Games of the Week (Week 2)
TUESDAY (Dec. 5)
Game of the night: 3A No. 9 Winterset at 3A No. 6 Norwalk
Upstart Winterset is off to a nice 2-0 start on the young season, and entered our rankings this week at No. 9 in 3A. They’ll travel to Norwalk to take on another team off to a great start in the Warriors, who are also 2-0 and averaging 88.5 points a game early on. The backcourt matchup here will be what to watch, as both teams are led by a really talented tandem of guards. For Winterset it’s Easton Darling and Casey Kleemeier, for Norwalk it’s Luke Vaske and Bowen Born. Whichever duo has the better night should come out on top here.
Our pick: Norwalk 74, Winterset 66
Others to monitor
3A No. 10 Sergeant Bluff-Luton at 3A No. 6 Sioux City Heelan
4A No. 6 Pleasant Valley at Davenport Assumption
Waterloo West at 4A No. 4 Cedar Falls
West Des Moines Dowling at Des Moines North
4A No. 10 West Des Moines Valley at Johnston
North Scott at Muscatine
Rock Valley at 2A No. 5 Sheldon
Tipton at West Branch
3A No. 7 Spirit Lake at 2A No. 6 Western Christian
Janesville at Don Bosco
THURSDAY (Dec. 7)
Game of the night: West Marshall at 2A N0. 9 Aplington-Parkersburg
Thursday looks like a pretty slow evening on the hardwood, with only Aplington-Parkersburg and Forest City as ranked teams in action. The more intriguing game will be in Parkersburg, where the Falcons host NICL rival West Marshall, who has a talented pair of guards who have shot the lights out early on this season in Peyton Pope (21.5 points, 53.8 3P%) and Beau Coberley (12.0, 80.0 3P%). The trio of Carter Cuvelier (24.0), Grant Truax (12.0) and Alec Oberhauser (9.0) should be way too much for the Trojans to handle, however, as we expect A-P to win this one comfortably.
Our pick: Aplington-Parkersburg 72, West Marshall 56
Others to monitor
2A No. 7 Forest City at Algona
FRIDAY (Dec. 8)
Game of the night: 4A No. 5 Waukee at 4A No. 10 West Des Moines Valley
On an evening chock full of great contests, this one stands out. Waukee, off to a 2-0 start, already holds a win over Des Moines North, and a win over Valley here could cement them as the team to beat in the Des Moines area this year (although Hoover could certainly have something to say about that, as well). The Warriors have five players averaging in double figures, headlined by their “Big Three” of Nathan Johnson (16.0), Noah Hart (14.5) and Dylan Jones (12.5). They’re averaging 72 points a game on the season. They’ll run into an always tough Tigers team that has been really solid on the defensive end and has the size to limit Jones’ effectiveness in the paint with Indiana State signee Blake Brinkmeyer. If the Tigers are able to slow this game down and play it in the mid 50s instead of a quicker pace in the 60s, they’ll have a chance to win here. Otherwise, a quicker pace should favor Waukee.
Our pick: Waukee 65, West Des Moines Valley 59
Others to monitor
Camanche at 2A No. 2 Cascade
Creston at Atlantic
4A No. 7 Des Moines Hoover at Des Moines North
4A No. 1 Iowa City West at 4A No. 8 Dubuque Hempstead
East Sac County at Newell-Fonda
Dallas Center-Grimes at Newton
Davenport Assumption at North Scott
4A No. 2 Sioux City East at Sioux City West
4A No. 3 Dubuque Senior at 3A No. 8 Dubuque Wahlert
4A No. 9 Linn-Mar at 3A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier
1A N0. 10 George-Little Rock at 2A No. 4 West Lyon
Meskwaki Settlement at Colo-NESCO
SATURDAY (Dec. 9)
Game of the night: 1A No. 3 Council Bluffs, St. Albert at 3A No. 2 Glenwood
There are definitely some other really high-quality games taking place on Saturday, but none are bigger than this one. Two top-3 teams, possibly the two best teams in the Hawkeye Ten, meeting in a critical early game in the league. St. Albert is coming off a strong win over 2A No. 10 Kuemper Catholic on Monday night and is led by an experienced trio of Tyler Blaha, Jake Carley and Matt Fagan. They’ll have their hands full with the high scoring group from Glenwood, who can do damage in all sorts of ways. Christian Stanislav (17.5), Nate Mohr (12.0) and Andrew Blum (12.0) help pace a team averaging 72 points a game, and they can provide more than they already have. Look for the Rams to make a statement in the league, and around the state, with a win here.
Our pick: Glenwood 77, Council Bluffs, St. Albert 67
Others to monitor
3A No. 3 Mount Pleasant at 4A No. 8 Dubuque Hempstead
1A No. 1 Grand View Christian at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura
Boone at 3A No. 6 Norwalk