Games of the Week (Week 9)
TUESDAY (Feb. 4) Game of the night: 4A #7 Cedar Falls at 4A #4 Senior Two of the state’s top teams meet in Dubuque on Tuesday night, in a rematch of last year’s 4A championship game, won by Cedar Falls.…
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Continue ReadingTUESDAY (Feb. 4)
Game of the night: 4A #7 Cedar Falls at 4A #4 Senior
Two of the state’s top teams meet in Dubuque on Tuesday night, in a rematch of last year’s 4A championship game, won by Cedar Falls. Very few of the players in tonight’s game actually played in that championship game, but the level of talent on the floor is still going to be extremely high. Long known for being a methodical, efficient but slow paced team, Senior is playing at a much quicker tempo this year, and is putting up 67.6 points a game as a result, which ranks 5th in 4A. They’re using a variety of pressing looks, and using the quickness, length and athleticism on this year’s roster to push the tempo. Cedar Falls has solid guard play with Trey Campbell (61 assists, 27 turnovers), Landon Wolf (29 to 19), Josh Ollendieck (27, 26), Ben Sernett (26, 15) and Jaxon Heth (16, 9) all posting positive assist-to-turnover ratios. They’ll need to protect the ball against the Senior pressure if they want to get a key road win here. Senior’s balanced rotation has been on fire, winning 10 straight, and we think they push that number up to 11 consecutive with a home win here.
Our pick: Senior 68, Cedar Falls 60
Others to monitor
Knoxville at Albia
Rock Valley at 2A #7 Boyden-Hull
4A #3 North Scott at Davenport Central
1A #5 St. Mary’s, Remsen at Hinton
Dallas Center-Grimes at Indianola
Woodward-Granger at Madrid
2A #9 Beckman Catholic at 3A #2 Marion
1A #8 WACO at New London
Oskaloosa at 3A #3 Norwalk
Sergeant Bluff-Luton at Sioux City East
Des Moines Christian at 2A #5 Van Meter
Tea Area (SD) at 2A #8 Western Christian
Bryce Coppock
THURSDAY (Feb. 6)
Game of the night: 2A #1 West Sioux at Hinton
It’s a pretty quiet slate of games on Thursday night, so the most intriguing one comes out in Hinton, where the top ranked team in 2A is visiting. West Sioux has only been held below 72 points once this season, in a season opening win over South O’Brien in which they scored 55 points. They’ve broken the 110-point barrier twice (both against Akron-Westfield), and have scored north of 80 on 10 different occasions. Hinton is allowing 58.6 points a game, but they’ll have their hands full with this Falcons attack featuring Bryce Coppock (25.6), Hunter Dekkers (22.9) and Baxter Walsh (13.1). No upset is happening in Hinton on Thursday night. But head on out to watch the West Sioux Show.
Our pick: West Sioux 85, Hinton 64
Others to monitor
Belle Plaine at 1A #4 Montezuma
Des Moines Christian at Panorama
Rock Valley at Unity Christian
Notre Dame at 1A #8 WACO
Ty Anderson
FRIDAY (Feb. 7)
Game of the night: 3A #1 Assumption at 4A #3 North Scott
Few teams in the state are hotter than North Scott, who has won 13 straight games following a loss to Prairie in the second game of the year. The Lancers dominated Assumption in the first meeting this season, winning 48-30 and holding the Knights to just 11-38 (28.9%) shooting. The inside-out tandem of Ty Anderson (19.9) and Sam Kilburg (15.9, 51.2 3P%) has been dynamic for North Scott, and the contribution of junior wing Landon Eiland (9.6, 42.5 3P%) gives them another versatile wing scorer. They have the top ranked scoring defense in 4A, allowing just 39.3 points a game, and with Anderson, they have the body to limit the effectiveness of Assumption star forward Sean Peeters (21.9). Look for North Scott to grind this game down, beat up on Peeters and company, and essentially wrap up the MAC crown here.
Our pick: North Scott 45, Assumption 35
Others to monitor
4A #2 Ankeny Centennial at Ankeny
3A #6 Mount Vernon at 2A #8 Beckman Catholic
3A #2 Marion at Central DeWitt
Sioux City East at 4A #8 Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln
Pella Christian at Dallas Center-Grimes
2A #10 Aplington-Parkersburg at Denver
2A #5 Van Meter at Madrid
1A #10 Springville at 2A #4 North Linn
3A #5 Pella at Oskaloosa
3A #8 Glenwood at St. Albert
AHSTW at 2A #3 Treynor
Hempstead at 4A #5 Waterloo West
Southeast Polk at 4A #6 Waukee
Des Moines Christian at Woodward-Granger
Even Brauns
SATURDAY (Feb. 8)
Game of the night: 4A #7 Cedar Falls at 4A #1 Iowa City West
The big week for Cedar Falls continues, with a trip south to Iowa City, to face a Trojans team that has been surprisingly dominant this year on the strength of a lockdown defense and patient offensive attack. This is a vintage West team, allowing just 41.3 points a game, which has helped them overcome some offensive deficiencies, especially when standout guard Marcus Morgan was sidelined with an injury. Big man Even Brauns (15.1), a Belmont commit, has been strong on both ends for West, shooting 65% from the floor and blocking 38 shots so far this season. Chase Courbat (9.7) is a strong defensive big man, but he’ll have his hands full with Brauns. This game will be decided on the defensive end, and it’s hard to pick against a West team that has been locked in on that end of the floor, no matter how many explosive options Cedar Falls has on the court. This should be a knockdown, drag-out type game, which favors the team that likes to play in those types of contests.
Our pick: West 47, Cedar Falls 42
Others to monitor
Davenport West at Kennedy
Northeast at Central DeWitt
2A #5 Van Meter at Pella Christian
Linn-Mar at 4A #6 Waukee