Conference Preview: SICL West

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>The Teams</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BGM (7-17, 70.9% of scoring returning): </strong>The bad news for the Bears is that they lost their leading scorer, the only double-figure scorer from last year's team, to graduation. The good news is that everyone else from last year's roster returns, so they'll be very experienced. Sophomore Beau Burns (6.7) is the leading returning scorer, but it's probably senior guard Dominic Coleman (5.6, 4.6 assists) who ends up being the most important piece for this team. Coleman isn't a big scorer, but he gets his teammates involved, is a solid defender, and contributes on the glass. BGM plays an aggressive style that leads to a lot of forced turnovers (11.8 steals a game), and if they can clean up the turnover issues that they have themselves (17.3), they could make a jump up the league standings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Colfax-Mingo (1-22, 85.8%): </strong>The top three scorers return for the Tigerhawks, led by junior forward Harrison Rhone (11.3) and seniors Cael Bracewell (7.7) and Jared Lewis (6.8). This is a team that really struggled with turnovers (19.9 a game) last season, and that number will need to greatly improve if they want to be more competitive on a nightly basis. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HLV (12-12, 35.4%):</strong> The Warriors lost a huge chunk of production off of last year's team, losing their leading scorer and only bringing back two players with any relevant experience in junior Peyton Roth (9.0) and senior Ethan Licht (6.9). They were the second and third leading scorers last season and are a good place to start building this season, but they will have a lot of new faces surrounding them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lynnville-Sully (22-3, 68.1%): </strong>The Hawks suffered a heartbreaking loss to Gladbrook-Reinbeck to end their season in the substate finals, losing by three to fall a game short of the state tournament. They bring back three starters from that group, including their top two scorers, and they'll be looking to go on a bit of a revenge tour this year. They'll be led by the senior trio of [player_tooltip player_id='1376719' first='Klayton' last='Van Dyke'] (11.8, 8.3 rebounds), [player_tooltip player_id='2377418' first='Mitchell' last='Miller'] (11.6), and [player_tooltip player_id='1171666' first='Corder' last='Noun Harder'] (7.1, 6.3 assists), three players with a ton of chemistry and experience playing together. Van Dyke is an extremely efficient scorer, shooting nearly 69% from the floor last season, and he's also a strong rim protector who turned away 1.4 shots a game. Miller is an off-ball guard who can shoot it or put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, while Noun Harder is one of the best pure point guards in the class, posting a 3.43 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. He's not a big scorer, but he limits turnovers, gets his teammates involved, and is a good defender. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2886854' first='Dawson' last='James'] (6.7) and senior Lucas Sieck (4.5) are ready to step into bigger roles for this group, likely rounding out the starting five. Lynnville-Sully is almost always a fantastic defensive team, and that should remain the same this season. This is the team to beat in the division, and they could be a serious contender in 1A. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Montezuma (17-7, 48.6%): </strong>Montezuma has been a power in the SICL over the last 15 years, and despite losing two of their top three scorers to graduation, they should once again be a factor within the division. They bring back a pair of double-figure scorers in sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='1765506' first='Brady' last='Boulton'] (14.8, 39.2 3P%) and senior Garrett Watts (12.4), giving them a pair of big scorers who will carry the load, especially early on as new faces get acclimated to varsity minutes. Boulton was excellent as a freshman, showing the ability to play with or without the ball in his hands while also being a menace on the defensive end of the floor. Watts is a solid wing who does a little bit of everything, a Swiss Army knife who makes an impact on both ends. Juniors Max Anderson 93.5) and Kohen Holland (2.2) saw some time last season and will be leaned on early. This is always a well-coached team that shares the ball really well, and they should be able to shoot it pretty well again from deep again. They'll be undersized, but this is a team that does a great job communicating and rotating on the defensive end as well as pounding the glass despite their size. They may not have enough back to push Lynnville-Sully at the top, but they are pretty clearly the second best team in the division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>North Mahaska (19-5, 31.5):</strong> The Warhawks lost four of their top five scorers to graduation, a dynamic group that led this team to a ton of wins over the last few years. That leaves seniors [player_tooltip player_id='2221633' first='Nolan' last='Andersen'] (12.8) and [player_tooltip player_id='1587747' first='Nate' last='Sampson'] (4.3) as the top returnees. Andersen was really good in his role last season, scoring when opportunities presented themselves in addition to pounding the glass on both ends and showing some ability to create looks for his teammates. Sampson figures to step into more of a primary ball-handling role, while Gabe Hora (3.5) and [player_tooltip player_id='2721760' first='Asher' last='DeBoef'] (3.2) could potentially provide some perimeter scoring. There are a number of younger players on the roster who gained valuable experience against the veterans in practice last season, so they won't bottom out, but it's also hard to see them competing with L-S at the top. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Projected Order of Finish</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1. Lynnville-Sully<br>2. Montezuma<br>3. North Mahaska<br>4. BGM<br>5. HLV<br>6. Colfax-Mingo</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Analysis: </strong>With everything Lynnville-Sully has coming back from a very successful team, they're clearly the team to beat within the division. Montezuma will remain a factor, and while North Mahaska will be down a little from the last few years, they should remain competitive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Preseason Player of the Year</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='1376719' first='Klayton' last='Van Dyke'] (Lynnville-Sully):</strong> An athletic forward who runs the floor, pounds the glass, and protects the rim, Van Dyke is the focal point for a Hawks team that we project to finish atop the division again this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Players to Watch</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='1376719' first='Klayton' last='Van Dyke'] (Lynnville-Sully)<br>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='1171666' first='Corder' last='Noun Harder'] (Lynnville-Sully)<br>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='2377418' first='Mitchell' last='Miller'] (Lynnville-Sully)<br>2026 [player_tooltip player_id='2886854' first='Dawson' last='James'] (Lynnville-Sully)<br>2024 Lucas Sieck (Lynnvile-Sully)<br>2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1765506' first='Brady' last='Boulton'] (Montezuma)<br>2024 Garrett Watts (Montezuma)<br>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='2221633' first='Nolan' last='Andersen'] (North Mahaska)<br>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='1587747' first='Nate' last='Sampson'] (North Mahaska)<br>2025 Harrison Rhone (Colfax-Mingo)<br>2024 Cael Bracewell (Colfax-Mingo)<br>2024 Jared Lewis (Colfax-Mingo)<br>2025 Peyton Roth (HLV)<br>2024 Ethan Licht (HLV)<br>2026 Beau Burns (BGM)<br>2024 Caleb Fleming (BGM)<br>2024 Brayden Hepke (BGM)<br>2024 Dominic Coleman (BGM)<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->