Iowa’s Blazin’ Five (Week 7)
Dubuque, Senior
PHIA’s preseason 4A No. 1 got off to a less-than-stellar start to the season, but has been living up to the hype over the last eight games, all of which have been wins. Their 1-2 start has been left in the dust, and now the 9-2 Rams are back among the 4A heavyweights, checking in at No. 6 in our latest rankings. Northern Iowa recruit Noah Carter has been sensational this season, he’s averaging 24.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Mason City
We thought going into the season that Mason City could be one of the better squads in an ultra-tough CIML. And after a miserable start for the Mohawks, it now looks like we might have been correct. Key players were missing from the Mason City lineup at the beginning of the season. Dylan Miller, Avery Mellman and Jarvorius Toney all missed games. A young and inexperienced Mohawks squad limped to a 1-9 start as a result. Now, everyone is back, and the Mohawks have run off four straight wins since they’ve been at full strength. They’re now 5-9, and maybe the best team in the state with that record.
Assumption
The Knights are coming into the final stretch of the season strong, and they’ve now won four straight games after a 4-5 start. What’s better, is three of those wins have come against 4A teams (Muscatine, Davenport North and Pleasant Valley); the other win came against an Illinois program, Alleman. It’s been the Peeters brothers that have the Knights cruising right now. Sean Peeters is averaging 16.2 points. Dylan Peeters is averaging 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds.
West Sioux, Hawarden
It’s now 15 wins and counting to start the season for Hunter Dekkers and Co. PHIA’s No. 2-ranked 2A squad, the Falcons are not only beating all of their opponents, but they’re obliterating them, winning by an average of 24 points per game. Only two teams have managed to lose to the Falcons by single-digits. Dekkers, a standout quarterback for the state champ Falcons football team, is leading the charge, averaging 20.2 points and shooting 49 percent from deep.
Stanton
No team in the state of Iowa has a better record than 16-0 Stanton does right now. The reasons for this are simple: on paper, they have the state’s fourth-best offense (74.6 ppg), and its eight-best defense (40 ppg allowed). The schedule for the Vikings has been among the easiest in the state, according to BCMoorerankings.com, they have played the 345th-toughest schedule in Iowa, out of 355 teams. Still, 16-0 is impressive. Senior guard Drake Stanton has been posting great numbers through the win streak, going for 22.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game.