2024 Winterset Shootout: Class 1A/2A Team Takeaways

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Class 1A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ACGC (1-2)<br></strong>Wins: Roland-Story, 55-50<br>Losses: Grand View Christian, 75-49; Southeast Polk, 67-42</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Chargers were only in Winterset on Friday morning, and they came away with a solid win over Roland-Story and were competitive with both Grand View Christian and Southeast Polk for a while. A group that brings back nearly 65% of their production from last season's 14-win team, they have a fair amount of expectations heading into the 2024-25 season and for good reason. Jathan South, [player_tooltip player_id='1416420' first='Noah' last='Kading'], [player_tooltip player_id='1797393' first='Payton' last='Policky'], and Mason Wahl all showed impressive stretches of basketball throughout the day, and they were able to get a look at some of the other faces who will fill out the rotation against some quality competition. Don't be surprised to see ACGC being a borderline top-10 team in 1A throughout the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Madrid (3-3)<br></strong>Wins: Newton, 61-38; Pella Christian, 58-54; Dallas Center-Grimes, 56-41<br>Losses: Centennial, 52-49; Waukee, 60-54; Roosevelt, 61-52</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers were one of the teams I was most looking forward to seeing, and they didn't disappoint. A quick glance at a 3-3 record may not raise too many eyebrows, but they were extremely competitive against all three 4A schools that they lost to, having a chance to win games against Centennial and Waukee late. Their "big three" of [player_tooltip player_id='1174816' first='Toryn' last='Severson'], [player_tooltip player_id='2397210' first='Brody' last='Buck'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2398087' first='Fabian' last='Ortiz-Alaniz'] all played well throughout the weekend, and the additions of South Tama transfer [player_tooltip player_id='2420789' first='Emerson' last='Bridgewater'] and incoming freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2439640' first='Jevyn' last='Severson'] will give them some more size, scoring, and rebounding. Bridgewater is an athletic forward who can protect the rim and stretch the floor, while Severson looks like he'll be one of the best 2028s in the state, a physically imposing combo forward who can score inside and out. Heading into the 2024-25 season, it will probably be Madrid and North Linn at the top of most preseason polls, and the Tigers showed why they'll be so highly thought of against really good competition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Class 2A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aplington-Parkersburg (0-6)<br></strong>Wins:<br>Losses: Dallas Center-Grimes, 62-37; Roosevelt, 75-47; Pella, 70-55; Indianola, 57-47; Winterset, 56-35; North Polk, 54-40</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Falcons had a tough weekend, but they played entirely against 3A and 4A schools, with a very young roster, so some struggles were to be expected. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1765547' first='Benny' last='Waller'] played well throughout the weekend, scoring in bunches from all three levels, and they got some good production out of Caleb Campbell as well. Freshman guard [player_tooltip player_id='2594659' first='Tyler' last='Wedeking'] showed off some of the aspects os his game that will earn him playing time - secondary playmaking and the ability to really shoot it from deep. While going 0-6 certainly isn't what they wanted, I think AP can take a lot of good things away from the weekend in Winterset as well, and as with any team that Aaron Thomas has, they'll be a factor in 2A by the time postseason play comes around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Grand View Christian (5-1)<br></strong>Wins: Van Meter, 61-44; ACGC, 75-49; Carroll, 83-54; Pleasantville, 66-21; Roland-Story, 68-40<br>Losses: ADM, 70-63</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite playing without standout guard [player_tooltip player_id='2413533' first='Jameson' last='Scharnberg'], the Thunder looked every bit as good as you'd think they would. [player_tooltip player_id='1381402' first='Emiliano' last='Barrantes'] is going to put up 2K-esque numbers again as a senior, and the shooting that they'll be able to put around him with Scharnberg, [player_tooltip player_id='2287857' first='Brayden' last='Hoben'], and junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2520010' first='Lincoln' last='Cowell'], they're going to be explosive offensively once again. They look like a team that will challenge in Class 2A alongside Western Christian, Unity Christian, and Kuemper Catholic, among many others.