Lakes Conference

[sarcastico]

Should be another entertaining year of Lakes Conference basketball. Western has to be the favorite to win again, especially after their big road win over Lemars. I think Western and Lemars are the top teams this year. Will be interesting to see if Spirit Lake can stay near the top after losing their two studs from last year. We will find out tonight as they host Western.

What is everyone's thoughts on the rest of the conference? Storm Lake should have a good team coming back. Spencer is always pretty tough. Anyone else expected to step up this year?

 

[Iowamavs14]

Just talked with a guy at the Western - Spirit Lake Game. He said No way Western wins state this year. They have a couple good guards but no inside presence. Lots of guys playing on varsity that would not have been on Westerns roster last year. He doubts Western will win the conference.

 

[NWIAHawkfan]

Just talked with a guy at the Western - Spirit Lake Game. He said No way Western wins state this year. They have a couple good guards but no inside presence. Lots of guys playing on varsity that would not have been on Westerns roster last year. He doubts Western will win the conference.

You are correct that WC will struggle from the inside. You don't just replace a Van Lingen. A few other things to remember. First year of a new coach. It will take some time for players to adjust to new roles and a different style of play. Jesse Jansma is coming off a shoulder injury to his shooting shoulder. As he heals, his productivity will only get better. There are a few sophomores seeing some significant playing time. As the season wears on, they should also get better. Without much of a scoring threat inside, it will be up to Gesink to penetrate and dish. WC is very fast and will run you to death, but if it is an off shooting night, they will get into some tight games. I'm not saying they'll win state, or even get there. There are a lot of good 2A teams that will be in the same Substate. But, if they can beat SL and LeMars in Hull, they should win the Lakes.

 

[nwiowahawkeyefan]

Current conference standings:

Western Christian (5-1)
LeMars (4-1)
Spirit Lake (4-1)
Storm Lake (4-2)
Emmetsburg (2-3)
Cherokee (2-4)
Spencer (1-5)
Estherville-Lincoln Central (0-5)

LeMars, Western, and Spirit Lake are tied (in the loss column) for first place in the conference. So far this season, Western beat LeMars (53-51), LeMars beat Spirit Lake (56-53), and Spirit Lake beat Western (64-59). Very close games. Storm Lake had been leading the conference until they lost by double figures to both LeMars and Western this week.

 

[sarcastico]

I would probably give Western the edge to win the conference just because they get both Lemars and Spirit Lake at home, and Western doesn't lose many home games. Those three teams all played each other close the first go around so it won't be easy. Western will still need to find a way to counter Spirit Lake's height. Storm Lake might be able to play spoiler and sneak a win in against one of them. I wouldn't count on it though as the top three seem to be significantly better than the rest of the conference.

 

[sarcastico]

Well Storm Lake did it, edging out a victory over Spirit Lake last night. Gives Western and LeMars a game lead over them. Big week coming up with both LeMars and Spirit Lake traveling to Western. The Lakes could really be decided come the end of the week if Western beats them both.

 

[VanderHoops]

Tonight will probably determine the Lakes title.
Spirit Lake @ Western. They are a tough match up for Western this year, so would not be surprised by a Spirit Lake sweep for the season. Ironically, after losing 2 D1 players to graduation.

Western dismantled LeMars on Tuesday.

 

[nwiowahawkeyefan]

LeMars absolutely fell apart against Western this week. Did not expect them to play so, so poorly. Just a bad, bad game in a big spot. And Western just could not miss from three it seemed like! I do not expect LeMars to lay an egg like this again this season. The Lakes is Westerns to win, again.

Trent Hilbrands for LeMars scored his 1000th point at LeMars last night against ELC. These are just his LeMars varsity points. He also had 275 varsity points his freshman year in Remsen.

 

[Greenway12]

Off topic but - what will happen to the Lakes long-term? E-burg will leave after this year. Will they be replaced? Keep hearing LM wants in the Missouri River Conf...?

 

[VanderHoops]

Western handles Spirit Lake easily. Wins going away by 25.
6'10" Coburn nearly shut down by 6'1" Ben Granstra's tough D

Lakes title all but wrapped up.

 

[VanderHoops]

Off topic but - what will happen to the Lakes long-term? E-burg will leave after this year. Will they be replaced? Keep hearing LM wants in the Missouri River Conf...?

Western will have to scramble for games.
Lose 2 conference games here and word at the coffee shop is that Coach Arends of Sioux Center is scared to play Western any longer and is refusing to schedule this natural rivalry.
Sad to see him throw in the towel.

 

[nwiowahawkeyefan]

The Lakes Conference lost Sheldon a few years ago and now after this season, Emmetsburg will be gone as well leaving only 7 teams in the conference. The Lakes Conference is looking for a replacement member. But I honestly don't think that they are going to find anyone and if they do, it will be a small school which is not ideal for LeMars, Spencer, and Storm Lake.

LeMars is out of place in the Lakes. They belong in the MRC. A lot shorter travel times for most of the games against schools that are more more close in size and caliber. LeMars was talking about making a push for the MRC several years ago but then they got a new AD and I think it slowed down. But I've been saying it for years, even before SBL left the War Eagle, that LeMars should be going to the MRC and leaving the Lakes. Will they? I don't know. If the Lakes disbands, I would say yes. I have loved LeMars being in the Lakes Conference. But schools like Cherokee and ELC and Storm Lake just aren't really competitive most of the time and Spencer and Spirit Lake are just too far away to justify staying for them. Western Christian will be the big loss in basketball, but as mentioned above, non-conference games need to be filled so...

