Iowa’s Premier Performers (Week 11)
Each week countless impressive performances occur around the state; we’re using this weekly article to highlight them. We’ll scan twitter and quikstats nightly for triple-doubles, 40-point games, and other eye-opening individual outputs and showcase 10 of them per week right here. …
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Continue ReadingEach week countless impressive performances occur around the state; we’re using this weekly article to highlight them. We’ll scan twitter and quikstats nightly for triple-doubles, 40-point games, and other eye-opening individual outputs and showcase 10 of them per week right here.
Ben Dentlinger (New London) — 31 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks
Not only did this Wayne State-signee come away with a triple-double last Tuesday night; but he did it during a district game, and it was his first game back from an injury. Dentlinger missed the last 12 games of the regular season, but came back with a big splash in this win over WACO, Wayland.
Douglas Wilson (Hoover) — 22 points, 26 rebounds, 7 blocks
This 6-foot-6 power forward recently leaped into the top-5 in our latest 2017 rankings, and last Tuesday night against Dowling was just another in a long list of utterly dominating performances he’s had this season. Douglas is putting up Iowa Mr. Basketball numbers this season on one of the state’s best teams. He’ll head to a undeclared JuCo next season.
Jaxon Franken (Ridge View) — 34 points, 10-14 3s, 5 steals
Last Monday night during a 60-point district win over River Valley, Correctionville, this 5-foot-10 junior had what was likely his best game of the season. He averaged 11.3 points this season, so the 34 was quite an outburst. And the 10 3s is among the highest total of anyone in the state this season. Oh, and he swiped five steals for good measure.
Trey Tucker (Greene County) — 43 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals
Tucker has been somewhat quietly putting together one of the better seasons in Iowa this winter. But the fact is, he averaged 25.1 points on 52 percent shooting (44 3FG%), and 3.7 assists per game — pretty outstanding. The 5-foot-9 combo-guard had one of his better outings of the tremendous season last Tuesday night in the Rams’ final regular season game; unfortunately, it came in a three-point loss.
Nate Mohr (Glenwood) — 34 points, 7-14 3s, 4 assists, 4 steals
During a 13 point win over Lewis Central last Tuesday night, Mohr had one of his best games of the season. The 6-foot-2 junior has been one of the state’s best 2018s for three seasons now, and finished his regular season with averages of 19.7 points and 5.0 assists per game.
Connor Gholson (Newton) — 34 points on 14-21 FGs, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Newton’s sharpshooting senior is getting red-hot at the perfect time. He had two games last week that we could have picked for this article; his other was a 30 point, seven 3-pointer performance on Monday against Winterset. He would have been a Player of the Week candidate, but we already used him as one in the Week 9 poll.
Cooper Kabela (West Branch) — 33 points on 15-21 FGs, 12 rebounds
What a regular season this senior forward had, and it appears that success is going to continue into the postseason. Kabela torched Wapello last Thursday night in the district semifinals. Next up is a Tuesday night district finals game against Tipton.
Griff Clark (Prairie) — 17 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds
Cedar Rapids Prairie has been one of the nicer surprises in the state this season, and junior point guard Griff Clark has been essential to their success. Last Tuesday night in a 92-76 win over Waterloo West, Clark was as good as he’s been all season, and nearly had a triple-double to show for it.
Dylan Hundley (Camanche) — 19 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals
Hundley’s magical season continued in last Thursday night’s district seminal win over North Cedar, Stanwood. It wasn’t his first triple-double of the season. And the do-it-all senior will be pivotal to the Indians’ possible postseason run.
Jal Bijiek (Des Moines North) — 32 points on 10-17 FGs (3-5 3s), 9 rebounds
What a run this ultra-athletic 6-foot-7 small forward has had over the last two seasons. It all came to a boil last Friday night against Marshalltown. The performance came on the Polar Bears’ senior night, and they will miss this talented and versatile leader next season.