Johnston Winter Tip-Off: Team Reviews
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On Saturday the Johnston Dragons hosted the third annual Winter Tip-Off. This event was jam-packed with skilled teams from all over the State of Iowa, while also having a high ranked team come from down from Minnesota to compete. In…
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Continue ReadingOn Saturday the Johnston Dragons hosted the third annual Winter Tip-Off. This event was jam-packed with skilled teams from all over the State of Iowa, while also having a high ranked team come from down from Minnesota to compete. In the article below, I am going to cover every team that was at this event and how they performed throughout their contest.
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Cedar Rapids – Xavier Saints
Going into the day, I wasn’t sure how the Saints would do on the floor against the #1 ranked team in the 4A Class but they did more then hold their own. Throughout the entire contest, then Saints were up. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when things got messy and the Mustangs were able to capitalize. With only having one primary offensive piece who can handle pressure in Libby Fandel Libby Fandel 5'11" | SF Cedar Rapids Xavier | 2025 State IA , it was tough to get the ball up the floor for the Saints within the last five minutes. In the end, Fandel got a some-what clean look from deep but it went off the front of the rim. Moving forward, everyone needs to worry only about what they can control, if they do that, they could end off this season on a good note.
DCG Mustangs
On the flip side of the Saints, the DCG Mustangs didn’t pick up the tempo in this contest until the second half. It wasn’t due to a lack of effort but this one was of those games where they could not get anything to fall, no matter how open they might have been. I was impressed with a lot of the action they run but I am curious how it will work against a team that has the personal to stick with them. If you combined that with a good scouting report, it could lend the Mustangs some trouble down the road. Nevertheless, this team is very legit. They should get back to the state tournament with a chance at the title depending on the road they will be given. There are only 1 or 2 other teams that I would consider at the Mustangs level in this Class but we still have a few months to go before it will get to those matchups so they just need to keep their heads down and keep working.
Des Moines – Valley Tigers
Most teams started off their games slow in this event, including Valley but in the end, they were dominant in their victory. Matching up with another Top 10 ranked team in the 5A Class, the Tigers needed to come back off of their latest loss to Johnston and show what they were made of. Well, they came in and did exactly that. Sioux City East was undermanned and doing all that they could. They ended up playing a zone that originally gave the Tigers some real issues but in the end, the Tigers were too much offensively for East to handle. This is the second ranked team in the 5A Class currently and it’s going to stay that way. Other then the Dragons, I don’t see anyone else hosting the 5A State Title this 2023-2024 season. It’s a long season and situations like this are very fluid but right now, that’s how things are shaping up.
Sioux City East Raiders
When you are missing three out of your top four players, it’s tough to win a game. That was the case in this situation for the Sioux City East Black Raiders on Saturday but they still came in and did a heck of a job competing. They were faced with the task of handling a skilled and experienced Valley Tigers teams. It was a battle in the first half but the Tigers handled their business and locked in on defense in second half. Giving them a substantial lead and ultimate, the game in the end. The odds may have been stacked against the Raiders but they did a good job not giving up. At one point in the 4th quarter they brought it within single-digits but couldn’t climb all the way back. Moving forward, when they have all of their pieces back, this team is going to be a top competitor going into the State Playoffs in 2024. The absence of their stars has allowed others to step up and show what they can really do. Something that will matter in the long run, if they want to bring home some hardware at the end of this season.
Johnston Dragons
The Johnston Dragons came into this game as the #22 ranked girls high school team in the country according to Maxpreps and I’m sure their ranking is going to climb after this convincing win. The Dragons came out in the first half against Hopkins High School on fire. It wasn’t that they were just making a lot of shots, it’s that they were running the floor and scoring at Will in transition. Looking back, I think that this was the biggest mistake for Hopkins because if you take away half of the Dragons fast-break points, this game would have been neck and neck till the final buzzer. That’s not what happened though. After the Dragons took over, they never looked back. After this showing, it really confirms for me that this team shouldn’t lose the rest of this season. They are in a league of their own in Iowa right now and I’m not sure what it’s going to take to slow them down.
Hopkins Royals (MN)
Making the trip from the Minneapolis area was Hopkins High School and they did not disappoint. If you would have put this team against anyone else in this event, they would have won by double digits in convincing fashion. Their roster is made up of a handful of Division-1 players that compete at a very high level. They play physical, aggressive basketball and they do a great job of pressuring their opponents into some bad decisions throughout a contest. I’m sure they are going to have success the rest of the season back in their home state. They look like a well ran program, that understands what it takes to win meaningful games. This one they will just have to scratch up to a learning lesson.
Dowling Catholic Maroons
Dowling Catholic had a ferocious comeback against the reigning 5A State Champions, coming out on top by a final score of 43-36. This was a game that was a tail of two halves. In the first, the Spartans were playing their patented 2-1-2 zone in the half court and giving the Maroons a few issues but at halftime, everything changed. The Maroons started to understand and see the holes of the defense as they moved from side to side. This motion, along with the making of a handful of DEEP three’s, helped lift the Maroons in the very end in this heated battle. I have a feeling that these two teams are going to see each other again down the road this year during the Playoff’s. It would most likely have to be a State matchup but it’s something that could happen.
Pleasant Valley Spartans
To start off this season, the Pleasant Valley Spartans are still finding themselves. They return a handful of pieces from last season but their main players have moved on to the collegiate level. Once everyone starts to play more and understand their role, things will trend upward. I can tell that this groups biggest challenge this season will be scoring against patient and disciplined teams. They do well spacing the floor but it seems like they all want to shoot from deep most of the time. This isn’t a bad thing but it is if you don’t make your shots. Looking forward, they are going to have a lot more success this winter. Their personal, coaching staff and everything in between is too consistent for them to fail.
Ankeny Centennial Jaguars
Every time the Ankeny Centennial Jaguars take the floor, you know what you are going to get. A team that is founded on consistent play around the perimeter off of some pass and cut motion, is very experienced across the board. They play with a bunch of tenacity and take on each opponent like it’s their last contest together. The duo of Mya Crawford Mya Crawford 5'7" | SG Ankeny Centennial | 2025 State IA and Jaeden Pratt Jaeden Pratt 5'10" | CG Ankeny Centennial | 2025 State IA is going to continue throughout the rest of this season and as long as some of their other players step up, they will be a team we see in Des Moines to end the year. They started off this year with a big win on the road and they may have fallen just short in this contest but they did prove that they belong. When you take that into consideration, ANYTHING could happen moving forward.
Davenport North Wildcats
When you hear Davenport North, you hear about two or three specific players but as a whole team, they have been playing really well this season. They started their season playing out of state and losing their first two contests but since, they are undefeated in the state of Iowa and looking to continue that streak moving into winter break. On Saturday, this team was going back and forth with the AC Jaguars until the 4th quarter but that’s when the stars for the Wildcats took over. I’m not sure what the ceiling is for this group but I do know that they are going to win a lot more games the rest of this season. When they get to the Playoffs is when things get much more interesting but like I said earlier in this article, that’s still a few months away. For the time being, they need to lock in on each game in front of them, one at a time and everything else will work itself out.