Playoff Preview: 4A-6
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The favorite: One of the more interesting district pairings in Class 4A as there’s plenty of potential up and down the lineup of teams. Pleasant Valley is the #1 seed in this pairing and will look to prove they are the real…
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The favorite: One of the more interesting district pairings in Class 4A as there’s plenty of potential up and down the lineup of teams. Pleasant Valley is the #1 seed in this pairing and will look to prove they are the real deal coming off of a season where they finished atop the Mississippi Standings and ended the season on a 7 game win streak. They are led by Senior Jacob Townsend Jacob Townsend 6'4" | SF Pleasant Valley | 2021 State IA (12.3) but this team plays pretty unselfishly and shares the basketball well. Junior PG Ryan Dolphin Ryan Dolphin 5'8" | PG Pleasant Valley | 2022 State IA (10.7) brings good shooting and heady PG play. The beauty of this team is that there’s no telling who’s night it will be offensively and makes it tough on defenses to game plan for just one or two players. The Spartans will have their hands full but will have a good chance of continuing this successful season onto Des Moines in the end.
The biggest threat: A team that is pretty similar to Pleasant Valley in that they have good scorers, but it’s always a mystery who is going to lead on that given night is Iowa City Liberty. They are led by 3 players who average 10+ points starting with Senior Kelby Telander Kelby Telander 6'5" | SF Iowa City Liberty | 2021 State IA (14.4) and followed by Ira Hazeltine Ira Hazeltine 5'11" | SG Liberty | 2021 State IA (11.2) and Ethan O’donnell Ethan O’donnell 6'4" | SF Liberty | 2021 State IA (10.2) who are both Seniors. Which brings another good point of this team is senior-laden leadership which can come in handy in the postseason in what could be these players’ last games. The Lightning, however, are not on a high right now as they are riding a 1-5 stretch, that also included some time off for 3 cancellations/postponement games. They will look to turn things around going into district play.
The dark horse: A team that could easily be the #2, maybe even #1 seed, Davenport North. Playing arguably their best basketball right now as they’ve won 6 straight heading into postseason play, including a win over top Class 3A Assumption and 4A North Scott. Senior and Minot State signee Jayden Houston Jayden Houston 6'3" | SF Davenport North | 2021 State IA is a player who doesn’t get talked about enough in the state of Iowa outside of local outlets. Houston is a guard who has good athleticism, has his perimeter shot going (43% 3pt) and explodes towards the basket past defenders. He is teamed up with Iowa State football signee Quincy Wiseman Quincy Wiseman 6'3" | SF Davernport North | 2021 State IA (11.5) who does a little bit of everything as well to form a good duo that could be tough to stop in postseason play.
Players to watch
2021 Jacob Townsend Jacob Townsend 6'4" | SF Pleasant Valley | 2021 State IA , Pleasant Valley
2022 Ryan Dolphin Ryan Dolphin 5'8" | PG Pleasant Valley | 2022 State IA , Pleasant Valley
2021 Kelby Telander Kelby Telander 6'5" | SF Iowa City Liberty | 2021 State IA , Iowa City Liberty
2021 Ira Hazeltine Ira Hazeltine 5'11" | SG Liberty | 2021 State IA , Iowa City Liberty
2021 Ethan O’donnell Ethan O’donnell 6'4" | SF Liberty | 2021 State IA , Iowa City Liberty
2021 Jayden Houston Jayden Houston 6'3" | SF Davenport North | 2021 State IA , Davenport North
2021 Quincy Wiseman Quincy Wiseman 6'3" | SF Davernport North | 2021 State IA , Davenport North
2021 Niiziar Rogers, Davenport Central
2021 Carter Furness Carter Furness 5'11" | SG Bettendorf | 2021 State IA , Bettendorf
2022 Amarion Davis Amarion Davis 6'3" | SF Burlington | 2022 State IA , Burlington
SUBSTATE FINAL PREDICTION
Pleasant Valley vs Davenport North
In an upset, Davenport North finds themselves in this final game against a team that they beat in late January in a low scoring affair. It is difficult to beat a team more than once over the course of a season, and the Wildcats will have played one more game than the Spartans, but the edge is going to go to Davenport North. The duo of Jayden Houston Jayden Houston 6'3" | SF Davenport North | 2021 State IA and Quincy Wiseman Quincy Wiseman 6'3" | SF Davernport North | 2021 State IA and the hot streak this team is on right now is too much for this district.