Playoff Week 1 Recap: 1A-2A Games to Watch

Girls basketball playoffs are starting to heat up big time in this cold and icy February.  As we all look and hope for warmer weather to break this arctic cold. Some Iowa girls are lighting up the nets and arent quite ready to let their basketball season’s come to an end. I will break down a few games that I feel will be tough battles and highlight impact players that hopefully will play big and help keep the dream of winning a state championship alive. First Up in 1A is Akron-Westfield 16-6 vs. Kingsley-Pierson 13-9. The Panthers have a tough draw and will face Akron on their homecourt. The advantages of that alone is huge. Senior Natalie Nielsen Looks to stay big and win the matchup against another great senior [player_tooltip player_id="129080" first="McKenzie" last="Goodwin"]. Both averaged double-doubles this season. The Panthers need a big showing from their Junior’s MaKenna Bowman, Avery Shroeder, and Allison Reinking will have to be a big spark for Akron to advance. The Westerners have a fantastic freshman in [player_tooltip player_id="342167" first="Makenzie" last="Hughes"] who had a 200/pt almost 100 rebound campaign for Akron and looks to have a strong high school career in 1A if she keeps it up. <img class="size-medium wp-image-277531 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/Makenzie-Hughes.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> The next Matchup in 1A I see being a close fun game and possible upset is in Region 4 is Central Elkader 18-4 vs. Turkey Valley 16-6. Central lives and dies by the three-pointer.  Junior [player_tooltip player_id="160571" first="Delaney" last="Scherf"] at 15 points per game is their main scorer.  With Haley Frieden at 12 per game.  Both teams turn the ball over pretty even. Last game Turkey was very impressive to me. Riding a 5 game win streak the Trojans need to keep Central off the boards. If they can get their pressure defense working Turkey seniors [player_tooltip player_id="129084" first="Kara" last="Reicks"] and Jalyssa Blazek will have to have strong games to advance. Junior Jacqlyn Schmitt who averages 16 points per game is the key to the trojan's offense. Sophomore Grace Kuehl will have to contribute and play big for the upset to occur. My last Upset I feel in the two classes comes in 2A. In region 1 Central Lyon at 19-2, the favorite in the region will have to take on the Western Christian 9-13. The Wolfpack is riding a 3 game win streak while the Lions are 9-1 in their last ten games. Central shares the ball really well and has a balanced attack. Both teams are pretty even when it comes to rebounding. Western Christian’s biggest key to the game will be their high-pressure defense that creates ten more turnovers per game. If they can convert those they look to give Central a tough first game after their buy in the first round. The wolfpack likes to interrupt the offense and put you on the line. Central is lead by junior [player_tooltip player_id="160568" first="Addison" last="Klosterbuer"] at 13 points per game and super sophomore Desta Hoogendoorn at 11 points per game. They will need a big effort from Senior Reagan Van Wyhe to hold off the second-round upset. Western Christian really has a great chance if they can keep Central off the three-point line. But will have to face a tough defense that protects the rim well. Senior Teagan Dejager needs to play well to help the wolfpack past the second round. Senior Lydia Van Kley leads Western in scoring at 11 points per game and junior Stella Winterfeld has to contribute for the magic to happen. &nbsp;