The West Liberty Comets made a good run this season, stringing together an impressive amount of wins while falling just short of a state appearance with a loss to the Benton Wildcats, a team who would make it all the way to the 3A championship in the end. The Comets were a diverse team that had a lot of playmakers across the board at a decent amount of the positions of the floor, the biggest playmaker being Iowa State commit Kelsey Joens Kelsey Joens 5'10" | SG West Liberty | 2023 State IA . Kelsey is one of the top shooters and scorers in the senior class and she has proved it on every level of her career thus far. She has a nice handle with the knowledge to use her skill and speed to her advantage against slower opponents. On the defensive side of things she does a good job handling the assignment give to her while forcing a good amount of tips and deflections. I’m interested in how the Cyclones will use her, if she is put in the right situations she is a player who can get hot on the offense end really quick from deep. Something that is truly amazing when you see it live.

Kelsey Joens Kelsey Joens 5'10" | SG West Liberty | 2023 State IA are West Liberty high school will have a chance at making the state playoff but that will all depend on how much Joens and the Hall sisters can carry them. Joens, another Iowa State women’s basketball commit, has been putting up some big numbers this season as expected after her transfer to 3A West Liberty high school from 5A Iowa City-City High. Coming into today she has recorded a team high 417 points throughout her 17 games this year. Ranking her #3 at scoring in the state overall for the senior class along with moving her scoring average to an impressive 24.5 PPG on 43.3% shooting. Joens has always been known as a shooter. It doesn’t matter if it was on a national AAU circuit, during a high-school season, or even in an off-season pick up game. Her pure shooting ability will leave her with a nice college career as it is, not to mention what can happen once she expands her game with more practice time at the next level. Looking forward to the rest of their season they are going to be in a similar position to a lot of other teams around the state as they will have to get a lot of help from their surrounding stars to move forward. Teams going into a match-up against the Comets will know about Joens and will try to force the ball out of her hands. If they can do so, then it’ll be on everyone else to step up and make some plays. I would be interested in seeing this take place as I would like to see Joens do all the other things it takes for her team to win other then just scoring the ball. Her scoring ability is second to none but how will she adapt when everything is against her? We will see.

Kelsey Joens Kelsey Joens 5'10" | SG West Liberty | 2023 State IA and the #13 West Liberty Comets got their 10th win of the season on Tuesday night over West Branch high school behind a complete performance of Joens. She ended with an impressive triple double but not in the normal fashion as you would normally think. She recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds, 10 steals, and 7 assists. Maybe putting together one of the more impressive stat lines of the season by any player all together. This team has some really good pieces to make some big noise once the playoffs start. As long as they get placed in a spot where they don’t have to play a top 3 team in the state then I think they will have a really good shot to make it to the state tournament but who knows as anything can happen and the competition throughout the 2A class in really competitive all around. After the tournament I can’t wait for Joens to get to Iowa State where she will be paired up with the top player in Iowa in the 2023 class in Audi Crooks Audi Crooks 6'3" | C Bishop Garrigan | 2023 State #42 Nation IA . When taking a look at all the talent that the Cyclones are going to be getting just out of Iowa over the next few seasons you can tell that they are going to be relevant for a good amount of time in college basketball and that is exciting to see.

Kelsey Joens Kelsey Joens 5'10" | SG West Liberty | 2023 State IA hasn’t had the ideal start she may of wanted for her senior year at West Liberty high school but that won’t slow her down. Joens, the senior transfer who will be playing at Iowa State next season, has been as dominate as you would expect moving down to a smaller school and conference compared to a year ago. Going into break she is currently averaging 24.7 PPG and 11.2 RPG while leading her team to a 4-3 record, ranking them second in their conference behind the Iowa City-Regina Regals, who sit at 10-1 in conference play up until this point. I anticipate that Joens and West Liberty will figure it out before the play-offs start. This Comets team also possesses two other very solid players in Finley and Pearson Hall Pearson Hall 5'1" | PG West Liberty | 2025 State IA . If they can work on their offensive flow, figuring out their new system and stay hungry on defense, this team will not be an easy out against any team when it’s all said and done before the end of the year.

The Iowa State signee ranks as one of the state’s top prospects for a reason. She can do it all. She scored 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds in this contest despite being saddled with foul trouble. She’s a three-level scorer, passes well and hits the glass hard. Her length and athleticism helps her defend multiple positions.

Kelsey Joens Kelsey Joens 5'10" | SG West Liberty | 2023 State IA takes our #4 spot coming into the 22′-23′ season after transferring to West Liberty High School for her senior year. Joens is coming off of a solid high school season and an even better AAU season with All Iowa Attack EYBL, being a knock down shooter who can really let it fly. Don’t let it surprise you though, she can score on all three levels with the best of them but has an act to seek out the three point shot when given the choice. Joens will be moving from a 5A school down to a 2A school for her senior year and it may result in the single best Iowa high school women’s season we have ever seen. Coming from a much bigger field of competition and still averaging over 20+ a game while making it to state will seem like an easy task compared to what she will see this upcoming season. She is a dynamic play maker who is a lights out shooter and can heat up quick. She has a fast release and doesn’t bring the ball down off the catch, helping her to shoot over a closing-out opponent. It will be a fun year to see what Joens does against smaller competition as she will have the ball in her hands every possession.

A major loss for Iowa City-High is a major gain for the West Liberty Comets in the form of Kelsey Joens Kelsey Joens 5'10" | SG West Liberty | 2023 State IA . Joens was the leader of the 5A Little Hawks as a junior last year, averaging 21.3 PPG on 42.8% shooting, and 81.2% from the free throw line, on the way to an overall 19-5 record, 11-4 in conference. Making 70 three pointers on 170 attempts. She is simply put, a game changer, to any team that she is playing on with her ability to shoot the ball from anywhere on the court. After having a great AAU summer with All Iowa Attack EYBL 17U as their starting sharp shooter, The Iowa State Women’s basketball commit will finish up her high school career at 2A West Liberty High School. This change will catapult the Comets team to being at the top of their conference as well as set up Joens to possibly have the greatest women’s basketball scoring season we have ever seen this winter.

Joens enters her senior season being one of the top 3 point shooters in the state of Iowa. Averaging 34.7% from three on 173 attempts as a junior and 81.2% from the free throw line it is no shock that the Iowa State basketball commit will have a fantastic year.  When you pair this along with her approved transfer to West Liberty high school to play under her sister, it is hard to see her not having an outstanding year at the 2a varsity level.