Substate Preview: 2A-1
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District 1 The favorite: West Lyon held the #1 spot in the 2A rankings for a majority of the season until a loss to Unity Christian last week dropped them a few slots. But the Wildcats have been a dominant…
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Continue ReadingDistrict 1
The favorite: West Lyon held the #1 spot in the 2A rankings for a majority of the season until a loss to Unity Christian last week dropped them a few slots. But the Wildcats have been a dominant team this season, ranking within the top 6 in the class in both scoring offense (4th, 71.0) and defense (6th, 44.5). While the Siouxland Conference may not be quite as dominant as it has been in recent years, this is still a complete team that has rolled through one of the most competitive leagues in the state. The ‘Cats are led by junior lead guard Carson Hoogeveen Carson Hoogeveen 5'10" | PG West Lyon | 2025 State IA (14.9, 3.9 assists, 38.2 3P%), a quick and talented guard who can create shots at a high clip for both himself and his teammates. Trevor Ciesielski Trevor Ciesielski 6'1" | PG West Lyon | 2024 State IA (9.3, 3.7 assists) is another talented guard who gets his teammates involved, and while this group doesn’t have a dominant go-to scorer, they do a great job sharing the ball (16.2 assists per game), protecting it (9.3 turnovers), and creating chaos on the defensive end (15.1 steals). A deep, athletic, and physical team, they’ll be a bear for anyone in this district to beat.
The biggest threat: A potent offensive team that plays largely against 3A teams throughout the regular season, Spirit Lake has a trio of dynamic offensive weapons who can score against just about anyone. Junior forward Dylan Stecker Dylan Stecker 6'4" | SF Spirit Lake | 2025 State IA (24.3, 8.2 rebounds) is one of the best scorers in the state, a versatile player who can create looks for himself and his teammates, and he has the size to score against anyone. Sophomore guard Wesley Walz Wesley Walz 6'0" | SG Spirit Lake | 2026 State IA (13.1, 35.2 3P%) and junior wing Ethan Stecker Ethan Stecker 6'5" | SF Spirit Lake | 2025 State IA (11.8, 38.7 3P%) provide some shooting alongside Stecker’s interior presence. The Indians can fill it up, but can they get enough stops to upset West Lyon and reach the substate final?
The dark horse: It may sound odd to say that the #2 seed, a team that only has to win one home game to reach the district final, as the “dark horse” of the district, but it may just apply to Lawton-Bronson here. The Eagles have played against a pretty weak schedule (ranked 91st out of 97 2A teams), but have been a solid defensive team, ranking 14th in the class in scoring defense. Gage Semple (11.8) and Braden Heiss (10.2) are the team’s top scorers, and this is a group that does a good job crashing the glass on the offensive end, an area that they’ll need to win if they want to pull off the upset and come out of this district.
