Iowa’s 3 Up, 3 Down (Week 11)
There are certainly plenty of ebbs and flows throughout the high school season, we’ll try our best to track those here. Teams that land in the DOWN portion of an article, could later find itself in the UP part, and vice-versa. Such is the grind of a full high school season. Below, you’ll find this week’s ebb and flow.
UP
Valley: Coming into the season, we were very high on the Tigers, and even had them ranked among the top-10 teams in 4A. But they struggled a bit through the first half of the season, despite having two Division I players, Blake Brinkmeyer and Trayvon Williams, on their roster. Well, they’ve figured it out of late, and head into a Substate semifinal against Ankeny Centennial winners of eight straight, and looking very dangerous.
Indianola: It had been since the 2012-13 season since the Indians advanced to a Substate semifinal. And it had been even longer since they finished a season with a winning record. Both have happened this season. Evan Gauger and Co. improved to 15-7 on Monday night in a Substate quarterfinal win over Newton. Gauger was sensational in the win, going for 23 points six rebounds, six assists and three blocks. They’ll face Waukee Friday, at Waukee, for a chance to advance to a Substate final.
Carroll: It’s now ten straight wins for the Tigers, and they finished the regular season 16-5. Not bad, considering they were once a middling 6-5 sqaud. And it’s not like they’ve been beating up on bad teams, they’ve taken care of Winterset, Boone, Carlisle and Harlan through that stretch. Cooper Ross and Co. will start their postseason run tonight when they host 10-11 Creston.
Down
Dubuque, Wahlert: Midway through the season, the Golden Eagles, with their extremely tough schedule, were considered one of the best teams in 3A. But they limped into the postseason, losers of six of eight. And lost in the first round of Substate to an 8-13 Mount Vernon squad.
Davenport West: The Falcons were flying high heading into their Substate game against 2-19 Clinton. They had won four straight and with a senior -laden squad seemed poised to make a deep postseason run. In the upset of the postseason so far, the Riverkings dashed West’s state tourney hopes with a 40-39 win. s
North Polk: It’s been a tough season for the Comets, and we didn’t expect them to make a state tournament run or anything like that, but they were only able to muster 18 points against Norwalk in a Substate quarterfinal. And only scored five in the second half.