Games of the Week (Week 8)
MONDAY (Jan. 23) Game of the night: 1A No. 6 West Fork at Aplington-Parkersburg An important week for Aplington-Parkersburg starts tonight. The Falcons play four games in six days this week, three of which come against high-level competition, starting with…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingMONDAY (Jan. 23)
Game of the night: 1A No. 6 West Fork at Aplington-Parkersburg
An important week for Aplington-Parkersburg starts tonight. The Falcons play four games in six days this week, three of which come against high-level competition, starting with 1A’s No. 6 team, West Fork. The matchup to watch here is the pair of 6-4 sophomore forwards who will be going at it in West Fork’s Zach Martinek (18.2) and A-P’s Carter Cuvelier (16.6). Whoever can get the upper hand in that matchup should go a long ways in determining a winner.
TUESDAY (Jan. 24)
Game of the night: 2A No. 3 Pella Christian at 3A No. 3 Pella
Camanche/Cascade will be a fantastic game as well, but this one gets the nod as the top game of the night. 3A’s third ranked Pella looks to avenge their only loss of the season when crosstown Pella Christian comes in. The Eagles beat the Dutch 54-52 back on December 9th, and Pella has run off ten straight wins since then to regain control over the Little Hawkeye Conference race. A win here would put them two clear of PC in the loss column and make them the prohibitve favorite to take the league this season. A sweep from the Eagles would give them the edge, giving them a tie-breaker over Pella and giving the league a trio of two-loss teams (PC, Pella, Dallas Center-Grimes) as we come down the home stretch. PC was 20-36 (55.6%) from the floor in the first meeting, despite star Levi Jungling going just 3-11. If they’re able to replicate that type of efficiency, they’ll have a chance at the season sweep.
Others to monitor
Sergeant Bluff-Luton at 3A No. 5 Sioux City Heelan
2A No. 4 Camanche at 2A No. 6 Cascade
2A No. 10 Jesup at Dike-New Hartford
AGWSR at East Marshall
Dyersville Beckman at 3A No. 8 Mount Vernon
3A No. 7 Dallas Center-Grimes at Newton
Grinnell at Oksaloosa
Southeast Valley at Pocahontas Area
Dubuque Hempstead at 4A No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie
George-Little Rock at West Lyon
THURSDAY (Jan. 26)
Game of the night: Aplington-Parkersburg at 2A No. 10 Jesup
The big week continues for A-P with a trip to Jesup for a re-scheduled game, where they’ll be dealt the difficult task of slowing down Jesup’s star guard, Ethan Wyant, who is averaging 24 points on 55% shooting this season. If Jesup is able to get the homecourt win here, they’ll be in very good position to take the NICL. If A-P is able to get the win, it makes the three-horse race between the Falcons, Jesup and Dike-New Hartford very interesting over the final month of the season.
Others to monitor
1A No. 5 Gladbrook-Reinbeck at East Marshall
2A No. 5 Osage at Forest City
Ames at Mason City
FRIDAY (Jan. 27)
Game of the night: 4A No. 4 Cedar Falls at 4A No. 1 Iowa City West
The week’s premier matchup is a rematch of last year’s semifinal game in which West won on a crazy Tanner Lohaus tip-in at the buzzer, after A.J. Green had gone crazy in a comeback effort. West has regained their No. 1 spot in 4A, winners of five straight after a pre-holiday break loss to Cedar Rapids Prairie, and winning those games by an average of 25.2 points per game. The competition gets a bit stiffer with Green and his 23.6 points per game average coming into town. This game is the beginning of a tricky stretch in which the Trojans will play three top-10 teams in the span of eight days (Cedar Falls, at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, at Dubuque Senior), and they’ll certainly be looking to start the stretch with a bang. They’re playing as well as they have in quite a while on the defensive end, and with three big-time scoring threats in Connor McCaffery (18.2), Devontae Lane (15.1) and Patrick McCaffery (14.7), plus their litany of role players, we look for West to make a statement here with an impressive win.
Others to monitor
West Des Moines Valley at Ames
North Scott at 3A No. 6 Davenport Assumption
Oskaloosa at 3A No. 7 Dallas Center-Grimes
Lake Mills at 2A No. 8 Garner-Hayfield-Ventura
2A No. 2 Carroll Kuemper at Harlan
1A No. 8 Lynnville-Sully at Montezuma
Davenport Central at Muscatine
Norwalk at 2A No. 3 Pella Christian
Sergeant Bluff-Luton at 4A No. 3 Sioux City East
Greene County at 2A No. 7 South Hamilton
3A No. 8 Mount Vernon at 3A No. 2 West Delaware
Forest City at 1A No. 10 West Hancock
SATURDAY (Jan. 28)
Game of the night: 2A No. 1 Western Christian at 3A No. 5 Sioux City Heelan
The Wolfpack have claimed the top spot in the Class 2A rankings this week, and they’ve got a difficult game in front of them with a road trip to Heelan. The Crusaders just knocked off previously unbeaten Sioux City East and are riding high into this week. Western Christian will have their hands full trying to slow down Elijah Hazekamp (17.5 points, 13.6 rebounds), one of the most versatile players in the state. Western is playing a much smaller lineup than they’ve had in previous years, and they’ll really need to limit Hazekamp’s production on the glass if they want to pick up a big-time road win.
Others to monitor
3A No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock at Center Point-Urbana
Aplington-Parkersburg at Dike-New Hartford
Southeast Valley at St. Mary’s, Storm Lake
1A No. 10 West Hancock at 1A No. 6 West Fork