Simpson Team Camp: Game Recaps
10:30 — Carlisle 86 vs Clear Creek-Amana 66
There was perhaps no bigger surprise today than Carlisle rising senior Trenton Beck. We at Prep Hoops Iowa have been at this long enough that we usually know the majority of standout players by the time they hit the June before their senior season, but we did not know anything about Beck. A 6’3 wing with some length and a serious habit of attacking the hoops with success, Beck poured in 34 points in the Wildcats’ shellacking of CCA. You pair that with a nice game from do-it-all guard Collin Lister, who poured in 33 points of his own, and Carlisle’s got themselves a seriously talented duo. For CCA, it was 6’4 forward Nolan Schwarting who impressed, the combo-forward scored a team-high 26 for the Clippers.
11:45 — Valley 78 vs Des Moines North 59
Whoo, this one was intense. Whether it was star players Tyreke Locure and Trayvon Williams having to be talked to by the refs about their chippiness, or the head coaches having a bit of their own conflict, it was plain to see, that there is no love lost between these two programs right now. It was fun, but tense. On the court, it looks like Williams and fellow 2019 Agueck Deng will form one of the more athletic inside/outside combos in Iowa, they combined for 31 points in the win. Rising junior Will Berg and Jake Auer were both good, they chipped in with 19 combined points for Valley. For North, it was — who else — Locure who led the charge; the rising senior scored a game-high 24 before fouling out late. Lino Malual — who fouled out early in the second half — and Malik Allen each added nine for the Polar Bears.
1:00 — IKM-Manning 56 vs Atlantic 53
This was a tightly contested, back-and-forth affair between two of the small-school teams at the event, and that North/Valley act was going to be tough to follow know matter what two teams took the court next. Atlantic held a small lead at the break, 28-26, thanks in large part to rising senior sniper Logan Reilly’s three triples. In the second half, it was IKM-Manning who would take control, and the Wolves ended up narrowly escaping with a three point win behind rising junior Colby Keller’s 20 points (four 3s). Reilly notched a co-game-high 20 for Atlantic, he’s a sniper from deep, and canned six tripled in the L.
2:15 — Fairfield 79 vs Norwalk 57
Today’s Warriors squad was a very different one than the team that was one really good Glenwood half away from advancing to the 3A state semifinals last season. A lot of the team’s returning varsity players were at football camp, but it still had a couple really, really important pieces there: D1 prospect Bowen Born and fellow 2020 classmate Tyler Johnson. Those two were playing with a group of predominately sophomores today. Born was his usual dynamic self in this one, scoring a game-high 28 points, but the Fairfield squad was more balanced and deeper than the Warriors today. A pair of 6’4 forwards was running the show for the Trojans, that’s Carson Crile and Collin Breen, the two combined for 37 points and will be a tough match-up for any team they face next season. Tyler Johnson is in-line for a breakout season with the Warriors, the rising junior played some off the bench as a sophomore, but is the second option this season, he scored 21 points in the loss.
3:30 — South Hamilton 54 vs Indianola 53 (OT)
This was one of the more thrilling games of the day, with each team having a chance to win it late before a sudden death OT format allowed for South Hamilton’s Cole Berg to win it on the front end of his free-throws early in the extra frame. Indianola played well, considering they were without one of the state’s best 2019s Evan Gauger, who was reportedly on vacation in Florida, and possibly at a hoops camp in North Carolina. Gauger’s partner in crime, Quinn Vesey — who scored 40 points in a game last season — was excellent as the lead man, scoring 15 points in the first half and a game-high 22. But it wasn’t enough to hold off the steady three-man back-court from South Hamilton. Despite not playing their best, Logan Peters, Conner Hill and Berg were able to tie the game late, despite being down double digits at times in the second half, with Berg capping the win in OT.
4:45 — Des Moines Lincoln 47 vs Urbandale 41
An interesting game between two squads looking to improve upon their 2017-18 campaigns. The Rails trailed most of the first half, but stayed super enthusiastic, upbeat and positive despite being outplayed. That positivity seemingly gave way to second half success, because they thrived out of the gates in the second half, and within minutes had taken the lead and cushioned it. Things got dicey late for the Rails, who are lead by supremely quick and skilled rising senior Josiah Conkrite, but they were able to secure the six point win thanks to some staunch defense down the stretch. Urbandale was doing hockey rotations, subbing in five guys at a time, most likely just trying to see what will work for them next season — they had plenty of guys there to choose from. It looks like they’ll be lead by burly 6’3 forward Will Pattison, the rising senior scored a team-high 11 for the J-Hawks; impressively, 10 different guys scored for them. Lincoln has a talented guard duo with rising junior Will Feller and Conkrite. And then there’s the X-factor for the Rails, a lengthy 6’6 post who can jump, Maiwut Jock; he had six points, four of them from dunks, one of the dunks came as a result of a fast-break that he started with a mean swat on the other end of the floor. Des Moines Lincoln will be intriguing next season.