2A District Semifinal Preview

<p><em>The district semifinals are Thursday night in Class 1A and 2A. We take a look at some of the top games in Class 2A action here.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3 style="text-align: center;">The Top Five Games</h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Ridge View at East Sac County</strong></p> <p>This figures to be a highly entertaining game between a pair of very evenly matched teams. BC Moore’s computer rankings have these teams separated by less than half a point, so expect to see a tight one here. East Sac County is led by senior wing [player_tooltip player_id="796175" first="Camden" last="Schroeder"] (23.4, 10.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 3.7 blocks), a skilled, 6-5 wing who impacts the game on both ends of the floor. He’s a highly efficient scorer (57-51-78 shooting splits) who Ridge View will struggle to defend. The Raptors are a good defensive team, allowing just 45.2 points a game, and are led by senior <strong>Bo Clausen</strong> (17.0, 7.5 rebounds) and junior <strong>Cade Harriman</strong> (14.5). </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>West Lyon at Rock Valley</strong></p> <p>Rock Valley won the regular-season meeting, 56-49, on January 19. West Lyon has won six of their last seven games and has four players averaging between 10.4 and 11.6 points a game. The ’Cats do a great job attacking the offensive glass, pulling down 11 offensive boards a game, so that’s something that Rock Valley is going to have to focus on. The Rockets are led by their junior trio of <strong>Landyn Van Kekerix</strong> (16.7), [player_tooltip player_id="962672" first="Bryson" last="Van Grootheest"] (15.9), and [player_tooltip player_id="962673" first="Sam" last="Remmerde"] (10.9), who give them a lot of versatility and scoring punch. This young group had high expectations heading into the year, and they’re playing their best ball of the year heading into the postseason. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_1073016" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/Lucas-Lorenzen.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-1073016 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/Lucas-Lorenzen-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Lorenzen[/caption] <p><strong>Okoboji at Spirit Lake</strong></p> <p>Okoboji recently got star forward [player_tooltip player_id="682280" first="Lucas" last="Lorenzen"] (23.2, 8.0 rebounds) back from an injury, and that makes the Pioneers a very dangerous team. Senior guard Will Jensen (14.7) stepped up in Lorenzen’s absence and is a solid secondary scoring threat. Spirit Lake plays a ton of close games, going 11-4 in games decided by 8 points or fewer, including 6-3 in games decided by 2 or less. The Indians are led by senior forward <strong>Creighton Morisch</strong> (17.6, 8.1 rebounds) and junior wing [player_tooltip player_id="962615" first="Vance" last="Katzfey"] (14.6). </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Forest City at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura</strong></p> <p>These teams are both excellent defensive units that like to play at a slower pace and use their defense and physicality to grind teams down. Forest City won the regular-season meeting 39-36 back on January 21. Neither team shot well in that game, with Forest City going 16-50 (32%) and GHV was just 12-46 (26.1%). Expect both of those numbers to come up a bit in this meeting. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="796138" first="Noah" last="Miller"] (16.4, 4.2 assists) leads Forest City’s attack, while junior forward <strong>Andrew Snyder</strong> (10.3, 7.0 rebounds) is a solid force on the interior. GHV has a trio of double-figure scorers in seniors <strong>Kevin Meyers</strong> (12.6), <strong>Zachary Suby</strong> (10.2) and [player_tooltip player_id="964939" first="Hayden" last="Hutcheson"] (10.4). They like to crash the offensive glass, so that’s an area that Forest City will need to control. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>South Hamilton at South Central Calhoun</strong></p> <p>This is an interesting contrast in styles, as South Hamilton likes to rely on their strong defense (11th in 2A, 45.9 points a game), while South Central Cal likes to get up-and-down, ranking 5th in scoring offense at 68.4 points a game. South Hamilton is going to try and slow this one down, which is easier said than done against the potent Titans attack that has three averaging in double-figures - [player_tooltip player_id="796186" first="Brennan" last="Holder"] (17.2), <strong>Joshua Dietrich</strong> (14.3) and <strong>Cole Corey</strong> (14.0). South Central Cal doesn’t turn the ball over too often (11.0 a game), considering how quickly they like to play. South Hamilton has just one player, senior <strong>Carter Hewitt</strong> (12.0), averaging in double-figures. If they can dictate the tempo and play this one in the high-40s or low-50s, they’ll hang around.