Iowa’s Top Scorers: Class 3A
Tick tock, the season is almost here. Practice started across Iowa on Nov. 12, and games will start across the state on Tuesday, Nov. 27. That gives us just enough time to bring some quantitative lists, counting down the best returners in a given statistical category. We’ll start by bringing you the best returning scorers, from 4A to 1A.
10 Will Turner, Gilbert — 17.2 PPG
Checking in a No. 10 is Gilbert 6-foot guard Will Turner, a slick, sharpshooting senior who has been steadily improving since we first saw him as an incoming freshman. His ability to shoot it from deep is his best trait. Turner connected on 39 percent of his 3-attempts last season.
9 AJ Coons, Solon — 17.5 PPG
He’s done with his junior football season, and now Coons is ready to terrorize opponents on the hardwood. A big and athletic wing, Coons will get up and play above the rim, but he was an outstanding shooter last season as well, going for clips of 48/45/77.
8 Bowen Born, Norwalk — 18.4 PPG
Of any other player on this list, it’s Born who could see his scoring numbers balloon the most. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, standout Norwalk guard and current Drake Bulldogs freshman Like Vaske was there to help carry the load. Both Bowen and Vaske are elite scorers, and now it’ll be Born’s team to solely lead.
7 Abe Becker, Maquoketa — 18.8 PPG
Perhaps the most underrated player on this list, Becker was lethal from deep last season, connecting on a whopping 88 triples and doing so at a 44 percent clip. He’s one of a few guys in the state who has a realistic shot of canning 100 3-balls this season.
6 Jackson Molstead, Charles City — 2019
A supremely quick and highly skilled point guard, Molstead isn’t the biggest guy on the floor, but he’s often the most effective. When he decides to make a play, he can usually make it happen with his slick handles and high-level athleticism.
5 Owen Coburn, Spirit Lake — 20.1 PPG
Yesterday South Dakota State officially inked the 6-foot-10 senior, who had been committed to the Jackrabbits for a couple years already. Now, he heads into his final high school season as one of the very best big-men in Iowa, as evidenced by his extraordinarily efficient field goal shooting throughout his career.
4 Collin Lister, Carlisle — 20.5 PPG
A tough, do-it-all floor-general, Lister is a guy that will do whatever his team needs him to in order to get that dub. He’s big enough to be effective down low at the 3A ranks and his outside shot is certainly a main source of Carlisle’s offense. Look for him to be up over 20 points per game again this season.
3 Derek Krogmann, West Delaware — 20.7 PPG
One of five guys from the Class of 2019 to sign with Northern Iowa yesterday, Krogmann is a very lengthy 6-foot-6 big-man who just happens to be a savvy lefty too. He’s not skinny, but still much stronger than he looks. He’s worked to develop a jumper over the past two years, and will score at will from 15-feet in this season.
2 Karson Sharar, Iowa Falls-Alden — 20.8 PPG
The only sophomore to make this list (and spoiler alert, he’s the only Class of 2021 guy who will be on any of the scoring lists, 4A through 1A), Sharar wasted no time getting his name known at the high school ranks. And in addition to scoring in bunches for the Cadets last winter, he became the first guy from Iowa’s 2021 class to nab a D1 offer (Drake) last summer.
1 Kylan Smallwood, Creston — 22.4 PPG
This 6-foot-4 wing has been at it for a while now in Creston. As a freshman he averaged 13.4 points per game, as a sophomore, 18.4, and then 22.4 last season. He’s led the Panthers in scoring each of those years. With his athleticism, size and ability to dominate from both inside and out, there’s no reason to think he won’t net 25 points per game in his final season with the Panthers.