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• 2/8/24 vs IKM-Manning – 24 Points (6-15), 16 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 4 Steals, 4 Blocks, 3 TO’s

The Collins-Maxwell Spartans won their first round matchup on Thursday night against IKM-Manning High School with a final score of 52-48, to move onto the Second Round of the Class 1A Playoffs. In this contest, the Spartans had two players make up a total of 49 points out of their teams 52. They were led in scoring by Chloe Wierson Chloe Wierson 5'11" | C Collins-Maxwell | 2024 State IA (25 Points) and Erica Houge Erica Houge 5'7" | PG Collins-Maxwell | 2024 State IA (24 Points) but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The two also combined for 27 Rebounds together, making all the difference on the boards. Though Wierson is a life-force for this group, I think that Houge’s entire stat line is what really stands out the most to me. Not only did she have 24 Points and 16 Rebounds, she had multiple Assists, Steals, and Blocks. All while limiting her turnovers. When considering all of that, you can see why Houge is my Player Of The Game. They still have a long way to go and every person who plays minutes, matters but if they are going to win in Round 2, their two stars will have to have another big outing.

Erica Houge Erica Houge 5'7" | PG Collins-Maxwell | 2024 State IA and Collins-Maxwell high school have strung together a nice season up until this point with an overall record of 14-4 while going 10-1 in conference. Houge, an extremely active point guard, has been filling up the stat sheet at an impressive rate this year for the Spartans. Throughout their first 18 games she is averaging just under 23 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG as well as grabbing a team high in steals and deflections. She is the type of player who can score from all three levels on the floor or create for others around her. She has a smooth shooting stroke which leads to a good amount of opportunities on the offensive end for herself. This has lead to Houge coming into this article ranked #2 in the state of Iowa out of the junior class in scoring at 406 total points on the season. Along with this ranking she is also in the top 5 of field goals made, steals, and field goal percentage in the class. All good categories to be involved in. Moving forward I anticipate this team to walk through the rest of the regular season with ease, with it becoming much more difficult once the playoffs begin. It’ll be a real challenge for this group to make it out of their regional but if they have some things go in their way and they just play the game they have been all season, they will put themselves in a decent position to come out on top in all contests that take place.