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Upset Alert</h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>East Sac County:</strong> Ridge View is a good defensive team, and if they can find a way to slow down [player_tooltip player_id="796175" first="Camden" last="Schroeder"], East Sac could be in trouble. </p> <p><strong>Western Christian:</strong> The Wolfpack are the better, more experienced team, but Central Lyon is red-hot, winning nine straight games heading into this one. The Lions have two big-time scoring threats in sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="956884" first="Zach" last="Lutmer"] (20.5) and junior [player_tooltip player_id="962637" first="Mason" last="Gerleman"] (13.3, 47.0 3P%).</p> <p><strong>Rock Valley:</strong> Taking on a conference rival in the postseason is always tricky, especially one with the talent and athleticism that West Lyon possesses. The Rockets won the regular-season meeting by just 7 points, so they’ll be ready for this one and certainly not overlooking the Wildcats. </p> <p><strong>Spirit Lake:</strong> As we mentioned above, Okoboji recently got star forward [player_tooltip player_id="682280" first="Lucas" last="Lorenzen"] back, which completely changes the Pioneers. His ability to dominate games with his scoring and on the glass will be tough for Spirit Lake to contend with. </p> <p><strong>Beckman Catholic:</strong> The Blazers are the better team in this matchup, but Jesup has some explosive scorers who can put up points in a hurry. The J-Hawks rank 7th in 2A in scoring at 67.9 points a game, led by the trio of <strong>Carson Lienau</strong> (18.7), [player_tooltip player_id="964890" first="Brodie" last="Kresser"] (14.0) and<strong> Jack Miller</strong> (11.0). Beckman will need to have strong games from [player_tooltip player_id="1067659" first="Padraig" last="Gallagher"] (12.9) and [player_tooltip player_id="964931" first="Jack" last="Gehling"] (10.6) here to avoid the upset. </p> <p><strong>Waukon:</strong> Waukon is the higher-seeded team, but North Fayette Valley is no slouch. The TigerHawks are 18-4 and have a strong, versatile leader in senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="964888" first="Kole" last="Johnson"] (17.1, 8.2 rebounds). Waukon won the regular-season meeting, 67-64, in overtime. </p> <p><strong>Roland-Story:</strong> The Norsemen did a great job defensively against Southeast Valley in the regular-season, limiting the Jags to 39 points. [player_tooltip player_id="962628" first="Kolson" last="Kruse"] (17.7), [player_tooltip player_id="682271" first="Aaron" last="Graves"] (13.4) and <strong>Sam Hanson</strong> (13.2) are tough to keep down and the Jaguars are dangerous with all of those weapons.</p> <p><strong>Panorama:</strong> Panorama is the higher-seeded team, but ACGC actually won the regular-season meeting, 58-57, back on January 22. The Chargers have a trio of double-figure scorers in <strong>Eli Kading</strong> (15.8), <strong>Lucas Marsh</strong> (10.7) and <strong>Miles Kading</strong> (10.7) They won that regular-season meeting despite Kading being held to half of his scoring average.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Our Picks for All 32</span><br /> District 1: OABCIG over Kuemper Catholic, East Sac County over Ridge View<br /> District 2: Boyden-Hull over Hinton, Unity Christian over Cherokee<br /> District 3: Western Christian over Central Lyon, Rock Valley over West Lyon<br /> District 4: Okoboji over Spirit Lake, Alta-Aurelia over Sioux Central<br /> District 5: Aplington-Parkersburg over Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, Forest City over Garner-Hayfield-Ventura<br /> District 6: Denver over Sumner-Fredericksburg, Osage over New Hampton<br /> District 7: Beckman Catholic over Jesup, Waukon over North Fayette Valley<br /> District 8: West Branch over Tipton, Northeast over Anamosa<br /> District 9: Camanche over Wilton, Mid-Prairie over West Liberty<br /> District 10: Pekin over Mediapolis, West Burlington over Central Lee<br /> District 11: Albia over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, Pella Christian over Cardinal<br /> District 12: Des Moines Christian over Pleasantville, PCM over Woodward-Granger<br /> District 13: Dike-New Hartford over East Marshall, Iowa Falls-Alden over Hudson<br /> District 14: Roland-Story over Southeast Valley, South Central Calhoun over South Hamilton<br /> District 15: Van Meter over Central Decatur, ACGC over Panorama<br /> District 16: AHSTW over Clarinda, Treynor over Red Oak</p>