Rob's Friday Roundup 2-10-23

IOWA CITY, Iowa - I felt fortunate there was a live stream for Friday's Solon-Williamsburg game. It proved to be an entertaining and well-played WaMac cross-divisional contest between two interesting Class 3A squads.   You could tell by the exuberance of Solon's post-game celebration following a hard-fought, 67-65 road victory how much it meant. The Spartans improved to 14-5 overall and 11-4 in the conference, while the Raiders fell to 16-4 and 12-2.   The Spartans jumped out to an early lead with Williamsburg starting all 12-graders on Senior Night. They led 20-12 after one quarter and 33-29 at the half. The Raiders responded with a big third quarter for a 54-45 advantage heading into the final period.   Solon recovered from the flurry with some key plays by juniors [player_tooltip player_id='1376687' first='Jake' last='Benzing'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2325525' first='Vince' last='Steinbrech']. Benzing finished with 20 points, while Steinbrech pumped in 17. [player_tooltip player_id='2325516' first='Rylen' last='Stiegelmeyer'] added 11 for the winners.   Iowa football commitment [player_tooltip player_id='1171685' first='Derek' last='Weisskopf'], a junior, led all scorers with 21 points for Williamsburg. Senior Landon Jepson netted 16, while classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1426814' first='Ethan' last='Harman'] added 13 for the Raiders.   Benzing and Weisskopf were consistently good all night. The latter excited the crowd with a couple of impressive dunks.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Class 2A No. 2 Roland-Story (20-1) escaped Grundy Center with a 55-53 decision Friday night. The home team used a 17-10 fourth quarter to almost spring the upset.   Ben Greenfield hit the game-winning basket with 2.3 seconds left in the game and finished with 11 points. Roland-Story's [player_tooltip player_id='1367392' first='Isaiah' last='Naylor'] led all scorers with 24 points.   Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1478357' first='Jalen' last='Kirkpatrick'] paced Grundy Center with 13 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal. [player_tooltip player_id='2325346' first='Tate' last='Jirovsky'], a junior, scored eight, grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists for the home team.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Cedar Rapids Washington is one of the hotter 4A teams in the state. The Warriors won, 65-56, at Iowa City West Friday night. They've claimed victory in eight of their last nine contests.   Washington broke open a close game with 23-9 blitz in the third quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='956880' first='Traijan' last='Sain'] paced the winners with a game-high 22 points. [player_tooltip player_id='1738645' first='Noah' last='Johnson'] netted 14, and Braden Becker added nine for the victors.   [player_tooltip player_id='1376672' first='Jacob' last='Koch'] led West with 17 points, while teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1256297' first='TaeVeon' last='Stevens'] chipped in with 13. [player_tooltip player_id='1381414' first='Jack' last='McCaffery'], the Trojans' leading scorer, scored eight on 4 of 10 shooting from the floor.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Class 1A No. 3 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (19-1) fell 57-56 in overtime at Alburnett (18-3) Friday. The home team used a 16-7, fourth-quarter advantage to send it into an extra session.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1751108' first='Jordan' last='Caton'] led the winners with 15 points (4-8 3PT FG), while classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1469785' first='Tytan' last='Bowers'] scored 12, grabbed six rebounds and blocked five shots. Fellow Pirate Mason Neighbor, a senior, contributed 10 points and three assists.   Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1167671' first='William' last='Kiburis'] poured in 26 points with nine rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and a steal for the winners. [player_tooltip player_id='2397276' first='Drew' last='Eilers'], a sophomore, pulled down 13 rebounds for Gladbrook-Reinbeck, while teammate scored 11 and corralled four boards.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Class 3A sixth-ranked Marion (15-4) picked up a WaMac road win Friday, topping Clear Creek Amana, 65-49. The Wolves clinched the East Division title on Feb. 3.   Iowa Football receiver signee [player_tooltip player_id='1367405' first='Alex' last='Mota'] ('23) shared game-high scoring honors with junior [player_tooltip player_id='1476987' first='Myles' last='Davis'], each tallying 16 for Marion. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='956878' first='Brayson' last='Laube'] scored 15 and handed out three assists, while Davis led the way with seven rebounds.   Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1381405' first='Brody' last='Clubb'] paced the Clippers with 13 points and seven rebounds. Brock Hilsman ('25) and junior Haiden Hardy added eight points apiece for the home team.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Class 4A No. 8 Dubuque Senior protected home court Friday night, besting ninth-ranked Cedar Falls, 59-43. The Tigers still maintained a one-game lead in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1376678' first='Jacob' last='Williams'] scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out three assists for the Rams (16-3 overall, 9-3 MVC). Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1172887' first='Tevin' last='Schultz'] netted 15, and [player_tooltip player_id='1239872' first='Hayden' last='Jacobsmeier'] dropped in 11 for Senior, while [player_tooltip player_id='1381411' first='Jalen' last='Johnson'] ('25) snagged eight rebounds and senior Jonathan Wille passed out five assists for the winners.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Class 3A eighth-ranked Mount Pleasant dropped one at Fairfield, 69-68, in overtime Friday. It represented the Panthers first setback in nine Southeast Conferences contests, while the Trojans improved to 5-4 in league play.   Senior Max Wheaton is powering Fairfield in '22-23 with 20.2 points and 13.4 rebounds a game, and classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1167747' first='JJ' last='Lane'] is chipping in with 18.6 points and 4.2 assists. For Mount Pleasant, junior [player_tooltip player_id='1376720' first='Payton' last='Hagans'] leads the way with 20.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists, and Aaiden Ashton ('23) contributes 13.7 points and 5.2 boards.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   A good one took place in Des Moines Friday when Lincoln won at Roosevelt, 74-67. The Rails improved to 7-4 in the Alliance Conference, while the Riders fell to 4-4 in league.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1171658' first='Trovary' last='Cavil'] led Lincoln with 17 points and eight assists, while classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1288903' first='Deng' last='Gai'] also scored 17. [player_tooltip player_id='1288900' first='Kyrell' last='Moore'], a senior, chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the winners.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Last but certainly not least, 4A No. 3 Waukee Northwest opened a lot of eyes with a 74-48 victory against sixth-ranked Ankeny Centennial. The Wolves jumped out to a 23-8 advantage after one quarter and never looked back.   Iowa signee [player_tooltip player_id='956868' first='Pryce' last='Sandfort'] scored 28, grabbed 11 rebounds and distributed five assists for Northwest. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1376673' first='Grant' last='Tigges'] helped out with 14 points and eight boards for the winners.

IOWA CITY, Iowa - I felt fortunate there was a live stream for Friday's Solon-Williamsburg game. It proved to be an entertaining and well-played WaMac cross-divisional contest between two interesting Class 3A squads.