Playoff Preview: 2A-8

<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/02/2A-15.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1127544" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/02/2A-15.png" alt="" width="850" height="811" /></a> The favorite: Van Meter has found themselves struggling to the end of the regular season posing a 3-3 record in the month of February, though those three losses were to conference leaders Des Moines Christian, Pella Christian who plays in a 3A conference, and a top 2A team in Roland-Story. Nonetheless, they will look to continue a successful season starting with the winner between Central Decatur and Interstate-35. The Bulldogs are led by an under-the-radar PG, who has a lot of savvy in Junior [player_tooltip player_id="784980" first="Chris" last="Schreck"] (12.7). Schreck is followed by two more Juniors in Casey Trudo (11.4) and Clark Fiala (11.0). Schreck is shooting 40% from 3 and Trudo, 37.3% from the perimeter but they also have Fiala and Senior, 6’7 Taylor Birks. This team can go to their bench and that should come in handy for a deep run. The biggest threat: Panora-Panorama is a sneaky good team, with sneaky good depth. Junior and Senior players strictly throughout their entire rotation shows that they’ve been working together for a while now. They ended the season on a 6 game win streak and notably beat Des Moines Christian in that streak. The Panthers are led by Senior [player_tooltip player_id="796142" first="Zach" <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2018/10/Zach-Rizzuti-2021-Panorama.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-590964 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2018/10/Zach-Rizzuti-2021-Panorama-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>last="Rizzuti"], who at 6’2 can shoot it from the outside (43% 3pt) but he can also do well inside around the hoop. After Rizzuti there are three Seniors who average around 9 points per game. Lucas Leiferman (9.3), Evan Taylor (9.1) and Drew Taylor (9.3) help pace the Panthers’ offense. As a team, Panora averages 12.9 assists per game, and if they can continue to share the love they will give Van Meter a problem. The dark horse: This title goes to no other team than someone who has split matchups with Panorama, ACGC. The Chargers lost by 12 in the first meeting to the Panthers and won by 1 in the 2nd, but have also lost to Van Meter by 24 this season. However, after losing to Van Meter on January 28th, ACGC is taking a 5-1 record into postseason play. Their starting 5 is the motor that keeps the car going, but as a team they do struggle with perimeter shooting. Led by Senior Eli Kading (15.7) who does a little bit of everything. Then is rounded out by Sophomore Ben Marsh (8.0), Junior Charlie Crawford (6.3), Senior Lucas Marsh (10.2) and Junior Miles Kading (10.9). Players to watch 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="784980" first="Chris" last="Schreck"], Van Meter 2022 Casey Trudo, Van Meter 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="796142" first="Zach" last="Rizzuti"], Panora-Panorama 2021 Eli Kading, ACGC 2022 Miles Kading, ACGC 2022 Trey Hullinger, Central Decatur 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="962695" first="Matthew" last="Boothe"], Central Decatur 2022 Kale Day, Interstate-35 2022 Jace Bedwell, Interstate-35 2022 Hunter Keller, West Central Valley   <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/02/2A-16.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1127545" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/02/2A-16.png" alt="" width="850" height="775" /></a> The favorite: AHSTW is a younger, but talented group who have only been stopped twice this season, once earlier in the year by 2nd place Tri-Center and then on the 1st of February by 3rd place Treynor. The Vikings have three pretty talented scorers and they are led by Junior [player_tooltip player_id="784987" first="Raydden" last="Grobe"] (19.0) who is a playmaker with the ball in his hands as he likes to force the issue and put pressure on the defense on the drive or in transition. The next two are Sophomores who do a little bit of inside-outside with Kyle Sternberg (17.4) and Brayden Lund (17.6). Both stand at 6’3 and are big on the boards for the Vikings. Sophomore Cole Scheffler has started every game of the season as well and is a big part of the success as he brings a 5/2 AST/TO ratio to an already high powered offense. The biggest threat: As has been mentioned above, Treynor, split the season series with AHSTW, but won the most recent meeting between the two and that should give them confidence going into this, if it was to happen. Treynor has a good group of Seniors led by [player_tooltip player_id="964920" first="Sid" last="Schaaf"] (16.2) and Tim Zimerman (15.0). Shooting hasn’t been the Cardinals strongest suit this season as they shoot a total 28.9% from 3pt land, and 52% from the free throw line. They will need to find a good combination and balance in order to go deep into the postseason. The dark horse: This title could go to Underwood or Clarinda, but the edge is going to go to Clarinda as they play in a Class 3A dominant conference throughout the season. Junior Drew Brown (14.8) is the driving force for the Cardinals and gets good contributions from Senior Michael Schull and Junior, big man Grant Jobe. Clarinda has lost to another team in this pairing in Red Oak and they could also fit this bill. Players to watch 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="784987" first="Raydden" last="Grobe"], AHSTW 2023 Kyle Sternberg, AHSTW 2023 Brayden Lund, AHSTW 2021 Tim Zimmerman, Treynor 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="964920" first="Sid" last="Schaaf"], Treynor 2022 Drew Brown, Clarinda 2021 Timothy Conn, Underwood 2024 Max DeVries, Red Oak 2023 Blake Herold, Shenandoah SUBSTATE FINAL PREDICTION Van Meter vs AHSTW This would be the first meeting between the two, but the edge is going to go to Van Meter here. They don’t have significant seniority, but they do have senior leadership and a good combination of inside-outside presence that should help them.