[player_tooltip player_id="1171693" first="Cade" last="Courbat"] 4A #10 Prairie (10-2) at 4A #6 Cedar Falls (8-2) Since their 64-56 loss to Prairie on January 4, Cedar Falls has been rolling, winning five straight games by an average of 21.6 points a game.…
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4A #10 Prairie (10-2) at 4A #6 Cedar Falls (8-2)
Since their 64-56 loss to Prairie on January 4, Cedar Falls has been rolling, winning five straight games by an average of 21.6 points a game. Senior guard
Trey Campbell
Trey
Campbell
6'4" | PG
Cedar Falls | 2022
State
IA
(25.8, 61.3 FG%) has been exceptional this season, using his unique blend of length, athleticism, quickness, and talent to dominate games on both ends of the floor. The future Northern Iowa guard is posting eye-popping efficiency numbers, but it has been the play of the role players around Campbell that has helped lead to the resurgence for the Tigers. This is a group that lacked experience coming into the year, but the new faces are stepping up and playing well now. Junior wing
Dallas Bear
Dallas
Bear
6'8" | SF
Cedar Falls | 2023
State
#276
Nation
IA
(13.9, 6.7 rebounds) seems to have come out of an early-season shooting slump, and
Cade Courbat
Cade
Courbat
6'8" | PF
Cedar Falls | 2024
State
#120
Nation
IA
(7.5, 6.3 rebounds) and
Aaron Brost
Aaron
Brost
6'2" | SF
Cedar Falls | 2022
State
IA
(5.8) have provided solid production on both ends of the floor.
Prairie shot a blistering 54.8% from the floor and 55.6% from 3-point range in the win over Cedar Falls earlier this month, while also outrebounding the Tigers 30-17. The Hawks do a good job on the glass on a nightly basis, so that’s no surprise, but the 3-point shooting in that game may have been a bit of an aberration for a team that shoots 33.7% from the arc as a group. They’re led by a trio of double-figure scorers in
Gabe Burkle
Gabe
Burkle
6'7" | PF
Prairie | 2022
State
IA
(14.8),
Jake Walter
Jake
Walter
5'10" | CG
Prairie | 2022
State
IA
(13.5), and
Elijah Ward
Elijah
Ward
6'2" | CG
Prairie | 2022
State
IA
(10.9), an experienced senior core that won’t back down from anyone on either end of the floor. The Hawks will need to shoot it well again and lean on their advantage on the glass if they want to complete the season sweep against a red-hot Tigers squad.
1A #1 Grand View Christian (18-0) at North Polk (10-4)
The top-ranked team in 1A has trucked their competition this year, winning their first 18 games by an average of 41.4 points a game. They’ve posted quality wins over 4A teams like Des Moines North and Des Moines East, and good 2A teams like Treynor and Roland-Story. They’ll have another tough test against a really good 3A North Polk team that has a number of quality wins of their own.
Manny Hammonds
Manny
Hammonds
6'2" | SG
Grand View Christian | 2022
State
IA
(26.0) paces a high-powered offense that loves to play up-tempo and use their athleticism edge to their advantage. The Thunder love to press and create turnovers, and they’ve got a number of talented scorers.
Josh Baucum
Josh
Baucum
6'1" | SG
Grand View Christian | 2022
State
IA
(19.4) is the other big-time scorer on the perimeter, but there are four others averaging between 7.7 and 9.5 points a game. The anchor of this team is
Daniel Tobiloba
Daniel
Tobiloba
7'0" | C
Grand View Christian | 2023
State
IA
(8.1, 14.4 rebounds, 4.7 blocks), a 7-0 junior who erases everything at the back end of their defense.
North Polk has solid wins over some good 3A teams like Winterset, Ballard, and Bondurant-Farrar. The Comets are led by senior wing
Jevin Sullivan
Jevin
Sullivan
6'5" | SG
North Polk | 2022
State
IA
(17.2, 8.5 rebounds), a dynamic three-level scorer with the length and size to create some issues for the Thunder on the perimeter. Sullivan is a big, physical wing who can get to the rim, and they’ve gotten solid production out of players like Jackson Nemmers (8.5), Marcus Haupert (8.2), and Austin Parkins (6.0) this season. A good defensive team, allowing 48.2 points a game, they’ll have their hands full with the high-powered, up-tempo Thunder.
4A #7 Johnston (11-2) at Valley (11-3)
Johnston won the first meeting between these teams, 62-59, on January 7, one of the first games that Valley was playing without star forward
Eli Raridon
Eli
Raridon
6'7" | PF
Valley | 2022
State
IA
. Despite losing that major interior presence, the Tigers still pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and nearly pulled off the upset. Johnston will need to focus on limiting second-chance points in this rematch. Valley is led by senior forward
Ruot Bijiek
Ruot
Bijiek
6'8" | PF
Valley | 2022
State
IA
(14.3), a springy and long forward who can score inside and out as well as protect the rim on the defensive end. Freshman guard Curtis Stinson (9.5) has been really strong on both ends of the floor, and the Tigers have gotten increased production out of senior guards
Mason Morrow
Mason
Morrow
5'11" | CG
Valley | 2022
State
IA
(7.1) and
Cade Grevengoed
Cade
Grevengoed
6'1" | SG
Valley | 2022
State
IA
(7.0) since Raridon went down. The Tigers are deep and talented despite the loss of Raridon, and BJ Windhorst is always going to have them competing on the defensive end.