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kuemper Catholic (6-0)<br></strong>Wins: Williamsburg, 90-46; Clear Creek Amana, 73-55; Des Moines Christian, 78-43; North Polk, 87-64; Indianola, 70-47; Winterset, 78-52<br>Losses:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Knights were without a doubt the most impressive team of the weekend, rolling to a 6-0 record and doing so in a variety of different ways. Against Williamsburg, the 3-ball was falling early and often, while against Indianola, they didn't make a single 3 in the first half but used their dribble penetration and work on the offensive glass to score in bunches. A deep, athletic group that can beat you in a number of ways, Kuemper is going to be one of the top 3-4 teams in Class 2A this season. They have a ton of shooting with guards like [player_tooltip player_id='1765503' first='Brock' last='Badding'], [player_tooltip player_id='2519974' first='Jack' last='Badding'], [player_tooltip player_id='1759944' first='Carson' last='Kanne'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2420798' first='Griffin' last='Glynn'], and the addition of East Sac County transfer [player_tooltip player_id='1765513' first='Ryan' last='Clair'] in the paint will be huge for them on both ends of the floor. He's an athletic big man who can protect the rim, pound the glass, and score around the bucket efficiently. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pella Christian (1-2)<br></strong>Wins: Ballard, 46-42<br>Losses: Ames, 50-36; Madrid, 58-54</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Given the massive personnel losses (88% of their scoring gone, as well as a new head coach), the Eagles were surprisingly competitive, notching a nice win against 3A Ballard and playing a pair of competitive games against a really good 4A school in Ames, and one of the best 1A schools in the state. Landon Fransman figures to be one of the leaders of this group, and they're once again going to be a very long, athletic team that will use their length to smother teams defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pleasantville (0-3)<br></strong>Wins:<br>Losses: Washington, 59-35; Grand View Christian, 66-21; Center Point-Urbana, 49-40</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's hard to read too much into what Pleasantville did over the weekend since they were playing without star sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2419699' first='Braylon' last='Bingham'], who will be the clear focal point of the team on both ends of the floor. That said, they were very competitive against a CPU team that should be pretty solid in 3A behind strong performances from Lucas Klootwyk and Braylon Lindsey. Having lost standout forward Dayson Leerhoff to graduation, getting more production out of Lindsey in the paint will be big, and Klootwyk looked like a much better shooter from deep than the 23.2% he shot as a junior. Improvement in that aspect will be huge to provide Bingham more space to operate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Roland-Story (1-5)<br></strong>Wins: Washington, 42-34<br>Losses: ADM, 49-23; ACGC, 55-50; Van Meter, 50-35; Center Point-Urbana, 37-20; Grand View Christian, 68-40</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Norsemen have had a really good run over the last handful of years, but they lost nearly everyone from those teams and are starting a bit of a program reset now. They had a quartet of sophomores - [player_tooltip player_id='2530664' first='Fiston' last='Carlson'], [player_tooltip player_id='2754727' first='Luke' last='Thoreson'], Carter Barber, and Tucker Hawkins, as well as junior Cody Long - who all showed good flashes throughout the weekend, and who figure to be the future of the program. They will probably have a bit of an up-and-down 2024-25 season, but the building blocks are in place to be very competitive against for the next few years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Van Meter (1-2)<br></strong>Wins: Roland-Story, 50-35<br>Losses: Grand View Christian, 61-44; Southeast Polk, 81-31</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bulldogs were playing without their top returnee - [player_tooltip player_id='2398079' first='Caleb' last='Moore'] - but junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2381239' first='Andon' last='Watson'] played really well, giving them some perimeter scoring from all three levels. He'll pair with Moore to give the Bulldogs a strong backcourt, while wing Jack Fiedler also had a strong weekend, shooting it well from the arc and showing some ability to put it on the floor and attack. The next several months will be about finding the pieces to fill in around that trio.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->