Region Preview: Class 1A, Region 3

Last Thursday afternoon, the IGHSAU announced the region brackets for the upcoming race to the Well. The 1A portion of the tournament gets underway on February 11th, in just three short days. Whether you were 18-0 or 0-18 this season, it does not matter. Each team is now 0-0 and are looking to end their season with a win. Below you can view the best first round match-up, the best potential match-up, our pick to win the region, a sleeper to win the region, an “X-Factor” player, and players to watch. Take a look at the Region 1 bracket here: <a href="https://ia.varsitybound.com/sports/girlsbasketball/2020-21/brackets/h202101260704497100d148509617247">Class 1A, Region 3</a> <hr /> <strong>Best First Round Match-up: Central Elkader vs. West Central</strong> This is going to be a fun match-up solely on the basis of how similar these two teams are to each other. Central Elkader is scoring 42.7 points a game and allowing 42.3 points a game while West Central is scoring 40.6 points and allowing 39.5 points a game. Both teams are similar with the way that their schedules have shook out this year all season long. They are a combined 16-3 against teams under .500 while a combined 2-18 against teams over .500. This shows that they’ve taken care of business against the lesser teams but have struggled against the better ones. These two teams have met twice this year with both games turning into blowouts. Central Elkader won the first game this year by 32 points but then West Central got revenge by 21 in early January. This game might come down to who is healthier at the tip. <strong>Best Potential Match-up: Turkey Valley vs. Saint Ansgar</strong> I’ve been a big proponent of both of these teams all year long and here they are together in the same region. Turkey Valley has one of the toughest schedules in all of 1A and has the toughest of any team with over a .500 record. They have lost to North Fayette Valley (18-1) twice, Osage (18-1), a solid Decorah team, and MFL-Mar Mac. This is a tough schedule with a lot of their opponents being in a higher class than them. They have an average margin of 16.0 points a game and always are ready to play defense. This isn’t your typical 14-5 team and are deserving of their two seed. Saint Ansgar is the favorite to win the bracket but just have not had a very good schedule to set them up for success which is very I think a match-up between these two teams would be so intriguing. Out of their 19 games they have only played six teams with a winning record and have lost one of those games (it was a loss to a very good Osage team by 1 point). They do have some really good wins though this season beating Osage in one of those games. If we do see this match-up I think it could be a lot closer than a lot of people might think. <strong>Our Pick to Win Region 3: Saint Ansgar</strong> This is not a totally confident pick but it is the pick I am going with mainly because they have been so consistent all year long and have been dominating the competition as of late. Like stated above, they only have one loss on the year but that was to one of the top teams in 2A, whom they also beat this year. Another reason I am picking Saint Ansgar is because they have experience. They made the trip to Wells Fargo last season and gained some valuable experience on their run. They are also senior-laden and hungry to prove that they are indeed legitimate. The only knock I have for Saint Ansgar is that their opponents are overall 85-143 which gives them in the 3rd easiest schedule in the entire class. [player_tooltip player_id="131250" first="Hali" last="Anderson"], [player_tooltip player_id="164963" first="Gracie" last="Urbatsch"], and [player_tooltip player_id="131245" first="Brooklyn" last="Hackbart"] are all seniors who know how to win games and they’ll continue to win games throughout this region right to Wells Fargo. <strong>Our Sleeper Pick to Win Region 2: Riceville</strong> Because I have already mentioned Turkey Valley above as a team that could win it, not to mention that they are the #2 seed in the bracket, I am going with Riceville as my sleeper pick to win. Now, they have one really bad result on the season which was a 29 point loss to Turkey Valley but other than that they have been pretty solid all around. They lost to one of the top teams in 1A, Collins-Maxwell, by 11 and then a tough Waukon team by two points. Other than those three losses they have taken care of business. They have two really solid wins over Clarksville and have rarely had any other trouble throughout the season. They only fear I have is that the competition has not prepared them for the tournament as they have the 22nd easiest schedule in the class. <strong>X-Factor Player: [player_tooltip player_id="164948" first="Ali" last="Hoffert"] - Turkey Valley - 2021 - 5’9 SF</strong> Hoffert is a dominating player on a very good Turkey Valley team. She is their only double-digit scorer as she averages 18.6 points a game but she also leads the team in rebounds pulling in 8.5 a contest. Her shooting percentages are also very solid which makes her very efficient in the half court. She’s a dynamic player capable of changing the game very quickly. If Turkey Valley does make it to the Well, it will be because of the play of Hoffert. <strong>Players to Watch</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="131250" first="Hali" last="Anderson"], 2021, Saint Ansgar [player_tooltip player_id="164963" first="Gracie" last="Urbatsch"], 2021, Saint Ansgar [player_tooltip player_id="129078" first="Reagan" last="Mudderman"], 2022, Kee O’Malley Fair, 2022, Riceville [player_tooltip player_id="63630" first="Sara" last="Reid"], 2022, Central City Ella Aulwes, 2022, Edgewood-Colesburg [player_tooltip player_id="129032" first="Lauren" last="Donlea"], 2022, East Buchanan [player_tooltip player_id="160550" first="Madison" last="Hillman"], 2023, Saint Ansgar [player_tooltip player_id="160571" first="Delaney" last="Scherf"], 2023, Central Elkader