Iowa’s 3 Up, 3 Down (Week 8)
There are certainly plenty of ebbs and flows throughout the high school season, we’ll try our best to track those here. Teams that land in the DOWN portion of an article, could later find itself in the UP part, and vice-versa. Such is the grind of a full high school season. Below, you’ll find this week’s ebb and flow.
UP
Hoover: Every year the Huskies find themselves on the right side of this list at some point of the season. And they were an easy choice to headline the hot teams after they strung together 10 straight wins in an ultra-tough CIML. Maybe it was their lone loss to crosstown rival Des Moines North that spurred Hoover’s win-streak, it was exactly then when the streak began. Last week, the Huskies nabbed their ninth and tenth straight wins with a 20-point win over Urbandale, then a 40-point win over Des Moines Lincoln.
Pleasant Valley: Carter Duwa, Brian Dayman and Hunter Snyder make up one of the more unsung trios in the state, but it seems they’re on the verge of making their names known throughout Iowa. The three of them are all scoring between 12.6 and 14.1 points per game, and have their Spartans riding the wave of a 10-game win streak. Most recently, they pounded North Scott 52-29; the same North Scott team that handed them their only loss of the season back in early December. There’s some tough opponents; Linn-Mar, Muscatine and Davenport North in the Spartans substate. But PV will be the favorites to make it out and head once again to Wells Fargo Arena.
Van Meter: It’s now 16 wins and counting for Van Meter, and the Bulldogs are poised for what could be a very special run over the next month-and-a-half. The Bulldogs — led by Ryan Schmitt’s 14.9 points per game — are the top-ranked team in 2A, and continued their undefeated season last week with a 62-point win over West Central and a 20-point win over Panorama. The next three games are against teams with losing records, and then it’s a Feb. 6th tilt against 16-2 Des Moines Christian. We fully expect the Bulldogs to finish the regular season, and quite possibly the entire season, undefeated.
DOWN
Southeast Polk: The Rams have fallen on some tough times of late, losers of six straight. Not coincidentally, the Rams’ schedule has gotten significantly tougher during that stretch. They’ll try and get back to their winning ways tonight against Des Moines Lincoln.
Iowa City Liberty: The new kids on the block were enjoying some relative success through the first half of the season, but a 3-3 start has given way to their current 5-12 mark, including six straight Ls.
Columbus Junction: The Wildcats have yet to win a game this season, it’s now 17 losses and counting for the SEISC members. Coming up this week is Mediapolis and Lone Tree, two teams Columbus Junction was competitive with earlier in the season.