Boys’ State Basketball
A defensive battle was expected between two of the top defenses in Class 1A, but no one expected #4 Winfield-Mt. Union to quite manhandle #5 Lynnville-Sully the way they did in the first and fourth quarters to win 54-37. The Wolves jumped out to a 7 to 2 lead at the end of the first yet the Hawks stuck around, trailing 32 to 26 heading into the fourth quarter. Winfield-Mt. Union, helped along by Carter Loyd’s 12 second half points, exploded on offense with a 17 to 0 run to seal the win. Head coach Klay Edwards did not have any grand speech for his team entering the final quarter.
Cam Buffington shot 9 of 16 from the field to finish with a game high 21 points as he also grabbed nine rebounds in the win. Buffington talked about how important this win was for the community. Coach Edwards echoed a similar sentiment as the team will compete against North Linn tomorrow, March 6th, at 5:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:15 pm.
In other Class 1A Quarterfinal contests, #8 Woodbine hung around with #1 North Linn for three quarters but the Lynx were too strong as they buried seven threes as a team and shot 53.1% for the game to win 75-59. Mason Bechen led the way with 25 points in the game. Landon Blum was the leading scorer for Woodbine with 23 points as he made seven threes by himself.
On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Marquette Catholic was on upset alert against #7 Gladbrook-Reinbeck, but Marquette Catholic pulled out the win 45-36 in a defensive battle. Eli Scott led the Defenders with 14 points.
In the final Class 1A game of the day, #3 Lake Mills defeated #6 North Union 58-50. Four starters for the Bulldogs finished in double figures as Aiden Stensrud collected a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
#2 Marquette Catholic will face off against #3 Lake Mills tomorrow at 7:15 pm.
Class 2A had the top half of the bracket compete against one another last night and #1 Western Christian ran past #8 Regina Catholic 56-34. Kaden VanRegenmorter finished with a double-double as he cashed in for 19 points and grabbed 10 boards in the win.
To round out the night, #4 West Burlington and #5 Treynor had the most competitive game with both teams going on streaks throughout the game.
The Cardinals held the lead for most of the game until the Falcons outscored Treynor 25 to 18 in the third quarter to lead 53 to 50 entering the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Treynor would have the final run to win 73-63 as the Cardinals put up 23 points, which included going 12 of 13 from the free throw line, while limiting West Burlington to just 10 points. Mason Watkins scored 22 points in the loss as Quincy Collins had a nice game with 14 points. The Falcons finished the season with a 22-1 record.
#1 Western Christian will take on #5 Treynor on Thursday, March 7th, at 10:30 am.
Class 2A will finish their quarterfinal matchups and Class 3A will complete their quarterfinal matchups today as well.
College Basketball
The #3 Iowa women’s team heads into the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, March 8th, with a 26-4 record.
The Iowa State women’s team heads into the Big 12 Tournament on March 7th with an 18-10 record.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team will suit up for a home matchup against BYU on Wednesday, March 6th, at 8 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will celebrate senior night on March 10th against Illinois at 6 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1955 – Second ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: North Carolina State beats Duke, 87-77.
1973 – Yankees pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson became the centerpiece of media attention after the two decided to swap wives. The bizarre trade took place in the summer of 1972 before it was made public ahead of the 1973 season.
1985 – NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy is 1st to score 50 goals in 8 straight seasons.