Playoff Preview: 4A-6

  The favorite: One of the more interesting district pairings in Class 4A as there’s plenty of potential up and down the lineup of teams. Pleasant Valley is the #1 seed in this pairing and will look to prove they are the real deal coming off of a season where they finished atop the Mississippi Standings and ended the season on a 7 game win streak. They are led by Senior Jacob TownsendJacobTownsend6'4" | SFPleasant Valley | 2021StateIA (12.3) but this team plays pretty unselfishly and shares the basketball well. Junior PG Ryan DolphinRyanDolphin5'8" | PGPleasant Valley | 2022StateIA (10.7) brings good shooting and heady PG play. The beauty of this team is that there’s no telling who’s night it will be offensively and makes it tough on defenses to game plan for just one or two players. The Spartans will have their hands full but will have a good chance of continuing this successful season onto Des Moines in the end.  The biggest threat: A team that is pretty similar to Pleasant Valley in that they have good scorers, but it’s always a mystery who is going to lead on that given night is Iowa City Liberty. They are led by 3 players who average 10+ points starting with Senior Kelby TelanderKelbyTelander6'5" | SFIowa City Liberty | 2021StateIA (14.4) and followed by Ira HazeltineIraHazeltine5'11" | SGLiberty | 2021StateIA (11.2) and Ethan O’DonnellEthanO’Donnell6'4" | SFLiberty | 2021StateIA (10.2) who are both Seniors. Which brings another good point of this team is senior-laden leadership which can come in handy in the postseason in what could be these players’ last games. The Lightning, however, are not on a high right now as they are riding a 1-5 stretch, that also included some time off for 3 cancellations/postponement games. They will look to turn things around going into district play.  The dark horse: A team that could easily be the #2, maybe even #1 seed, Davenport North. Playing arguably their best basketball right now as they’ve won 6 straight heading into postseason play, including a win over top Class 3A Assumption and 4A North Scott. Senior and Minot State signee Jayden HoustonJaydenHouston6'3" | SFDavenport North | 2021StateIA is a player who doesn’t get talked about enough in the state of Iowa outside of local outlets. Houston is a guard who has good athleticism, has his perimeter shot going (43% 3pt) and explodes towards the basket past defenders. He is teamed up with Iowa State football signee Quincy WisemanQuincyWiseman6'3" | SFDavernport North | 2021StateIA (11.5) who does a little bit of everything as well to form a good duo that could be tough to stop in postseason play.  Players to watch 2021 Jacob TownsendJacobTownsend6'4" | SFPleasant Valley | 2021StateIA, Pleasant Valley 2022 Ryan DolphinRyanDolphin5'8" | PGPleasant Valley | 2022StateIA, Pleasant Valley 2021 Kelby TelanderKelbyTelander6'5" | SFIowa City Liberty | 2021StateIA, Iowa City Liberty 2021 Ira HazeltineIraHazeltine5'11" | SGLiberty | 2021StateIA, Iowa City Liberty 2021 Ethan O’DonnellEthanO’Donnell6'4" | SFLiberty | 2021StateIA, Iowa City Liberty 2021 Jayden HoustonJaydenHouston6'3" | SFDavenport North | 2021StateIA, Davenport North 2021 Quincy WisemanQuincyWiseman6'3" | SFDavernport North | 2021StateIA, Davenport North 2021 Niiziar Rogers, Davenport Central 2021 Carter FurnessCarterFurness5'11" | SGBettendorf | 2021StateIA, Bettendorf 2022 Amarion DavisAmarionDavis6'1" | SFBurlington | 2022StateIA, Burlington SUBSTATE FINAL PREDICTION Pleasant Valley vs Davenport North In an upset, Davenport North finds themselves in this final game against a team that they beat in late January in a low scoring affair. It is difficult to beat a team more than once over the course of a season, and the Wildcats will have played one more game than the Spartans, but the edge is going to go to Davenport North. The duo of Jayden HoustonJaydenHouston6'3" | SFDavenport North | 2021StateIA and Quincy WisemanQuincyWiseman6'3" | SFDavernport North | 2021StateIA and the hot streak this team is on right now is too much for this district.