Five 1A Teams Who Will Be Most Improved

As we near the start of the Iowa High School season, we want to take a look at some of the teams who we believe will be the most improved this year. Here are five 1A teams who I think will show the most improvement in terms of gained wins. I only looked at the teams who had a winning percentage of under .500, and excluded the .500 teams from a year ago. <hr /> <h5 style="text-align: center;">Martensdale-St Marys (9-14 last year)</h5> Last season Martensdale-St Marys finished the year 9-14 but performed just a bit better than their record shows. They scored 47.3 points a game last season and allowed 50.2 points per game. They were only outscored by 2.9 points a game last year and that is shown by them playing nine games that were determined by 10 points or less. In those games Martensdale-St Marys was just 3-6 on the season. The silver lining for them is the fact that they only had three upperclassmen on the roster, none of which were seniors. This year they should show a marked improvement as they are a much more veteran squad. Sophomore-to be [player_tooltip player_id="314132" first="Brynnly" last="German"] scored 10.1 points a game last year and should become a much more complete player. Incoming Norwalk transfer [player_tooltip player_id="246128" first="Sophia" last="Shannon"] will also likely provide a scoring punch that will help them as well. Senior-to be [player_tooltip player_id="163351" first="Anna" last="Parrott"] was a big force last year by scoring 8.0 points and grabbing 7.6 rebounds a game. Look for Martensdale-St Marys to likely flip their record for this upcoming year. <h5 style="text-align: center;">WACO (8-13 last year)</h5> Much like Martensdale-St Marys, WACO played a ton of really close games last year. Their first five games were decided by 15 points or less and nine of their losses were by single digits on the season. While nine of their 13 losses were by single digits, they did have three blowout losses, all to Burlington Notre Dame. The other loss was by just 12 points. So while they lost 13 games WACO was very competitive in 18 of their 21 games. Another thing to hang their hat on is the fact that their opponents were a combined 138-125 on the year showing that they did play some really good talent. WACO does lose some solid talent with two of their top five starters graduating. Current senior [player_tooltip player_id="163356" first="Tesla" last="Malloy"] scored 5.7 points a game last year as did junior Grace Coble. Those two are going to have to step up this year and increase their scoring close to double digits if they want to get to double digit wins. WACO returns their leading scorer from a year ago as junior-to be Ellah Kissell returns after averaging 14.3 points a game last year. I think WACO has the potential to win 13-14 games this upcoming year. <h5 style="text-align: center;">Tripoli (3-18 last year)</h5> Tripoli did not have a great year last season and were very up-and-down. However, I think a lot of that was due to the rotations that they were playing. Just four players played in every game and a few starters missed a few starts. They had three seniors on the team but only one of those played in more than five games last season. Those three seniors only combined for 5.3 points per game last year so a lot of experience comes back for this year. Tripoli returns their three leading scorers as Kylee Bartz and Marina Biermann both return as seniors. Bartz scored 10.2 points per game while Biermann scored 5.0 points a game last year. Junior Mallory Mueller also will be returning and she scored 10.0 points a game last year. Look for Tripoli to push for a double-digit win season this year. <h5 style="text-align: center;">New London (3-16 last year)</h5> New London struggled at times last year but have a lot of returning players who will make an impact. They had one senior last year who scored 14.8 points per game but they do not lose anyone else for this year. New London played a very tough schedule last year as their opponents went 129-106 on the season. They did lose quite a few games by double-digits but I think they are going to be much more competitive for this upcoming season. Senior-to be Ashlyn McSorley is going to have a huge year this season as she averaged 9.7 points a game last year. For New London to be themselves they are going to have to see McSorley up her scoring average to near 15 points a game. Junior-to be’s Keaura Williams and Natalie Burden combined for 12.9 points a game last year and will look to improve on those efforts. Look for New London to bring in a little more depth this year and increase their win totals because of it. <h5 style="text-align: center;">Woodbine (11-12 last year)</h5> Woodbine was the best team under .500 last year on this list as they ended up beating three teams over .500 and won 80 percent of their games against under .500 teams. The combined record of their opponents was over .500 last year so they ended up playing a lot of talented teams. Woodbine also lost their top two scorers from a year ago. However, they do return four players who scored more than five points a game last season. They return 12 players that played varsity minutes last year and should have a lot of depth and options for this year. Junior-to be Nicole Sherer is the leading returning scorer from last year as she scored 7.2 points per game. Junior-to be Addison Erickson scored 6.9 points a game last year and current sophomore Nicole Hoefer scored 6.6 points per game. Woodbine has the experience and depth so they should be able to reach the 15 win mark this year if their returning players are able to step up this year.