Tournament Preview: Class 5A, Region 3

<span style="font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 16px">With the 5A tournament set to get underway on Wednesday, February 13th, we are going to be breaking down each region with in depth analysis. We will cover who you should watch for, the teams that could come out of nowhere, and of course, the bracket buster candidate. We will also list five players from each class that you need to keep an eye on throughout the bracket as they can really change the game in a hurry. The complete Region 3 bracket is posted below.</span> <hr /> <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-size: 14pt"><strong>The</strong></span></span><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-size: 14pt"> Teams</span></span> </strong>Johnston (19-2) Ames (10-10) Indianola (9-10) Sioux City West (9-13) Fort Dodge (2-19) <span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size: 14pt"><strong>The</strong> <strong>Favorite</strong></span> <strong>Johnston</strong> Johnston has proven them time and time again this year that they are a really good team. They have played Ames twice and beat them by 23 the first time and a little close bout the second time around. This is a team that knows how to score the ball. They are shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and score 65.4 points a game. They have 336 assists on the year which is 107 more than the next highest team. Northern Iowa commit <strong>Maya McDermott</strong> leads the team with 18.8 points a game. <span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size: 14pt"><strong>The Sleeper</strong></span> <strong>Ames</strong> Ames is a solid team with a lot of young talent, I am just not sure they can over overcome Johnston. They are playing really well right now, but while they do shoot the ball well I don't think their defense will be able to slow Johnston down. If Ames gets hot from the outside I could see them competing with Johnston but I don't think they can stop them. <strong>Caroline Waite</strong>, a sophomore, leads the team in scoring at 19.9 points a game. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-size: 14pt"><strong>The Outside Shot</strong></span></span><strong> </strong><strong>Indianola</strong> Indianola is scoring just 49.2 points per game this season but they are outscoring their opponents on the year, even with having a 9-10 record. They shoot it pretty well from behind the arc and have made the second most in the region from beyond the arc. A team that can throw in an upset but I'm not sure they have the overall talent to get past Johnston and Ames. Both sophomore <strong>Kendall Clatt</strong> and freshman <strong>Lauren Blake</strong> average 11.3 points a game. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-size: 14pt"><strong>Players to Watch</strong></span></span> <strong>2019</strong> Regan Nesheim (Johnston) Bricelyn Comstock (Sioux City West) Katelyn Courtney (Ames) Jadyn Forbes (Indianola) Macy Thompson (Johnston) <strong style="font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 16px">2020</strong> Maya McDermott (Johnston) Kendall Nead (Johnston) Maddie Mock (Johnston) Teagan Lipsey (Ames) Hope Wagner (Sioux City West) <strong>2021</strong> Caroline Waite (Ames) Ashley Iiams (Ames) Kendall Clatt (Indianola) Nia Moore (Sioux City West) Brooke Spraggins (Ames) <strong>2022</strong> Lauren Blake (Indianola) Mara Bishop (Indianola) Tory Bennett (Fort Dodge) Anna Gossling (Johnston) Jalen Adams (Fort Dodge)