Johnston is led by senior guard
Trey Lewis
Trey
Lewis
5'10" | PG
Johnston | 2022
State
IA
(23.2, 7.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists), who is playing as well as anyone not named
Pryce Sandfort
Pryce
Sandfort
6'7" | SF
Waukee Northwest | 2023
State
#123
Nation
IA
. Lewis, a 5-10/5-11 guard, has really developed his all-around game this season, showing his ability to break down the defense and get to the rim for finishes to pair with his limitless range.
Steven Kramer
Steven
Kramer
6'5" | SG
Johnston | 2022
State
IA
(16.2), a South Dakota signee, gives them athleticism and talent on the perimeter, and they’ve gotten strong production out of role players like
Masen Ryan
Masen
Ryan
6'3" | SF
Johnston | 2022
State
IA
(9.7),
Nathan Ruisch
Nathan
Ruisch
6'4" | SF
Johnston | 2023
State
IA
(8.7), and
Jacob Simpson
Jacob
Simpson
6'5" | SF
Johnston | 2024
State
IA
(5.1, 5.5 rebounds). The Dragons are shooting 42.9% from behind the arc as a team and have a high-powered attack that can explode at any time.
4A #4 Ankeny (10-2) at 4A #2 Waukee Northwest (12-2)
Northwest won the first meeting between these teams back on December 17, 57-50, behind 30 points and 13 rebounds from star wing
Pryce Sandfort
Pryce
Sandfort
6'7" | SF
Waukee Northwest | 2023
State
#123
Nation
IA
(28.9, 11.3 rebounds). The Wolves held the Hawks to just 1-17 shooting from behind the arc in that win but gave up 19 offensive rebounds, an area that they will need to focus on in this rematch. Nobody in the state is playing at a higher level than Sandfort, who is averaging nearly 31 points a game in his last 10 games and shooting well over 50% from behind the arc. With his size, length, and skillset, he’s a really difficult matchup for the Hawks here.
Cade Kelderman
Cade
Kelderman
6'0" | PG
Waukee Northwest | 2023
State
IA
(17.4, 5.4 assists) and
Henry Manning
Henry
Manning
6'1" | SG
Waukee | 2023
State
IA
(11.2) are the other double-figure scorers for the Wolves, who have been really impressive on the defensive end as well.
Ankeny comes into this one hot, winning seven straight games since that loss to Northwest. Their two losses this year have come against the Wolves and #1 Ames. The Hawks have a really balanced team, with five players averaging between 8.8 and 11.7 points a game, led by senior forward
Ryan Crandall
Ryan
Crandall
6'1" | SF
Ankeny | 2022
State
IA
(11.7).
Lio Aguirre
Lio
Aguirre
6'3" | SF
Ankeny | 2024
State
IA
(11.5) is an athletic, physical wing who can score and distribute, and sophomore point guard
Carson Johnson
Carson
Johnson
5'9" | PG
Ankeny | 2024
State
IA
(8.9) does a good job limiting turnovers. The balanced and deep Hawks will likely throw a number of different defenders at Sandfort (Crandall, Aguirre,
Alex Aguirre
Alex
Aguirre
6'2" | SF
Ankeny | 2022
State
IA
,
Karson Wehde
Karson
Wehde
6'4" | SG
Ankeny | 2023
State
IA
) in an effort to wear him down. A win here would certainly cement Ankeny as a legitimate state title contender in 4A.
1A #9 Danville (14-1) at 1A #10 New London (12-1)
Both teams come into this game with identical 11-1 conference marks, but New London holds the head-to-head edge by virtue of their 55-54 win back on December 17. The Tigers got 25 points on 10-14 shooting from star guard
Blaise Porter
Blaise
Porter
6'1" | PG
New London | 2023
State
#298
Nation
IA
(19.4, 4.6 assists) in that win, as Danville struggled to contain him, and New London was able to come away with a win despite the Bears turning it over just 7 times. Fellow junior standout
Kade Benjamin
Kade
Benjamin
6'6" | PF
New London | 2023
State
IA
(16.7, 7.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks) got a scare last week with a potential knee injury and missed the Tigers loss to WACO, but it turned out to be a sprain and he was back on the floor for their win over West Burlington on Tuesday. Benjamin’s presence in the paint will be big against a Danville team that crashes the glass hard. Expect to see more involvement from
Devin Swanson
Devin
Swanson
6'3" | PF
New London | 2022
State
IA
(12.9) in this one after he posted just 2 points on 1-4 shooting in the win over Danville earlier this year.
The Soukup twins, former standouts at Danville, have the Bears playing excellent ball, especially on the defensive end, where they are forcing a bevy of turnovers. They average 17.3 steals a game, and they pound the offensive glass hard (12.9 offensive boards a night), generating a ton of second-chance opportunities and extra possessions. Senior
Drake Johnson
Drake
Johnson
6'0" | SF
Danville | 2022
State
IA
(13.6) is the team’s leading scorer, one of three in double-figures – junior
Caiden Gourley
Caiden
Gourley
6'5" | SG
Danville | 2023
State
IA
(13.3) and senior
Sawyer Nelson
Sawyer
Nelson
6'6" | PF
Danville Community School | 2022
State
IA
(10.5, 10.5 rebounds). The senior backcourt of
Ty Carr
Ty
Carr
5'11" | PG
Danville | 2022
State
IA
(8.9, 5.4 assists) and Cadence Williams (4.1 assists) has done a solid job limiting turnovers and running the offense. If Danville can force some turnovers and get easy buckets in transition, they’ll have a real chance at managing a season split in this series and grabbing control of the SEISC South division.
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