Games of the Week: Week 10

The regular season is almost over and with that we look for matchups that will help teams get ready for the postseason. There is quite a bit of parity across all of the classes this upcoming season and so each class is as wide-open as ever. A lot of teams will be using these matchups to either improve their seedings or fine tune themselves for the start of regionals. We highlight the top ten games of the upcoming week in Iowa High School girls basketball below! <hr /> Monday: Aplington-Parkersburg (11-5) vs. Sumner-Fredericksburg (12-6) This is an intriguing matchup for many reasons. Both teams have been playing solid basketball since the turn of the calendar and this could have seeding implications for regionals. A win here for either team might move them into an easier bracket. I would say that a win for A-P is more important than Sumner-Fredericksburg who has already beaten A-P this year. Sumner-Fredericksburg has been led so far this season by Morgan Brandt, a junior who scores 15.8 points a game while A-P has been led by [player_tooltip player_id="129056" first="Ellie" last="Etjen"], another junior who scores 11.1 points a game. Tuesday: North Linn (13-2) vs. Springville (15-2) A fantastic small school matchup where the winner would see a ton of confidence coming out with a win. These two teams have already met once this year with North Linn taking the contest by 11 points. That was Springville’s first loss on the year and their second one came shortly after to Maquoketa Valley. Springville is led by junior [player_tooltip player_id="63613" first="Lauren" last="Wilson"] who scores 16.1 points a game while North Linn is led by [player_tooltip player_id="64796" first="Ellie" last="Ware"] who scores 13.1 points a game. This will be a very solid game that could go either way. Tuesday: Gilbert (12-3) vs. Ballard (15-0) This is Gilbert’s chance to prove whether or not they are going to be true contenders for the state title this year or a team who could possibly win the title. They have struggled quite a bit over the last few games losing to Winterset and North Polk, two teams who they should not lose against. However, Gilbert was missing key players in each of those contests so that the results lightly. For comparision, Ballard beat them by a combined 17 points so those teams are competitive, just not title contenders. This will be a great game for both of these teams to cement themselves in the title hunt. Even with a loss, Gilbert could very well still win the title this year. Tuesday: Westwood (15-3) vs. Kingsley-Pierson (18-0) This is a matchup we’ve already had this season but the second time around we expect it to be much closer. Kingsley-Pierson still has not lost a game this year while Westwood sits at 15-3. Both of these teams are very solid on defense and spread the ball around on the offensive side of the floor. Westwood is led by freshman [player_tooltip player_id="246154" first="Addy" last="Johnson"] with 18.4 points a game while junior [player_tooltip player_id="129080" first="McKenzie" last="Goodwin"] leads Kingsley-Pierson with her 13.6 points a game average. The last meeting was a 17-point spread but expect this one to be closer. Tuesday: Underwood (16-1) vs. Treynor (15-3) This is a match up that likely doesn’t get the fanfare around the state that it should. Both of these teams are solid on the defensive end and rely on underclassmen to lead them. Underwood could use this game to spring themselves with some momentum into the state tournament while Treynor could use it to gain some solid footing after losing 2 of their last 5 games. Underwood is led by junior Kendra Kuck who scores 14.1 points a game and Clara Teigland leads Treynor with 13.6 points a game as a sophomore. Thursday: Cherokee (16-0) vs. Newell-Fonda (16-1) This is a big game for a myriad of reasons on Thursday night. Both of these teams will be able to use this as a game to really determine where they stand. Cherokee has not been beaten yet this year while Newell-Fonda stands at 16-1 with just a loss to Bishop Garrigan. This is going to be a great matchup as both teams play the same style of basketball and have close to the same stats across any metric you look at. They also each have three players who score over 11.8 points a game. Friday: Nodaway Valley (17-0) vs. Lenox (14-2) This will be a tough test for Lenox on Friday night but it is equally as good for them to see a team like Nodaway Valley here in the latter part of the year as they can build some momentum up for the tournament. Nodaway Valley can’t be caught sleeping either however because Lenox has had some really solid wins this year and are a senior led team. If [player_tooltip player_id="165013" first="TJ" last="Stoaks"] and Cassidy Nelson play well then they are going to be a tough team. [player_tooltip player_id="63634" first="Maddax" last="DeVault"] leads Nodaway Valley with 23.2 points a game this year. Friday: Sibley-Ocheyedan (14-3) vs. Central Lyon (15-2) Two years ago if you would have thought Sibley-Ocheyedan would be sitting at 14-3 in early February then you would have been called crazy. That’s because over the past 6 years they have only accumulated 28 wins. Now, they are being sparked by a group of sophomores who are really going to lead them. Central Lyon is no easy task however as they are loaded with talent. Central Lyon is no sloutch at 15-2 and this one should be a very competitive conference game. Friday: Benton (11-5) vs. Vinton-Shellsburg (15-2) Benton and Vinton-Shellsburg is going to really surprise with the amount of talent that is on the floor. Benton plays a tough schedule and has in turn beaten some good teams this year. They are better than their record might indication. Vinton-Shellsburg has been a bit of a surprise so far this season but are proving with every game they play they are legit. This is a game to have circled as it will really tell us about how the momentum might swing. Saturday: Baxter (13-1) vs. Collins-Maxwell (17-0) This is going to be an excellent small school matchup to show us which of these teams can really play. Collins-Maxwell has been solid for awhile now and sitting at 17-0 they have definitely proved their worth. Baxter, on the other hand, has shown us a lot of good things this year winning some tough games with ease. This is going to be a test for each of these teams and it remains yet to be seen how the state will look at these teams in terms of seeding.