Early Look – DCG Mustang Shootout Team Camp
Dallas Center-Grimes girls high school basketball program is doing it the right way. A team that is coming off of a 4A state championship, is hosting one of the biggest, if not THEE biggest high school shootout in the month…
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Continue ReadingDallas Center-Grimes girls high school basketball program is doing it the right way. A team that is coming off of a 4A state championship, is hosting one of the biggest, if not THEE biggest high school shootout in the month of June, thoughout the state of Iowa. Over the two days, 6/26-6/27, there will be 35 high school teams competing in 84 games at Grimes, Iowa.
Below I am going to highlight just SOME of the teams that I am excited to see at this shootout. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!
Dowling Catholic High School
Dowling Catholic returns this season after putting together quite the year in 22-23. The Maroons made the state playoffs and competed their hearts out. This season they will be bringing back basically all of their players, with the addition of some underclassmen, who could provide some crucial help down the stretch for this group. I’m excited to see how they look this early into their season in preparations for winter. I’m sure there will be some kinks to get out but this is the time to do it.
Nodaway Valley High School
Nodaway Valley could get it done this season. A team that possesses some of the best offensive weapons in the state, in the form of a 1 and 2 guard, is going to come into this winter with a chip on their shoulders, ready to roll. I expect this season to be much of the same during the regular season as last, up until the playoffs start, then it gets real. For a team that has a lot of players competing at a high-level on an AAU circuit, it’ll be interesting to see how they come back together. I think this year is going to be one to remember for these girls though. We will get our first glimpse the start of next week of what they will kind of look like.
Solon High School
Solon High School has a team that put it together last season and broke their state appearance dry-streak. This season the Spartans are going to return their MVP and all of their main contributors from a year ago, in attempts to get back to the state tournament once again. The players on this team, out of season, compete at a very high level across the country when it comes to the sport of basketball. If they can come in and take care of business as usual, I’m expecting another big run to the end of this upcoming season for the Spartans. They can really play and their leader is an Iowa women’s basketball commit for a reason.
Dallas Center-Grimes High School
I mentioned DCG and what they accomplished last year in the intro to this article. I’m not going to bore you with any of that stuff again other than, I expect big things once again this season from the Mustangs. They return a decent amount of players, some out of their core, some off of their bench, and they also have some transfers coming in. This season is going to be more of a team effort to get to the state playoffs and have a great year but it is more than do-able for a roster like this.
Benton High School
This one for me is more curiosity. Who is going to step up and be “the girl” this next season. Benton over the past few seasons has had some great, ball dominate players, that could score on all three levels and compete with anyone. This season they lose those players, therefore, some others are going to have to step up and make some noise. Can they do it? Most definitely! This is a team that returns their all-state point guard and some weapons who understand the game. They are just going to need a new offensive system and to figure out how to score in some more creative ways. Something I’ll be keeping a close eye, next week, to see how they function.
Johnston High School
Alright, I was going to wait to tell everyone this until they found out themselves but Johnston high school this season is going to be back, and better than last year. A team that returns most of their roster, while adding the #2 player out of the 2025 class in Iowa at the post position. Not to mention that they also have some promising underclassmen on their bench. Before you consider the underclassmen coming in OR the transfers, I had this team as the favorite to win the 5A state championship for the 23′-24′ season anyways. Now that they have all of those weapons on their roster, all I have to say is, watch out everyone else. I will leave it at that. This upcoming week we will see how they look for the first time together, really competing in the public eye.
West Des Moines – Valley High School
West Des Moines – Valley High school is another one of those teams that interests me more out of curiosity. They are returning a good amount of players, with their star being the #3 player out of the 2024 class in Iowa, but will that be enough? It’s going to take everyones best effort, in every game, for this team to put together the season they dream of. They can do it and I expect them to find a good amount of success this winter. This Monday and Tuesday we will really see what they are all about and who else is going to step up this season to have a big year alongside Elise Jaeger Elise Jaeger 6'1" | PF Valley | 2024 State IA .