Games of the Week: Week 2

We finally have a full week of games as we now move onto Week 2 of the high school season. Below we will be looking at 10 games this week that we deem as "games of the week". <hr /> <strong>Monday: Indianola vs. North Polk</strong> After falling in their first game of the year Indianola is looking forward to a bounce back game against North Polk. They lost to Des Moines Christian in the first game of the year but have the talent to do damage. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id="63599" first="Lauren" last="Blake"] and [player_tooltip player_id="164940" first="Kendall" last="Clatt"] are leaders of the team and I don’t think that they will let the loss hurt them too much. North Polk is a very new look team this year as they graduated some key players and lost a player to transfer. They lost their first game but will look to rebound tonight and take down Indianola. If Indianola is for real this year they should cruise to a win. <strong>Monday: Creston vs. Winterset</strong> Creston is coming off of a tough lose to state title contender Des Moines Christian while Winterset has not played a game yet this year. Creston was without [player_tooltip player_id="13908" first="Kelsey" last="Fields"] for their first game so it’ll be a big help if she is back and able to play tonight. [player_tooltip player_id="131143" first="Sam" last="Dunphy"] had a great game in her absence but to be competitive Creston will need to have Fields on the floor. Winterset is looking forward to a good season as they only lost one player from a year ago. They went 12-9 and are looking to win this one to springboard into a big season. It will be an uphill battle but if they can score against the zone they can win the game. <strong>Tuesday: Gilbert vs. Roland-Story</strong> This is a good measuring stick game for both teams. Roland-Story comes into the game 0-1 after a loss to Ballard last week. They will look to right that ship and play well against Gilbert, a team that is coming into the game 1-0. Roland-Story has the ability to score points but will they be able to stop the potent offense of Gilbert is going to be the key. Gilbert easily beat Humboldt in their first game of the year as [player_tooltip player_id="128996" first="Ava" last="Hawthorne"] scored 19 points in her first game after committing to Drake. Gilbert should contend for a state title this year and a big win on Tuesday could really show the state they mean business. <strong>Tuesday: Cenral DeWitt vs. Solon</strong> This is going to be a great measuring stick for both teams as Solon looks very competitive this year and Central DeWitt has two of the top juniors in the state. Solon took down Center Point-Urbana in their first game of the season but they were missing their top player. Callie Levin looks to be the real deal so I think that Solon will really make some noise this year. A win tonight would be a statement. Cental DeWitt is led by [player_tooltip player_id="128997" first="Taylor" last="Veach"] and [player_tooltip player_id="128999" first="Allie" last="Meadows"] and they are looking to get to the Well for the first time in their career. This is going to be a big game for them to see just how good they are this year. <strong>Tuesday: ADM vs. Dallas Center-Grimes</strong> ADM has looked really good this year so far as they sit at 2-0 with big wins over Norwalk and Van Meter. After losing a ton of talent their youth has really stepped up and is giving them quality minutes and scoring. [player_tooltip player_id="63069" first="Nicole" last="Storck"] leads the team as she averages 17.5 points a game and junior Claire Greenslade adds in 15 points a game. This will be a tough test for them as Dallas Center-Grimes is a quality opponent. DCG sits at 1-1 but their lone loss was to Ballard in the opening game of the year. [player_tooltip player_id="164959" first="Julia" last="Reis"] leads the team scoring 14.5 points a game and she’ll have to come up big tonight if they look to win. Thursday: MFL-Mar-Mac vs. Waukon Both of these teams have not played a game yet this year but they both have big expectations. MFL-Mar-Mac will be headlined by junior [player_tooltip player_id="129000" first="Riley" last="Moreland"] this year who will have a big part in how well they play and perform. With a couple of key graduations she will be heavily counted on. They do have a game on Tuesday prior to this game. Waukon will open their season with this one and be led by senior [player_tooltip player_id="131141" first="Annika" last="Headington"] and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="160556" first="Maggie" last="Criswell"]. After a solid season last year Waukon is looking to get back to the Well and compete with some of the top teams in the state. <strong>Friday: Mason City vs. Urbandale</strong> Mason City fell in their first game of the year to Southeast Polk, 74-47. There were a few bright spots for them though as junior [player_tooltip player_id="107012" first="Jada" last="Williams"] scored 16 points and freshman Reggi Spotts added in nine points. Mason City has some talent even with a D1 commit graduating last season. They will look to get a win on the board on Friday against Urbandale. For Urbandale it is a much different team from a year ago. Both of Gyamfi sister’s are now gone and for Urbandale that is a huge hit. They will look to compete well with Mason City but it could be a long year for them. I am interested to see what happens in this game. <strong>Friday: Unity Christian vs. Cherokee</strong> This is going to be one of the top games of the week as both teams are 2-0 and state title contenders. Both teams pair a potent offense with a very good defense. Unity Christian is averaging 60.5 points a game while allowing 39 points a game. Cherokee is averaging 78.5 points a game while averaging 40 points a game. Unity Christian’s schedule has been tougher thus far taking on the defending 3A state champions and a state qualifier but you can throw the numbers out the window for this one. It should be a great game with both teams having a potential to win a close one. <strong>Friday: MVAOCOU vs. West Monona</strong> MVAOCOU sits at 2-0 on the young season and look to be a real threat this year as the trio of junior [player_tooltip player_id="163352" first="Ashlyn" last="Blake"], junior Anna Heck, and sophomore Ashley Rosener have played really well together so far. They have had wins over Boyer Valley and Missouri Valley thus far this year and will be looking to knock off West Monona for the first time in eight games. When the series started in 2008 between the two teams MVAOCOU won the first eight but now West Monona has won eight in a row. This will be the second game of the year for West Monona who have high hopes coming into the year. <strong>Saturday: Panorama vs. IKM-Manning</strong> Both teams have not played a game yet this year but when this game is played on Saturday they will each have played two games. Panorama is coming into the year with high hopes as they have a ton of talent. [player_tooltip player_id="129030" first="Payton" last="Beckman"] is set up for a big junior campaign and [player_tooltip player_id="163340" first="Angel" last="Poldberg"] is a very solid forward for Panorama. For IKM-Manning [player_tooltip player_id="131213" first="Alexa" last="Ahrenholtz"] is going to be the player to stop. She is a stat sheet stuffer and will be all over the floor for IKM-Manning. Last year this was a 69-65 game in regionals and we expect something similar in this Saturday afternoon contest.