Week 1 Scouting Notebook: Tony's Team Takeaways

Class 1A [caption id="attachment_1066227" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/31-Manny-Hammonds.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1066227" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/31-Manny-Hammonds-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="962674" first="Manny" last="Hammonds"][/caption] Grand View Christian: After winning three straight 1A titles from 2017-19, the Thunder fell off last year following a ton of graduations. But they’re on their way back up now. They were very impressive against Albia, with a tremendous backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id="962674" first="Manny" last="Hammonds"] and Josh Baucum. Hammonds put up 32 points and Baucum added 17, showing a playmaking backcourt that can really fill it up from all three levels. Hammonds in particular showed a killer instinct that few players in the state possess, routinely putting the defense on their heels and attacking when they were vulnerable. In addition to their guard play, 7-0 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="956875" first="Daniel" last="Tobiloba"] showed a ton of potential. He’s super long and athletic, and while he’s limited offensively, he pulled down 22 rebounds and blocked 4 shots in the win. He’s a good rim protector who controls the glass, and has the size and athleticism that no other 1A team can match. If Hammonds and Baucum can score at this level all year, they’ll be good enough defensively with Tobiloba at the back end to make a serious run come postseason time.   Class 2A Albia: The Blue Demons opened the year ranked #4 by us in the class, and they had a tall (literally) task in their opener against Grand View Christian. They struggled to score against the size of [player_tooltip player_id="956875" first="Daniel" last="Tobiloba"] in the paint (everyone will struggle there), and it was a rough shooting night overall, going 23-70 (32.9%) from the floor and just 2-22 (9.1%) from 3. They were getting open looks from the perimeter, but they just didn’t knock down shots. They have much better shooters on the roster than what they showed in their opener, as they showed the following night by going 9-20 (45%) from 3 against always good Pella Christian. Drew Chance had a fantastic game, going for 25 points and 9 rebounds, and the sophomore has a chance to have a real breakout year. They’ve got solid length on the perimeter, and they didn’t have turnover issues - they just didn’t make shots. Teams have off nights, and I saw nothing in their loss that would make me re-think where I had them ranked to open the year. They’ll be one of the top teams in 2A. Treynor: Surprise, surprise, Treynor is going to be good again. Arguably the best program in 2A basketball, the Cardinals have averaged 21.5 wins a year over the last 11 seasons, and they’re off to a strong 3-0 start. We watched their 64-50 win over Bishop Heelan, and while it was impossible to determine which player was which (and thus, no individual players were written about this week), they were impressive on both ends of the floor. They’re going to be significantly smaller than they have been in the last few years, but this is a team that is going to be able to spread teams out, and they have a number of players who can put the ball on the deck and get to the rim. Noah James put up 22 points on 8-11 shooting in their win, Tim Zimmerman was impressive, and [player_tooltip player_id="964920" first="Sid" last="Schaaf"] and [player_tooltip player_id="962645" first="Thomas" last="Schwartz"] are the key returnees who saw a lot of time last year. They forced 27 turnovers, and that is going to be a common theme all year, I think. They’re quick and athletic, and they’ll be able to create chaos and put a lot of pressure on opposing teams on both ends of the floor. Largely new faces, same results in Treynor. They’ll compete at a high level in 2A.   Class 3A ADM: The Tigers got off to a strong start against Dallas Center-Grimes, but eventually ran out of a steam in a 76-38 loss. Without star guard [player_tooltip player_id="796113" first="Nathaniel" last="Mueller"], who is out for the season with a shoulder injury, they could struggle to score at times. [player_tooltip player_id="964919" first="Tate" last="Stine-Smith"] is a solid, experienced wing, and guard Ethan Juergens played well in the opening week. They’ll need him to become the go-to scoring threat on the perimeter, but this group is going to need to slow the tempo down and rely on their defense if they want to be competitive on a nightly basis. Bishop Heelan: The Crusaders had a tough opening matchup against Treynor, a perennial power in 2A, and they played fairly well, considering they returned under 10% of their scoring from last year’s roster. They have a nice looking freshman guard in Beau Chamberlain, who had an up-and-down debut, but has a good frame, great length and looks like someone who will contribute immediately on both ends of the floor. Big man Nick Miller had a nice game, scoring 12 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He’s got good hands and footwork, and good touch around the rim. And Levi Meis and Carter Kuehl showed the ability to shoot it from deep. Eight of the nine players who saw action are underclassmen, so this will be a building year for the Crusaders, and there will be some rough nights. But I think brighter days are ahead for a proud program. [caption id="attachment_1032332" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/phcircuit_sunday-52.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1032332" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/phcircuit_sunday-52-300x188.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="188" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="682270" first="Cole" last="Glasgow"][/caption] Dallas Center-Grimes: We said going into the year that the Mustangs have the best backcourt in 3A basketball, and nothing that we saw in their game against ADM makes us think otherwise. [player_tooltip player_id="682270" first="Cole" last="Glasgow"] is one of the most efficient high-scoring guards in the state, [player_tooltip player_id="796144" first="Luke" last="Rankin"] is an outstanding floor general who rarely turns the ball over, and Bo Huston was a pleasant surprise, knocking down five 3-pointers. [player_tooltip player_id="964840" first="Alex" last="Thomas"] isn’t asked to do much, particularly on the offensive end, but he gives them some size, rebounding and a paint presence. We’ll be moving the ’Stangs up to #1 this week following their dominant opening week. Class 3A is always kind of a crapshoot, but guard play wins in high school basketball, and Dallas Center-Grimes has outstanding guard play. Pella: The Dutch were impressive in their come-from-behind win over Indianola. This is a school that has always liked to play up-tempo and let the shots fly, and this year is no exception. They lack a true lead guard like they’ve had in previous years, but this is an athletic team that crashes the offensive glass really hard, and they use that aggressiveness to find easy buckets. They like to apply pressure on the defensive end, taking advantage of their size, physicality and athleticism on that end of the floor to try to force turnovers and get easy buckets. With [player_tooltip player_id="682282" first="Karl" last="Miller"] finally healthy, they have a primary scoring threat on the perimeter, and [player_tooltip player_id="784990" first="Parker" last="Elder"] is a freak athlete who can dominate games on both ends of the floor with his size and athletic ability. If this group can protect the basketball, something they struggled with early on while Indianola built their big lead, they should put up points in bunches, even if it’s not always as pretty as it has been with previous Pella teams. They’re going to score, they’re going to crash the offensive glass, and they’re going to try to create as much chaos as possible on the defensive end of the floor. Will enough shots fall come postseason play? That is the question.   Class 4A Indianola: The Indians were extremely impressive early on, building a 17-point lead against Pella in the first 14 minutes of play behind some hot shooting. They started 6-14 from behind the arc, but went just 3-14 in the second half and overtime. The real issue, however, came on the glass. Pella pulled down 18 offensive rebounds, which led to an number of second-chance points for the Dutch. Indianola has a potential star player in sophomore wing [player_tooltip player_id="956873" first="Drew" last="Kingery"], a long, athletic scorer who impacts the game on both ends of the floor. Junior guard Cooper Nailor was exceptional, scoring 16 points with 9 assists. And senior big man [player_tooltip player_id="964832" first="Caden" last="Rehmeier"] is a solid perimeter shooter and rebounder, but this group needs to keep teams off of the offensive glass if they want to live up to their potential. The good news is that few teams they’ll see are as athletic or physical as Pella. This group will be heard from in 4A, and three starters are underclassmen, so the future is bright.