Who’s Leading the Race for Mr. Basketball?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the season winds down, we take a look at who's leading the race for Mr. Basketball, who's close behind, and who else to watch for. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who's in the lead?</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='956868' first='Pryce' last='Sandfort'] of Waukee Northwest, [player_tooltip player_id='1733510' first='Omaha' last='Biliew'] of Waukee</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teammates their sophomore year at Waukee, Sandfort and Biliew are the favorites to be Mr. Basketball this year, and rightly so. The race between these two may go right down to the 4A State Championship. Each of these players has their teams ranked in the top 3, Waukee at #2 and Northwest at #3 (PrepHoop Rankings). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandfort put everyone on watch right away this season, putting up 33 points and 19 rebounds in the second game of the season. Since then, he's logged five other thirty-point outings, including a 40-point game against Iowa City High. Pryce, a four-year starter, is averaging 25.6 points a game, to go along with 11.1 rebounds per game. The 6'7" forward has put together quite the high school career and will join his brother at Iowa next year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Biliew came back to Waukee after spending a year at the Link Academy in Missouri. In his return to Iowa, he's averaging 22.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. He's had four games where scoring 30+, including a 40-point game against Johnston. Omaha just recently led the Warriors to a win against a very talented Totino Grace (MN) team. Ranked in the top fifteen nationally, Biliew is heading to be a Cyclone next year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who's close behind?</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='956870' first='Dallas' last='Bear'] of Cedar Falls, [player_tooltip player_id='956878' first='Brayson' last='Laube'] of Marion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heading to play at Augustana (SD) next year, Bear is averaging 20.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He dropped 38 points and 16 rebounds a couple of weeks ago against Iowa City Liberty, helping his Mr. Basketball resume. Cedar Falls got off to a rocky start, but since then, Bear has the Tigers to solid wins over Iowa City West and a sweep of Waterloo West. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Also heading to Augustana next year, Marion's [player_tooltip player_id='956878' first='Brayson' last='Laube'] is another contender for Mr. Basketball. A three-year starter, Laube is averaging 21.9 points a contest and has the Wolves (17-5) sitting at first in the WaMaC East. A four-year starter for Marion, Brayson recently broke the career scoring record. Laube's led the Wolves to nice wins over Cedar Rapids Washington, Solon x2, Mt. Vernon, and Beckman. Keep an eye on Laube in postseason play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who's in contention?</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1167671' first='William' last='Kiburis'] of Gladbrook-Reinbeck (26.5 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id='1167686' first='Caden' last='Kirkman'] of Wilton (27.4 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id='1067659' first='Padraig' last='Gallagher'] of Dyersville Beckman (22.3 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id='956877' first='Kenzie' last='Reed'] of Cedar Rapids Kennedy (10.6 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id='956873' first='Drew' last='Kingery'] of Indianola (15.5 ppg), and [player_tooltip player_id='956876' first='Chase' last='Henderson'] of Des Moines Hoover (21.3 ppg)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->