Urbandale Shootout: Saturday Recaps
10:30: Urbandale 104 vs Creston 85
It was raining 3s early and never stopped for the host team on Saturday morning in the event’s first game. AJ Costello got things going for the J-Hawks early, burying four triples in the first several minutes of the game. And it was Ben DeKruyf who ended up notching a team-high seven 3s. I say team-high because Creston has a sharpshooter of its own, and 2018 guard Evan Jacobson connected on a whopping eight 3s in the loss, en route to 32 points. Those 32 weren’t even a team-high though, it was 2019 wing Kylan Smallwood who earned high-scorer honors, netting 36 points in the loss. Generally speaking, it was a pretty wacky game.
11:45: Roosevelt 62 vs Atlantic 55
As Roosevelt coach Chalres Zanders proclaimed after the game, the ‘Riders just found a way to win this one. After a bad start, Roosevelt found themselves down big early, and went into the break trailing 35-26. Austin Alexander had a lot to do with that, the 6’6 Atlantic point guard was red-hot in the first half en route to 19 points. The second half though was a different story. Alexander only scored eight points, and Roosevelt got some major contributions from newcomer (from North) Peter Ngo and 2019 wing Jamie Spinks to help secure the comeback win. When this ‘Riders team gets going, they’ll be tough to beat next winter.
1:00: Valley 77 vs Newton 74
I know it’s June and all, but don’t tell that to the Newton and Valley coaches and players; this game was intense, especially late, but Valley was able to get just enough out of its guys to come away with the win. It was a coming-out party for Valley 2019 Trayvon Williams, the junior-to-be came off the bench and immediately made his presence felt on both sides of the ball. He was menacing to Newton’s seemingly unstoppable Garrett Sturtz, and was doing what he wanted offensively. Sturtz was still his usual amazing self, ripping off a game-high 34 points, but when Williams was guarding him, things were not so easy. Blake Brinkmeyer started the game with an alley-oop slam, compliments of Carter Frey, and would add three more big jams to help him notch a team-high 23 points in the win.
2:15: Dowling 53 vs Van Meter 48
This Dowling team features on of the state’s best players with 6’4 point guard Sam Ingoli, and has maybe the biggest (girth-wise) post in the state with four-star blue-chip football prospect John Waggoner. Add an emerging standout with Blake Clark and you have yourself a pretty nice 4A squad. This Van Meter team, headlined by a stable of talented guards and two 6’8 stretch-fours, hung with the Maroons the whole game, and led for much of it. In the end though, it was Ingoli and Clark who made some clutch buckets. Clark’s was especially emphatic, with a steal from an inbound and then a two-hand slam to pout the Maroons up three with 45 ticks to go. Van Meter was led by Jack Trudo’s 19 points, they’ll be on a short list of teams who will be favored to win a title next season. Ingoli led the Maroons with 19 points.
3:30: Waukee 67 vs Urbandale 53
Waukee will again be one of the best teams in Iowa next season, and that’s despite losing a very strong senior class. Senior-to-be Nathan Johnson will headline a trio of standouts, the other two are 2019s Dylan Jones and Noah Hart. Those three led the charge for the Warriors in their relatively easy quarterfinal win over Urbandale; Johnson led with 15, Hart notched 13 and Jones added 12. There’s also steady guard Tyson Kelderman for Waukee, he could be the X-factor for the team, and with so much attention being directed at the other three, the 5-foot-7 2018 will get his opportunities. Urbandale was again led by AJ Costello’s 17 points. He seems poised for a breakout season with the J-Hawks.