The favorite: The current top ranked team in the class is Easton Valley, and the River Hawks look like a heavy favorite to come out of this district. They lead 1A in scoring offense at 76.3 points a game,…
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The favorite: The current top ranked team in the class is Easton Valley, and the River Hawks look like a heavy favorite to come out of this district. They lead 1A in scoring offense at 76.3 points a game, led by standout big man Kaleb Cornilsen (20.7), an efficient forward who is great around the basket and can stretch out to about 15 feet. They’re able to surround him with excellent shooters, which is what makes this offense potent. Jessen Weber (18.7, 49.5 3P%), Cade Jargo (12.0, 34.2%) and Nate Trenkamp (10.1, 37.5%) are all good shooting threats who you can’t leave open. You also can’t really allow Cornilsen to go one-on-one with anyone in the paint, so good luck trying to slow this group down. The other thing they do exceptionally well is protect the basketball, as they’ve dished out 368 assists against just 74 turnovers this year. That type of ball protection is vital in postseason play. This group can give up some easy buckets when their press is broken, but the guard play isn’t here in this district for that to become an issue.
The biggest threat: The team that is most likely to come out of the bottom half of the bracket is Central City, led by star forward Nick Reid (29.3 points, 20.2 rebounds). The Wildcats swept likely semifinal opponent Edgewood-Colesburg this season and have put together a strong 14-5 campaign so far. They’ll need to get more production out of young men like Ethan Tye (7.4), Trey Orcutt (6.3) and Patrick Wade (5.8) if they want to pull the upset over Easton Valley, but with Reid on the floor, anything is possible.
The dark horse: The other contender in the bottom half of the bracket is Edgewood-Colesburg, who recently welcomed back high-scoring guard Parker Rochford (14.0). Rochford had been nursing an injury suffered during football season, but is back and getting re-acclimated into the lineup. He’s a dangerous shooter who could carry the Vikings to a few wins in this district.
Players to watch
2021 Kaleb Cornilsen, Easton Valley
2020 Nate Trenkamp, Easton Valley
2020 Cade Jargo, Easton Valley
2020 Jessen Weber, Easton Valley
2020 Nick Reid, Central City
2021 Parker Rochford, Edgewood-Colesburg
2021 Andrew Holtz, Maquoketa Valley
2022 Kaiden Gage, East Buchanan
2020 Tyson Russell, East Buchanan
2020 Nathan Moeller, Prince of Peace
2021 Carson Michels, Marquette Catholic
2020 Matthew Brinker, Marquette Catholic
The favorite: You could make a strong argument for any of four teams to be considered the favorite in this district, as it looks like one of the most balanced districts in the state. But we’re going to give the edge to Alburnett here. The Pirates were the 1A runner-up last year, and brought back a fair amount of experience from that group. Shane Neighbor (15.8) and Reed Stallman (11.9) have been outstanding on the glass this year, combining to average nearly 17 rebounds a game, including nearly six offensive boards. Those extra possessions are invaluable come postseason time. Austin Huber (13.6, 39.6 3P%) is a knockdown shooter, and this team is strong on the defensive end of the floor. This district is wide open, but Alburnett gets the edge.
The biggest threat: Wapsie Valley has been strong since a 2-4 start, going 10-3 since the holiday break. The Warriors have played the toughest schedule in the district, and are led by a dominant forward in 6-7 Kiks Rosengarten (19.3, 11.7 rebounds), who can also protect the paint (46 blocks). The backcourt of Blayde Bellis (10.2, 37.4 3P%), Kobe Risse (9.7, 40.4%) and Gunner Meyer (7.6, 44.1%) can really shoot it as well. They lost to Gladbrook-Reinbeck, their quarterfinal opponent, earlier this year, but that was before they really got things rolling.
The dark horse(s): There are three other teams worthy of mentioning in this district. First, we’ve got Gladbrook-Reinbeck. The Rebels got off to a strong 9-0 start this season, but have been scuffling lately, losing five of their last six games. As we mentioned, they’ve already beaten their quarterfinal opponent, Wapsie Valley, and with Tyler Tscherter (15.4) and William Kiburis (14.1) leading the way, they have the offensive weapons to test Alburnett in the semifinals. Don Bosco has the best individual player in the district in Zach Huff (23.9), a 6-1 scoring guard who can take over games and lead the Dons on a deep run. And Belle Plaine is an old school team that has size and likes to play inside-out, which could be difficult for some of the teams in this district to match up with.
Players to watch
2021 Shane Neighbor, Alburnett
2020 Austin Huber, Alburnett
2021 Reed Stallman, Alburnett
2020 Zach Huff, Don Bosco
2020 Lewis Havel, Don Bosco
2020 Kiks Rosengarten, Wapsie Valley
2021 Kobe Risse, Wapsie Valley
2021 Blayde Bellis, Wapsie Valley
2020 Tyler Tscherter, Gladbrook-Reinbeck
2023 William Kiburis, Gladbrook-Reinbeck
2021 Luke DeMeulenaere, Belle Plaine
2022 Ben DeMeulenaere, Belle Plaine
2020 John Zwack, Waterloo Christian
SUBSTATE FINAL PREDICTION
Easton Valley vs. Alburnett
In a Tri-Rivers rematch of a game Easton Valley won comfortably (72-53) earlier this year, it’s the same result, as the River Hawks just have too much offensive firepower for Alburnett to keep up with for 32 minutes, punching their first State ticket since 2014.
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