Playoff Preview: 3A-3
Will Henricksen The favorite: Marion is looking for their third consecutive state tournament trip, and earned the top seed in this substate. The Indians got off to a 15-1 start and grabbed the #1 ranking in 3A briefly before…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWill Henricksen
The favorite: Marion is looking for their third consecutive state tournament trip, and earned the top seed in this substate. The Indians got off to a 15-1 start and grabbed the #1 ranking in 3A briefly before dropping three straight games (albeit to very strong teams) late in the season. They have a dynamic backcourt with Will Henricksen (15.6), Jaffer Murphy (9.7) and Brayson Laube (8.1), and four players who can light it up from 3 (those three plus Gage Franck, 10.7). The Indians like to play fast, taking advantage of their guard play, and if they are able to dictate the tempo, they are the best team in the substate. They beat Center Point-Urbana, a possible substate final opponent, 73-59 early this season, going 14-32 from behind the arc.
The biggest threat: Center Point-Urbana has been sensational on the defensive end of the floor this year, allowing just 40.6 points a game, which is the best number in 3A. The Stormin’ Pointers have gone 14-4 since starting the season 0-2, and have only allowed three teams to score more than 50 points since then. Playmaking forward Kole Tupa (14.1) excels with the ball in his hands, creating for others or attacking the rim, and this is a group that isn’t very reliant on the 3, with no single player attempting more than 52 this season. They’ll need to clean up the decision making (246 turnovers, 238 assists) and try to slow a substate final down against Marion, as they played into the Indians’ hands in the earlier meeting. But any team that can defend like CPU has this season is going to have a chance to make a deep run.
The dark horse: The final team to watch in this strong substate is Decorah. The Vikings have used a potent offensive attack that ranks 5th in 3A (67.3 points a game) to cruise to a 16-4 record this season. The question is, were they taking advantage of a Northeast Iowa Conference that is really down this year? Or are they really that explosive? Matthew Franzen (13.3) leads a trio of double figure scorers and he and Charles Robinson (11.4) each shot above 41% from behind the arc this season. Logan Halverson (11.9) is a big body in the paint who scores efficiently, and four other players average between 5.4 and 8.2 points a game, giving them plenty of depth and versatility on both ends of the floor. We’ll get a chance to see whether or not this group is for real.
Players to watch
2020 Will Henricksen, Marion
2020 Jaffer Murphy, Marion
2021 Gage Franck, Marion
2023 Brayson Laube, Marion
2020 Kole Tupa, Center Point-Urbana
2020 Matthew Franzen, Decorah
2020 Logan Halverson, Decorah
2021 Charles Robinson, Decorah
2022 Hogan Hansen, Waverly-Shell Rock
2021 Caleb Burks, Waverly-Shell Rock
2020 Bradley Andrews, Charles City
2021 CJ Rickels, Vinton-Shellsburg
2020 Sam Griffith, Vinton-Shellsburg
2020 Logan Schmitt, Independence