Games of the Week (Week 4)
MONDAY (Dec. 19) Game of the night: Mason City at Clear Lake A Monday night rivalry game featuring an upstart Mason City group and a star scorer in Clear Lake’s Thomas Storbeck? Count us in. Storbeck (26.8) and Zach Lester…
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Continue ReadingMONDAY (Dec. 19)
Game of the night: Mason City at Clear Lake
A Monday night rivalry game featuring an upstart Mason City group and a star scorer in Clear Lake’s Thomas Storbeck? Count us in. Storbeck (26.8) and Zach Lester (25.0) have been sensational for Clear Lake so far this season, but they’ll need to get a lot of help from their cohorts if they want to knock off the 4A Mohawks, who have gotten off to a surprising 4-1 start behind Kyle Lang (17.8), Zach Hendrickson (12.0) and Mac Skogen (11.6).
Others to monitor
Centerville at 3A No. 5 Mount Pleasant
Benton Community at Iowa City Regina
2A No. 7 Camanche at West Branch
TUESDAY (Dec. 20)
Game of the night: 2A No. 2 Carroll Kuemper at 3A No. 4 Atlantic
A huge game in the Hawkeye 10, as Kuemper already has a conference loss and can’t afford another one this early in the season. A pair of highly ranked teams, this one could come down to whether or not the Knights can slow down Atlantic’s star Garrett Franken. Franken, a North Dakota commit, is averaging 25 points and 9 rebounds a game, and doing so efficiently. Kuemper will need a big game from Matt Dentlinger (14.4 points, 5 blocks), and for Parker Badding and Sam Auen to knock down some 3s. This should be a tremendous game, and an Atlantic win would make it very difficult for Kuemper to get back into the conference race with themselves and Lewis Central.
Others to monitor
Ankeny at Ankeny Centennial
4A No. 9 Davenport Central at 4A No. 10 Bettendorf
2A No. 9 West Lyon at Boyden-Hull
Cedar Rapids Xavier at 4A No. 3 Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Harlan at Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln
Waterloo West at 4A No. 5 Dubuque Senior
1A No. 3 Lone Tree at Highland, Riverside
Belle Plaine at Lynnville-Sully
4A No. 2 Sioux City East at LeMars
Newton at Oskaloosa
Norwalk at 3A No. 3 Pella
2A No. 3 Western Christian at Sergeant Bluff-Luton
4A No. 6 Ames at 4A No. 7 West Des Moines Valley
THURSDAY (Dec. 22)
Game of the night: 3A No. 9 Mount Vernon at 3A No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock
A good non-conference game here right before the holiday break featuring a pair of stars who excel in entirely different areas. Mount Vernon is led by Austin Ash, a sharpshooter who paces a Mustangs group that is shooting 41.7% from the arc as a team. Being used to playing away from the rim should help them, as they don’t figure to get much going on the interior against Northern Iowa commit Austin Phyfe. Phyfe is averaging 20 points and 12.6 rebounds, while shooting an absurd 75.5% from the floor for the Go-Hawks. It’ll be tough for the Mustangs to find an answer for him on the interior.
Others to monitor
1A No. 7 Montezuma at Belle Plaine
Center Point-Urbana at 3A No. 10 Grinnell
East Marshall at Lynnville-Sully
FRIDAY (Dec. 23)
Game of the night: 3A No. 5 Mount Pleasant vs. Harlan (at Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines)
Sure, it’s the only game of the night, but it’s also a good one, as a pair of 3A powers meet in a non-conference tilt. Harlan has the type of size that could give Mount Pleasant some trouble. Caleb Rasmussen (16.0), Shane Chamberlain (15.8) and Josh Cheek (12.2) lead the Cyclones attack, and they’ll be looking get back on track against a good Mount Pleasant team. Point guard Brady Sartorius (19.7) will look to lead the Panthers to a big win, and hopefully help get Jordan Magnani (26.7 FG%) going to give him a consistent second threat.