Upcoming Games With Playoff Implications

<!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Iowa City-West @ Linn-Mar</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Friday night to start off the weekend the (#9) Iowa City-West Trojans will travel to Cedar Rapids to face off VS the (#10) Linn-Marr Lions in a very important contest that could have playoff implications later down the road for both teams. The Trojans enter this one after winning 4 out of their last 5 games and doing so in a number of ways while the Lions have won 3 of their last 5, including a big win at home VS #1 Waterloo West to start their new year. This game is going to be close and may end in a way most wouldn't expect. The Lions are very good at home. They play well through their leading scorers Zoe Kennedy and [player_tooltip player_id='63014' first='Taylor' last='Brunson']. Kennedy is currently averaging just over 14 PPG and 2.4 APG. Brunson, being more of an inside presence, is averaging 12.6 PPG and 6 RPG. When we speak about West's team you have to mention the dominance of [player_tooltip player_id='63070' first='Meena' last='Tate']. Tate is a Dartmouth women's basketball commit and real play-maker when she is on the floor. Thus far this season she is putting up 14.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG while leading her team to an overall 11-3 record. Comparatively both of these teams on paper may not matchup well but I think that the Lions are going to give the Trojans all they can handle tomorrow evening, eventually winning the contest overall. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Johnston @ Dowling Catholic</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another big game that may have some playoff implications occurring this weekend is the (#1) Johnston Dragons going to play (#6) Dowling Catholic on Friday evening. Johnston comes into this one hoping to keep their undefeated season intact and escape out on top VS the Maroons. The Dragons have been flawless up until this point this year with their closest contest being a 3 point victory against a top ranked Valley high school a few weeks ago. On the home teams side you have a program in the Maroons that is going to be a problem once the playoffs begin. They play a quick and offensive style of basketball behind their star PG, [player_tooltip player_id='311396' first='Ava' last='Zediker'], that isn't used by many other teams, ending up in successful results a majority of the time. In their first game against each other this year the Dragons came out on top by 16 points at home. I think for this game to be different for DC you must have more production from others teammates along with Zediker. The Dragons roster, which I have touched on too many times at this point, is stacked. They have 8-10 elite players that can all do great things on the floor. They prepare well for their opponent and have a group that has experience winning big games in big moments. I think in the end of this game that the Dragons will just have to many weapons to overcome. It should be a close game in the first half but I am going to anticipate that the scores grow in difference substantially in the second.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Ankeny @ Southeast Polk</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(#8) Southeast Polk has an overall record of 8-4 while just coming off of a recent losing streak, will they have what it takes to matchup against [player_tooltip player_id='342205' first='Jayla' last='Williams'] and (#13) Ankeny high school on Friday? Well we are going to find out. The SE Polk Rams have had a good season thus far with possessing a roster that is balanced and complete as it comes to their individual players. Players like leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='63016' first='Stella' last='Charleston'] who is averaging 11.6 PPG, or star sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='311394' first='Alyssa' last='Bartlett'] who is leading the team in rebounds and assists this year. When you combined these two talents with some other pieces this roster has along with a good coaching staff/system then you get a team who can win some meaningful games, this being one of those. For the Ankeny Hawks you are speaking about a program that is on the up and up since the start of their season. To begin the year this group was somewhat shake-y against bigger and stronger teams but that has seemed to change in these past few weeks. Coming off of a big win at home VS #1 Dallas Center-Grimes on Tuesday night they will aim to carry that momentum into this one and keep it rolling. I'm not sure who is going to come out as the winner when the final buzzer goes off tomorrow but I will say I think this game is going to be a low scoring affair with a lot of defense. Both of these programs are in the middle of a long stretch of games and will start to drag VS a similar opponent as this game goes on. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Davenport North @ Pleasant Valley</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When you area talking about pure matchup potential within games these next few days I think that this one could be the best of the weekend. The (#5) Davenport North Wildcats will journey to (#2) Pleasant Valley high school on Friday night in a big matchup for both teams. Up until this point in the season this game is one of the toughest for each squad and should show a lot about each group to themselves and to anyone else watching. North is led by highly recruited sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='311381' first='Divine' last='Bourrage'] and [player_tooltip player_id='311365' first='Journey' last='Houston'], both who are high D1 prospects getting a lot of notice this season. Bourrage is currently averaging 14.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 3.4 APG while Houston is scoring just over 18 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 2.7 APG. The Wildcats are currently sitting at 15-1 and dominating their competition on a regular basis but this battle is going to be different as the Spartans will be able to match the fire-power of North and make this one a game to see. The Pleasant Valley Spartans are led by senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='545645' first='Halle' last='Vice'] and sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='311385' first='Reagan' last='Pagniano']. Vice, a University of Marquette women's basketball commit, is the real deal for the Spartans, averaging 21.3 PPG on 58% shooting along with dishing out 2.5 APG. Pagniano, a great player in her own regard, has been lighting it up from behind the arc thus far this season. She is averaging 11.9 PPG on 40% shooting from three and 4 APG, showing that she can be a scorer and passer at the next level. As it goes for this game I'm not sure how it is going to end. I would like to say it's going to be a toss up and therefore I would give the win to the home team but in this case I think that Divine and Journey will be too much for Vice to contain on defense by herself. The Wildcats play with this sort of swagger in the way in which they do things you could say and I think that will eventually be the deciding factor in this one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->