Playoff Preview: 4A-2

<p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/02/4A-2.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1130436" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/02/4A-2.png" alt="" width="746" height="703" /></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The favorite: </strong>This district pairing is full of talent and potential. <strong>Ankeny Centennial </strong>is the favorite as the #1 seed in the pairing and they are led by Senior guard <strong>Jaron Crews</strong> in scoring and assists (15.7 ppg, 5.4 apg) and he is the focal point for the Jaguars offense. He uses good speed to get by his defenders and shows a nice crafty quality with the ball in his hands to go on top of putting the ball in the basket efficiently. The Jaguars have had a Freshman emerge this year into the starting lineup in <strong>Lio Aguirre</strong> (10.7) who gets to the basket and has good body control also has actually been playing in the lane at 6’3 and handling it well. Another name to keep tabs on for this team is the 6’4 shooter, Senior [player_tooltip player_id="964798" first="Colin" last="McAleer"] (9.8 &amp; 37.5% 3pt). This team is fairly deep and filled with players who surround Crews that can shoot it from the perimeter. The top 6 players on this team average more than 8 points pre game and if the defense is relaxed on their shooters they show the ability to make you pay. With Crews at the helm, as a team Centennial is averaging 7.8 turnovers per game, and if they can continue to take care of the ball and hit shots they will be in business.</p> <p><strong>The biggest threat: Ames </strong>is a team who has proven and untapped potential on their team and if they can put it together, the high expectations that were placed at the beginning of the year could be met. When you have arguably one of the best players in the state in [player_tooltip player_id="682279" first="Tamin" last="Lipsey"], you will always have a chance. Lipsey does a lot of things on the court, whether it’s scoring (17.2), assisting (5.1) or guarding the opposing team’s best guard. He has been helped this year by Waterloo East transfer, Junior [player_tooltip player_id="682277" first="Trevion" last="Labeaux"] (10.9), who is a really athletic 6’4 wing man. He doesn’t shoot it well from the outside, but his strength and athletic ability fully make up for that. Last year’s leading scorer, Senior [player_tooltip player_id="796163" first="Keyshaun" last="Brooks"] (10.2) is still on this team as well and has the ability to score in bunches as well for this team. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="682286" first="Corey" last="Phillips"] (8.3) anchors the middle for this team and impacts the game on different levels throughout. The Cyclones will need to defend and rebound well and they’ll have a shot at getting out of this district.</p> <p><strong>The dark horse: </strong>This title is tough in this pairing as <strong>Des Moines Hoover</strong> hasn’t found consistency quite yet this year, but has perimeter talent to compete with anyone in the class.<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/06/Manny-Austin.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1007664 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/06/Manny-Austin-300x231.png" alt="" width="300" height="231" /></a> <strong>Indianola</strong> on the other hand is a team who is led by Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="956873" first="Drew" last="Kingery"], has the pieces to surprise some people in the postseason but they play in conference dominated by Class 3A teams. Can Hoover find consistency? And can Indianola step their game up to the level of competition? Those are questions in this district. The dark horse favorite is going to be <strong>Hoover</strong>. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="956876" first="Chase" last="Henderson"] (16.8 ppg &amp; 5.3 apg) is a top PG in the 2023 class and pairs well with Sophomore, sharpshooting wing [player_tooltip player_id="956869" first="Elijah" last="Vos"] (13.3) and Senior playmaker [player_tooltip player_id="727866" first="Manny" last="Austin"] (19.1) are hard to matchup with and they are riding a 6-1 record in their last 7 games. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Players to watch</span></p> <p>2021 <strong>Jaron Crews</strong>, Ankeny Centennial</p> <p>2024<strong> Lio Aguirre</strong>, Ankeny Centennial</p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="964798" first="Colin" last="McAleer"], Ankeny Centennial</p> <p>2022 [player_tooltip player_id="682279" first="Tamin" last="Lipsey"], Ames</p> <p>2022 [player_tooltip player_id="682277" first="Trevion" last="Labeaux"], Ames</p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="796163" first="Keyshaun" last="Brooks"], Ames</p> <p>2022 [player_tooltip player_id="682286" first="Corey" last="Phillips"], Ames</p> <p>2023 [player_tooltip player_id="956876" first="Chase" last="Henderson"], Hoover</p> <p>2023 [player_tooltip player_id="956869" first="Elijah" last="Vos"], Hoover</p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="727866" first="Manny" last="Austin"], Hoover</p> <p>2023 [player_tooltip player_id="956873" first="Drew" last="Kingery"], Indianola</p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="964832" first="Caden" last="Rehmeier"], Indianola</p> <p>2024 <strong>Trovary Cavil</strong>, Lincoln</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>SUBSTATE FINAL PREDICTION</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Ankeny Centennial vs Ames</em></p> <p>These two teams have played twice this season already, resulting in a split. Ames lost by 2 points in the first meeting back in December and won the second, most recent matchup by 10 earlier this month. It seems that with Labeaux’s eligibility and the continued improvement of chemistry within the team has the Little Cyclones going right now. The edge is going to go to <strong>Ames</strong> in this matchup as they head to Wells Fargo. </p>