Players to watch
2025
Carson Hoogeveen
Carson
Hoogeveen
5'10" | PG
West Lyon | 2025
State
IA
, West Lyon
2024
Trevor Ciesielski
Trevor
Ciesielski
6'1" | PG
West Lyon | 2024
State
IA
, West Lyon
2025
Easton Jacobson
Easton
Jacobson
6'1" | SG
West Lyon | 2025
State
IA
, West Lyon
2025 Gage Semple, Lawton-Bronson
2024 Braden Heiss, Lawton-Bronson
2025
Dylan Stecker
Dylan
Stecker
6'4" | SF
Spirit Lake | 2025
State
IA
, Spirit Lake
2026
Wesley Walz
Wesley
Walz
6'0" | SG
Spirit Lake | 2026
State
IA
, Spirit Lake
2025
Ethan Stecker
Ethan
Stecker
6'5" | SF
Spirit Lake | 2025
State
IA
, Spirit Lake
2026
Jaxon Paulsrud
Jaxon
Paulsrud
6'0" | SG
Cherokee | 2026
State
IA
, Cherokee
2026 Coy Lewis, Cherokee
2025 Jacob Hurd, Cherokee
2026 Owen Mills, Sioux Central
2026 Jack Christian, Sioux Central
2025 Cooper Jansma, Sheldon
District 2
The favorite: Despite playing without leading scorer Braeden Bosma Braeden Bosma 6'0" | PG Unity Christian | 2026 State IA , Unity Christian has been playing fantastic basketball of late, notching great wins over West Lyon and Central Lyon (twice), with their only three losses since the holiday break coming to 19-1 West Lyon, 17-2 Western Christian, and 17-3 3A MOC-Floyd Valley. The Knights have played tougher competition than any other team in the district, and in addition to having the most talent on the roster, that type of preparedness will be a major benefit. Sophomore guards Dylan Bosma Dylan Bosma 6'1" | PG Unity Christian | 2026 State IA (13.0) and Austin Wieringa Austin Wieringa 6'0" | SG Unity Christian | 2026 State IA (11.0), and juniors Traevin Van Beek (6.2, 41.8 3P%) and Kolton Smit (7.2, 37.0 3P%), give this group a nice blend of dribble-penetrating and shooting. The Knights are athletic, physical, and solid defensively, and they’re playing at a high level right now. This is the team to beat in the district.
The biggest threat: The #2 seed in the district, Emmetsburg, is in the midst of their best season since 2010-11, when they went 19-5. And while they’ve been good this year, the best may still be yet to come for the E-Hawks, who are led in scoring by seven juniors. Byron Maine (14.6, 41.3 3P%), Gavin Swanson (12.2, 4.8 assists), Carter Hudson (11.4, 7.7 rebounds), and Kale Fank (10.0) each average in double figures, giving them four scorers who can be the go-to guy on any given night. That type of balance makes them dangerous, and they’ve done a solid job protecting the ball this season, averaging under 11 turnovers a game. Ball control and balanced scoring is a nice blend for success in postseason basketball.
The dark horse: Hinton is playing solid basketball down the stretch, winners of six straight games as of time of writing, including good wins over George-Little Rock and two against Akron-Westfield. The Blackhawks are led by sophomore wing Logan Kempema (15.7, 6.6 rebounds), who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists. They’ve been a solid defensive team this season, ranking 15th in the class in scoring defense, allowing just 48.2 points a game. If they are able to slow the game down against Emmetsburg in the semifinals, they could certainly reach the district championship game, where anything could happen.
Players to watch
2025
Braeden Bosma
Braeden
Bosma
6'0" | PG
Unity Christian | 2026
State
IA
, Unity Christian
2026
Dylan Bosma
Dylan
Bosma
6'1" | PG
Unity Christian | 2026
State
IA
, Unity Christian
2026
Austin Wieringa
Austin
Wieringa
6'0" | SG
Unity Christian | 2026
State
IA
, Unity Christian
2025
Byron Maina
Byron
Maina
5'11" | PG
Emmetburg | 2025
State
IA
, Emmetsburg
2025 Gavin Swanson, Emmetsburg
2025 Carter Hudson, Emmetsburg
2025 Kale Fank, Emmetsburg
2026 Logan Kempema, Hinton
2026 Carter Todd, Ridge View
2024 Cayden Clausen, Ridge View
2026 Tanner Dixon, MVAOCOU
2024
Ethan Behrens
Ethan
Behrens
5'11" | SF
Pocahontas Area | 2024
State
IA
, Pocahontas Area
SUBSTATE FINAL PREDICTION
West Lyon vs. Unity Christian
The third meeting of the year comes on a neutral site after each team won on their home floor. Unity Christian pounded West Lyon on the glass in their upset win a few weeks ago, outrebounding the Wildcats 39-26, and West Lyon shot just 5-26 from the arc in that game. While Unity is playing good basketball, West Lyon has been one of the best teams in the class all year and punches their ticket to Des Moines for the second time in school history.