers answered back with his own three with four seconds left to give the Dutchmen a 44-41 victory. Aalbers finished with a team high 23 points. The championship bout is scheduled for today at 3 pm.
In Class 2A, #1 Western Christian knocked out #4 Grand View Christian with a 53-46 final as Kaden VanRegenmorter knocked in 18 points for the win. On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 West Lyon outran #3 Unity Christian 69-55. Four of the five starters for the Wildcats finished in double figures. Western Christian and West Lyon will tangle for the Class 2A championship tonight at 5 pm.
The #1-seed for Class 1A Marquette Catholic completely shutdown #4 Gladbrook-Reinbeck in the fourth quarter to cruise to a 57-45 final. Spencer Roeder put up 21 points in the win. Meeting the Defenders in the championship will be the undefeated #2-seed Madrid after the Tigers downed #3 St. Edmond 71-58. Toryn Severson dropped 32 points in the winning effort. The Class 1A championship game is scheduled for 7 pm.
In Class 4A, #4 Waukee Northwest and #3 Valley will have their championship showdown scheduled for today at 1 pm.
High School Track
The IATC Indoor Championships for the boys took place yesterday with several of our local teams making the trip, here’s some of the highlights.
In Class 3A, Fairfield put together a quality resume. Ryan Giberson finished in 22nd place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.26 seconds. Gabe Tejada gathered a silver-medal performance in the 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2 minutes. The distance medley team also finished in the top-10, as the squad of Brody Lyons, Dylan Adam, Ousman Saine, and Tejada took 6th place with a time of 3 minutes and 44 seconds. In the field events, Eli Zillman, in his journey to defend his state championship in the high jump, started his season off with a win in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet and 5 inches, winning the tiebreaker over Chase Razor of Glenwood. Giberson took the bronze with a jump of 6 feet and 3 inches.
In Class 2A, Mediapolis will be looking to continue their run as the top team this season and it was a solid start for the Bulldogs. Simon Wendel captured 3rd in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10 minutes and 9 seconds. Wendel was joined by Lane Rigdon, Mason Lindeen, and Logan Frank in the 4×800 meter relay to take the bronze with a time of 8 minutes and 54 seconds. In the field events, Lathan Keller’s jump of 5 feet and 9 inches captured 9th in the high jump, while Henry Luttenegger’s leap of 20 feet was good enough for 7th in the long jump followed by Nathan Schmidgall’s 9th place mark of 19 feet and 8 inches.
Class 1A featured Danville, Columbus, Wapello, and WACO showing their skill in different events. The Wildcats were led by Alexander Rees’ 1st place sprint of 8.40 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. Rees followed that up with a 6th place time of 23.67 seconds in the 200-meter dash as Riley Kaalberg captured 11th place.
Danville’s Nick Powell showed off his speed in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 7 seconds, which grabbed him 5th place.
Much like the cross-country season the long-distance events were highly contentious as Jackson Shacklett of Danville grabbed the bronze in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4 minutes and 36 seconds, followed Ty Muniz of Columbus, who grabbed 7th place with a time of 4 minutes and 42 seconds, and WACO’s Jude Dykstra’s 9th place time of 4 minutes and 43 seconds. Over in the 3200-meter run, Muniz led the regional pack with a 5th place time of 10 minutes and 6 seconds as Danville’s Isaac Shinn took 10th place with a time of 10 minutes and 47 seconds.
For the relays, Danville’s 4×100 meter team of Jaden Bauer, Kessler Whaley, Drake Biesler, and Byers Nealey finished in 4th place along with their 4×800 meter team of Shacklett, Noah Horn, Shinn, and Powell. Columbus had their 4×100 team of Juan Chairez, Rees, Tyson and Riley Kaalberg and their 4×800 meter squad of Cade Storm, Ryan Villa, Bryan Tlatenchi, and Muniz each take 5th place.
In the field events, Riley Kaalberg leapt 19 feet and 2.5 inches to finish in 5th place in the long jump, while Kolton Small of Wapello grabbed 7th place in the shot put with a heave of 45 feet and 4.5 inches.
The IATC Indoor Championships will continue today with the girls’ teams competing.
High School Girls Basketball
The Iowa Girls Coaches Association announced the senior Larry Niemeyer All-Star Game rosters for the upcoming games tomorrow, March 15th, and Lily Coil of Columbus will be playing for the Gray Team in Class 2A.
Coil led the Wildcats with 15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and added 3.8 steals per game on defense as Columbus claimed their program’s first Southeast Iowa Super Conference North title after finishing the season with an 18-5 record.
The Class 2A Gray team will play the Class 2A White team at 2:15 pm.
Southeastern Community College
The softball team will be hosting a spring break camp from March 17th through the 20th for grades 2-5 from 8 am to 10 am and grades 6-12 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at Fun City Turf at 614 S. Broadway Street. It is $120 per student or $100 for a sibling discount as the participants should bring their bats, gloves, and sliding gear.
There are limited spaces available and a registration form to fill out attached to this article. Instructions on where to mail the form are located on the registration.
Link: Softball Registration
College Basketball
The #12 Iowa State men’s team lost their Big 12 quarterfinal contest against #17 BYU 96-92 after an offensive onslaught by the Cougars from beyond the arc, setting a Big 12 tournament record with 18 three-pointers. Curtis Jones kept the Cyclones in the game with 31 points, including seven threes of his own.
The 15th-seeded Iowa men’s team was eliminated from the Big 10 tournament by 7th-seeded Illinois last night 106-94. Payton Sandfort tied a career-high in points with 30 in the effort.
The Iowa State and Iowa women’s teams will have to wait until Sunday, March 16th, to see if they will get a spot in the National Championship bracket.
March Madness
The KILJ Bracket Challenge is back for the 2025 March Madness men’s bracket with the same rules as last year. A printable bracket will be posted to KILJ’s Facebook page after Selection Sunday on March 16th. The bracket must be filled out and turned in to sports@kilj.com or our station by the end of the day on March 19th.
For a full list of rules and prizes, follow this link: KILJ Bracket Challenge
This Day in Sports History
1962 – Red Wings’ forward Gordie Howe becomes the second player in NHL history to score 500 career goals in Detroit’s 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers.
1972 – NBA’s Cincinnati Royals, plagued by poor home attendance, announce they are moving the franchise to Kansas City. They renamed the team to “Kings” to avoid confusion with the baseball team.
2017 – World’s oldest golf club Muirfield in Scotland, votes to admit women as members for the first time in 273 years.