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/h20210129053307933f7d9e7339b784f">Class 1A, Region 4</a>
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<strong>Best First Round Match-up: Sidney vs. St. Albert</strong>
This is going to be a very interesting first round match-up mainly due to the strength of St. Albert despite being 7-12 on the year. Sidney sits at 9-8 on the season but is 2-5 against teams over .500 while they are a perfect 6-0 against teams under .500 this year. St. Albert has played a very tough schedule with a lot of 3A and 4A schools making their record seem worse than it actually should be. They are 0-11 against teams over .500 but have played some of the top teams in the state. Last year they were overlooked with the same type of numbers but this year they should not be. Sidney is a solid team so this one should be a good one.
<strong>Best Potential Match-up: Fremont-Mills vs. Logan-Magnolia</strong>
Fremont-Mills and Logan-Magnolia would be an excellent match-up with how similar the two teams are. They both have 10 wins and they are within two points of each other scoring wise a game. They are also an identical 3-7 against teams with winning record. They will match-up pretty well with each other if it came to it. The only different on the surface you can find is that Fremont-Mills has played a tougher schedule than Logan-Magnolia as their opponents are over .500 combined.
<strong>Our Pick to Win Region 4: Kingsley-Pierson</strong>
Kinglsley-Pierson has to be the favorite to win this region just based on the fact that they have performed well all season long. They did struggle against OABCIg which led to a loss but other than that game they have been very good. They have a trio of players that lead them every game and with two seniors in their top three scorers. Kingsley-Pierson could be a group that gets upset but I would not pick against them.
<strong>Our Sleeper Pick to Win Region 4: St. Albert</strong>
St. Albert shocked a lot of people last year when they made it through and won their region but if you take a look at their schedule it makes sense. They play one of the toughest schedules in not only 1A but the state and it prepares them very well for the state tournament. They have a tough draw so it wouldn’t surprise me at all for them to pull a few "upsets" and make it back to state. They are a quality team that you cannot gauge by looking at their record.
<strong>X-Factor Player: [player_tooltip player_id="164992" first="Allie" last="Petry"] - St. Albert - 2021 - 5’8 PF</strong>
If St. Albert is going to make it through to the state tournament they are going to have to get great play from Petry throughout the region. She is their leading scorer at 17.9 points a game and shoots over 50% from the floor. She is going to have to play some of the best basketball of her career to help boost St. Albert to a place at Wells Fargo in a few short weeks.
<strong>Players to Watch</strong>
[player_tooltip player_id="165061" first="Brooklyn" last="Beery"], 2021, Kingsley-Pierson
[player_tooltip player_id="129080" first="McKenzie" last="Goodwin"], 2022, Kingsley-Pierson
[player_tooltip player_id="131211" first="Delaney" last="Iseminger"], 2021, Kingsley-Pierson
[player_tooltip player_id="164968" first="Emilie" last="Thompson"], 2021, Logan-Magnolia
Izzy Weldon, 2024, Fremont Mills
[player_tooltip player_id="127634" first="Emily" last="Williams"], 2023, East Mills
Avery Dowling, 2023, Sidney
Chay Ward, 2022, Sidney
[player_tooltip player_id="164986" first="Katelyn" last="Neilsen"], 2021, Boyer Valley
Leah Cooper, 2022, Boyer Valley
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