Conference Preview: War Eagle
The Teams Akron-Westfield: Plenty of key contributors will return from last season’s 6-16 team. Does that mean the Westerners will vastly improve and compete for a conference title? Improve, yes; compete for conference title, likely not. Clay Central-Everly: Only…
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Akron-Westfield: Plenty of key contributors will return from last season’s 6-16 team. Does that mean the Westerners will vastly improve and compete for a conference title? Improve, yes; compete for conference title, likely not.
Clay Central-Everly: Only one guy from the entire roster last year graduated, that’s the good news. The bad news: that team was 2-20. Look for improvements from the Mavericks, but another sub .500 campaign seems to be in the cards.
Gehlen Catholic: This middling team from a season ago will try and work its way into the upper half of the conference standings behind leading returning scorer Alec Langel — he junior averaged 9.2 points per game last winter for the 10-12 Jays.
Harris-Lake-Park: Preseason first team all-conference selection Jordan Kyle is a standout for the Wolves, but he can’t do it on his own. He’ll need major help from Bret Sohn and slew of other 2018s if they want to make it to double-digit wins this season.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn: Division I prospect Owen Coburn was projecting to be the only returning starter for the Hawks, but he transferred to 3A Spirit Lake. So it will be a completely new-look squad taking the floor in Hartley this winter.
Hinton: Not only do they have by far the best player in the conference, but they have one of the best players in the state, and a darkhorse pick for Iowa Mr. Basketball. Sharpshooting guard Jay Small will do his best to lead this team to a conference title, and he’s got a very strong supporting cast to help him do so.
MMCRU: So Marcus-Meridan-Cleghorn and Remsen Union have merged, it seems. That means this team could be a pretty decent one. And by pretty decent we mean they’ll win more games than Remsen Union did last season, which was two.
Remsen St. Mary’s: These guys could be pretty good this season despite losing last season’s leading scorer Ethan Biezuns to graduation. The trio of Nicholas Ruden, Jacob Wesselmann and Colin Schroeder will have this team near the top of the standings.
South O’Brien: The Wolverines are always good, but last season they were really, really good, and they have a 1A state championship trophy to verify that. Damon Struve is gone and a host of other seniors graduated. But expect Cameron Maxwell and Co. to be competing g for a conference title once again
Trinity Christian: Despite having one of the conference’s most productive players with Colin Heynen last season, his team could muster just five wins. We don’t expect that number to get much better this season with their three best scorers from a season ago gone.
Unity Christian: The Knights are always decent, and have been really good at times in the last decade. And after winning 12 games last season, we expect a slight improvement this season behind senior Luke Nieuwendorp and a cast of 2018s.
West Sioux: After a 15-win campaign in 2015-16, West Sioux will look to recapture that success with a new-look squad. Porter Hummel has moved on, as has fellow 2016 Kezden Blankenship. But the rest of the starting lineup remains intact, most notably Isaac Topete and Jake Lynott.
Projected Order of Finish
- Hinton
- South O’Brien
- Remsen St. Mary’s
- West Sioux
- Unity Christian
- Gehlen Catholic
- Harris-Lake Park
- Akron-Westfield
- H-M-S
- Clay Central-Everly
- Trinity Christian
- MMCRU
Analysis
South O’Brien is always in the running for a conference title, but with Hinton returning four starters — including Iowa Mr. Basketball candidate Jay Small — and its five leading scorers, we’re giving the edge to the Blackhawks.
Player of the Year
Jay Small, 6’1, Hinton
Not just the conference’s best player, but one of the best players in the state, period. Small is on a short list of guys who could realistically be the best scorer in Iowa this season. He averaged 25.7 per game last winter, and is Iowa’s leading returning scorer. He assists, plays D, and rebounds too. It’s no wonder he as a Division I offer (South Dakota).
Biggest Sleeper
Cameron Maxwell, 6’5 , South O’Brien
He showed flashes of what he was capable of last March during the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Now, since standouts Damon Struve and Kyle Paulsen gone, Maxwell will be the main-man for the Wolverines. Look for the senior forward to average a near double-double this season after going for 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a junior.
Players to Watch
Jay Small, 6’1, Hinton
Jordan Kyle, 6’4, Harris-Lake-Park
Jacob Wesselmann, 6’3, Remsen St. Mary’s
Nicholas Ruden, 6’4, Remsen St. Mary’s
Adam Hasselquist, 6’5, Hinton
Colin Jurgenmeister, 6’2, Hinton
Colin Schroeder, 5’9, Remsen St. Mary’s
Cameron Maxwell, 6’5, South O’ Brien
Luke Neuiwendorp, 6’6, Unity Christian
Jake Lynott, 5’9, West Sioux