IHSAA Rankings Release – 1/27

The fourth set of boys basketball rankings from the Iowa High School Athletic Association were released this morning. With the IHSAA rankings becoming the go-to ranking around the state, the Prep Hoops Iowa poll is now done for the year. That said, I serve on the Class 2A rankings committee, and will release an article each week taking a quick look at the rankings and perhaps making a few notes where I disagree with what the other committees have put together. This was a pretty eventful week, with a new team checking in at #1 in Class 3A.

Class 1A

1.) (1) Marquette Catholic (16-0)
2.) (2) Madrid (15-0)
3.) (4) MMCRU (14-2)
4.) (3) Woodbine (13-1)
5.) (5) ACGC (11-1)
6.) (8) Gladbrook-Reinbeck (12-2)
7.) (6) St. Mary’s, Remsen (10-3)
8.) (9) St. Edmond, Fort Dodge (11-2)
9.) (NR) Notre Dame, Burlington (13-2)
10.) (NR) Bishop Garrigan, Algona (14-2)

Thoughts: The top two teams in the class seem to have separated themselves from the rest of the group. Woodbine wasn’t competitive against Treynor on Monday afternoon, but that was a game against a really good opponent on a neutral floor and I’m glad to see they weren’t penalized too harshly. Notre Dame and Bishop Garrigan have both been playing really well of late and deserve to get into the rankings here.

Class 2A

1.) (1) Western Christian (14-2)
2.) (2) Kuemper Catholic (17-1)
3.) (4) West Lyon (12-3)
4.) (5) Unity Christian (11-3)
5.) (6) Grundy Center (14-0)
6.) (3) Grand View Christian (15-1)
7.) (7) Treynor (12-3)
8.) (9) Cascade (13-2)
9.) (NR) Regina (14-1)
10.) (NR) West Burlington (14-2)

Thoughts: Western Christian and Kuemper Catholic are absolutely rolling right now. Western has an extremely tough schedule coming up, with games against Aberdeen Christian (SD), 3A #3 MOC-Floyd Valley, 4A #6 Waukee, and Sioux Falls Christian (SD), arguably the best team in South Dakota, coming over the next 2.5 weeks. Northeast Iowa continues to beat up on each other, resulting in Monticello and Northeast dropping out, opening the door for a red-hot Regina team and Mason Watkins Mason Watkins 6'2" | PG West Burlington | 2025 State IA -led West Burlington.

Class 3A

1.) (2) Clear Lake (13-0)
2.) (3) Decorah (12-1)
3.) (5) MOC-Floyd Valley (12-2)
4.) (4) Knoxville (13-0)
5.) (1) Ballard (11-1)
6.) (7) ADM (10-3)
7.) (8) Storm Lake (11-1)
8.) (9) Xavier (10-4)
9.) (NR) Waverly-Shell Rock (9-5)
10.) (NR) Pella (9-5)

Thoughts: Following Ballard’s loss to North Polk, Clear Lake takes over the top spot, and after watching them dismantle Grand View Christian, it’s well deserved. The Lions and Decorah seem to be separating themselves a bit from the rest of the class at this point, but MOC-Floyd Valley has been impressive, especially on the defensive end, of late. After slow starts, both Pella and Waverly-Shell Rock are playing quality basketball of late and will be teams that you won’t want to see in your substate bracket.

Class 4A

1.) (1) Cedar Falls (12-1)
2.) (2) Valley (12-2)
3.) (3) Kennedy (11-2)
4.) (4) Linn-Mar (12-2)
5.) (6) Waukee Northwest (13-3)
6.) (5) Waukee (10-3)
7.) (7) Senior (10-2)
8.) (8) Council Bluffs Lincoln (13-0)
9.) (10) Dowling Catholic (10-4)
10.) (NR) Ames (13-2)

Thoughts: Northwest and Waukee flip spots following the Wolves’ comeback win over the Warriors, but other than that, not much change here. Ames has allowed only two teams to score more than 48 points this season (Dallas Center-Grimes, 63 and Cedar Falls, 52).