STATE TOURNAMENT: Thursday Preview
3A Semifinal: No. 1 Norwalk (21-4) vs No. 4 Seed Clear Lake (24-0), 2:00 p.m.
Analysis: Nobody has scored more points in a single game this tourney than Bowen Born has; the Norwalk junior dropped 40 on Ballard in the opening round, and outscored the entire Bombers team while doing so. What does this tell us: one, that Bowen Born is an elite scorer who’s liable to light it in any given game, two, the Norwalk team is playing at a very high level right now. Clear Lake will be led by Drew Enke who was calm and collected at the end of Clear Lake’s intense game against West Delaware. Carson Toebe is a standout freshman for the Lions, who’s one of the state’s best young players.
Players to Watch
Clear Lake: Drew Enke, Carson Toebe, Tate Storbeck
Norwalk: Bowen Born, Tyler Johnson, Tyler Endres
Our Pick: Norwalk 71, Clear Lake 65
3A Semifinal: No. 3 Oskaloosa (17-5) vs No. 7 Winterset (17-6), 3:30 p.m.
Analysis: Winterset is the tournament’s Cinderella after pulling off a huge upset of 2-seed Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the quarterfinals; that’s a SB-L squad that many had picked to win the 3A tourney. Easton Darling was terrific in that game, going for 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Oskaloosa struggled mightily against Marion, but was able to get the win thanks to Iscaz Schultz and Rian Yates giving them a two point lead with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter; and there was no more scoring after that from either team. Winterset is very undersized, but did well to use that to its advantage against the much larger SB-L squad. The Huskies will look to do the same against the much, much larger Osklaoosa unit.
Players to Watch
Winterest: Easton Darling, Casey Kleemeier, Brock Johnson, Dawson Forgy
Oskaloosa: Xavier Foster, Cole Henry, Rian Yates
Our Pick: Oskaloosa 56, Winterest 51
4A Semifinal: No. 2 North Scott (23-1) vs No. 3 Cedar Falls (19-3), 6:30 p.m.
Analysis: Cedar Falls was the most impressive team during the 4A quarterfinals, they pummeled Sioux City East 63-41. North Scott looked almost as impressive, at least in their second half against Ames. The Lancers won that one 56-38, they outscored Ames 37-18 in the second half. We interviewed Lancers senior guard Cortaviaus Seales after the game, and he was well-aware of the skill-set Cedar Falls senior Logan Wolf brings to the table. If North Scott is going to prohibit Cedar Falls from getting back to a consecutive state title game, they’ll need to keep Logan Wolf in check.
Players to Watch
Cedar Falls: Logan Wolf, Josh Ollendieck, Jack Campbell, Jackson Frericks, Chase Courbat
North Scott: Cortaviaus Seales, Ty Anderson, Reece Sommers, Carson Rollinger, Sam Kilburg
Our Pick: Cedar Falls 56, North Scott 48
4A Semifinal: No. 1 Waukee (21-2) vs No. 5 Dubuque, Senior (18-3)
Analysis: It was a knock-down drag-out win for top-seed Waukee over CIML rival Dowling Catholic, and the Warriors find themselves in the semifinals despite being without injured star point guard Noah Hart since mid-season. Dylan Jones is the guy that Dubuque, Senior will need to key in on, the 6’7 big-man has a tendency to dominate the paint. That’s where Dubuque, Senior big-man Noah Carter will come into play, he’s shorter than Jones, but with mush more girth. The two guys played on the same AAU team for a couple years, Iowa Barnstormers; the big-man battle will be fun to watch in this one. Senior has to be feeling as confident as any team in the field after getting back an extremely talented Iowa City West squad, 39-36 in the quarters.
Players to Watch
Waukee: Dylan Jones, Tucker DeVries, Andrew Curran, Payton Sandfort, Michael Vicente
Dubuque Senior: Noah Carter, Nick Timmerman, Cooper Medinger, Landon Hermsen, Sam Link, Daquon Lewis
Our Pick: Dubuque Senior 48, Waukee 44