Boys’ State Basketball
The 2024 state tournament continued yesterday as the Class 1A championship game was set and Class 4A experienced an upset in the quarterfinals.
#4 Winfield-Mt. Union struck first against #1 North Linn as the vaunted Wolves defense held a team that averaged nearly 79 points a game to just seven first quarter points to lead 9 to 7 entering the second quarter. However, as head coach Klay Edwards talked about after the game, the tide flipped.
Mason Bechen led that charge for the Lynx as he scored 10 of his 32 points in the second quarter including a buzzer-beating three pointer to give North Linn a 28 to 23 lead at halftime. The Wolves attempted to keep the game close in the second half with Jake Edwards knocking down five threes and Cam Buffington finishing with 12 points, but the Lynx shot 53.3% from the field in the second half to win 67-51. Edwards led the way with 17 points as Abram Edwards and Carter Loyd chipped in 9 points. Winfield-Mt. Union finished the season 21-3 and coach Edwards knows this senior class will still be competing for titles.
For the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Marquette Catholic and #3 Lake Mills played in a thriller that saw the game tied at 57 with less than ten seconds remaining. That’s when Marquette Catholic’s Kannon Still nailed a jumper with six seconds remaining to win 59-57. Still cashed in for 13 points as Spencer Roeder collected a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
#1 North Linn will take on #2 Marquette Catholic tomorrow, March 8th, at 1 pm.
Moving on to Class 4A, #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy handled business against #8 Dallas Center-Grimes 66-45. Joseph Bean was the top scorer for Kennedy with 18 points in the contest.
#5 Ankeny took down #4 Dubuque Senior 60-47 yesterday as Carson Johnson was unstoppable for the Hawks, totaling 26 points and four steals in the win. Cash Schoolen was the only other Hawk to finish in double figures.
#1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy will face off against #5 Ankeny tonight at 5:30 pm.
Despite the contentious atmosphere surrounding the matchup between #2 Valley and #7 Johnston, the Dragons never led in the game with Valley winning 64-57. Curtis Stinson nailed 8 of his 10 free throws to finish with the game high 22 points in the win.
The biggest upset of yesterday’s slate was #6 Bettendorf controlling the tempo of the game against #3 Cedar Falls to win 65-56. Caden Wilkins was all over the court for the Bulldogs as he collected a 20 point, 13 rebound double-double in the win.
#2 Valley will compete against #6 Bettendorf tonight at 7:15 pm.
The Class 2A semifinals will start out the day followed by the Class 3A semifinals with Class 4A to round out the night.
High School Track and Field
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete at Iowa State today for an invitational with the girls’ team running tomorrow, March 8th.
The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Central College on March 14th to start their season.
The Winfield-Mt. Union and New London boys’ teams will travel to Danville on March 18th to get the season rolling.
College Basketball
The #3 Iowa women’s team grabbed the 2-seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will take on either Wisconsin or Penn State in the quarterfinal round at 5:30 pm tomorrow, March 8th.
The Iowa State women’s team earned the 4-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and was awarded with a double bye into the quarterfinals. The Cyclones will play on Saturday, March 9th, at 11 am.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team finished with a perfect record at home this season with a 68-63 win over #20 BYU last night. Tamin Lipsey (19 points) and Curtis Jones (18 points) combined for 37 points in the win. The Cyclones will travel to take on Kansas State on Saturday at 1 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will celebrate senior night on March 10th against Illinois at 6 pm.
Iowa Women’s Basketball
The Athletic has named Caitlin Clark the National Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Clark became the first player to finish first in both assists and scoring in back-to-back seasons as she became NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in their 93-83 win against Ohio State last Sunday.
This Day in Sports History
1982 – NCAA Tournament Selection televised live for the first time.
1986 – Wayne Gretzky breaks own NHL season record with 136th assist.
1988 – Jim Abbott, a one-handed pitcher, wins the 58th James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, becoming the first baseball player to win the award.