Cherokee, ELC, and Spirit Lake will be fine if the conference disbands. There are plenty of small school conferences around that will grab those three up. LeMars has the MRC as a probability. Western Christian, Spencer and Storm Lake are the ones in trouble, IMO. Western Christian isn't in as big as trouble as Spencer and Storm Lake because Western has the Siouxland Conference in their backyard. Sure, Siouxland schools might not want Western in their conference but that's what petitions are for and I don't think the state would deny that.

Spencer and Storm Lake are kind of in "no mans land" when it comes to conferences with 3A schools. They have the north central conference that they could jump in with, I suppose, and Storm Lake could go Raccoon River maybe, but travel times could be killer and most conferences are not going to be overly excited to add new members. So they might have to drop down to a smaller conference, kind of like MOC-FV with the Siouxland.

Or maybe the Lakes will just continue on with 7 schools. Who honestly knows at this point. But it will be interesting to see what happens!

So, Western destroyed Spirit Lake and LeMars this week. Another championship for Western. Will be interesting battle for second place though between LeMars, Spirit Lake, and maybe Storm Lake???

 

[ISUChip]

Western Christian isn't in as big as trouble as Spencer and Storm Lake because Western has the Siouxland Conference in their backyard. Sure, Siouxland schools might not want Western in their conference but that's what petitions are for and I don't think the state would deny that.

An 11-team league, double round-robin means 20 conference games and 1 non-conference. The Siouxland would be better off poaching two Lakes teams in that scenario. 12 teams, 18-game unbalanced schedule.

Maybe...

NORTH: Rock Valley, Central Lyon, George-LR, Sibley-Och, Okoboji, West Lyon
SOUTH: Boyden-Hull, Sheldon, MOC-FV, Sioux Center, Western*, Cherokee*

...or...

WEST: West Lyon, Central Lyon, Rock Valley, Sioux Center, Boyden-Hull, MOC-FV
EAST: Okoboji, Sibley-Och, George-LR, Sheldon, Cherokee*, Western*

 

[theocia]

word at the coffee shop is that Coach Arends of Sioux Center is scared to play Western any longer and is refusing to schedule this natural rivalry.
Sad to see him throw in the towel.

Curious to see how Arends will spin this to avoid looking like he's backing out with his tail between his legs?

The Western game is probably their biggest gate of the season, and some of Sioux Center's biggest wins of the last decade were getting past Western to advance in tournaments. If you're a good coach, I just don't get this move.

Here in Orange City, word is that MOC-FV is considering the same move.

 

[NWIAHawkfan]

Curious to see how Arends will spin this to avoid looking like he's backing out with his tail between his legs?

The Western game is probably their biggest gate of the season, and some of Sioux Center's biggest wins of the last decade were getting past Western to advance in tournaments. If you're a good coach, I just don't get this move.

Here in Orange City, word is that MOC-FV is considering the same move.

The only reason I can think Arends wouldn't want to play Western during the season is to give Sioux Center a better chance to beat them in tournament play. Harmsen, as well as Eekhoff, is very good at seeing game one and making the necessary adjustments to shut a team down in a 2nd matchup. Outside of this, it appears as if ego is getting in the way of a good rivalry. What message does that send to the kids? "If you can't beat 'em, don't play em"?
I also heard that was being considered at MOC-FV, however, I am now hearing that MOC-FV WILL be playing Western going forward. Not sure why they wouldn't either. They aren't in the same class and the W/L record is no longer used to determine post-season seeding.

 

[chibull2000]

Not a chance the siouxland will add Western. Moc should actually leave the siouxland and join the lakes, but MOC is finally losing in the Siouxland not beating up on the smaller schools so I'm sure they will want to try to regain their upper hand on schools that they are 2x or 3x bigger than.

 

[chibull2000]

And the whole Sioux Center/WC comes down to where a couple years ago SC wanted to move the game bc they made the state championship and WC said no. Then this year WC makes it and tries to tell SC that they are not playing on that date. WC finally decided to play on the date, but SC said enough is enough, I don't think it has anything to do with being scared on SC part.

 

[NWIAHawkfan]

And the whole Sioux Center/WC comes down to where a couple years ago SC wanted to move the game bc they made the state championship and WC said no. Then this year WC makes it and tries to tell SC that they are not playing on that date. WC finally decided to play on the date, but SC said enough is enough, I don't think it has anything to do with being scared on SC part.

In all 3 cases, the statute below was followed. In 2015, the Championship game was moved to a Monday due to weather and the SC/WC had to be rescheduled because Western couldn't get 10 practices in. Either way, it seems like a cop-out.

12. Those schools playing in the football championship games are entitled to 10 days of practice, exclusive of Sunday and Thanksgiving Day, before their first basketball game. The Monday following the football championship games starts the 10-day practice period. If the school decides to play sooner, it is their prerogative, but they need not play until after they have had the opportunity for 10 days of practice.

 

[sarcastico]

I agree with thinking that it would make the most sense for MOC to join the Lakes. No 3A school should be playing that many 1A teams every year, even if they are often good 1A teams. Purely from a location standpoint it would also make sense for Okoboji to join the Lakes. I have long thought Western and Okoboji should just switch conferences and make travel way easier for both schools.

The Lakes is going to have to figure something out. I think it would be tough for some of the schools if it disbands. I agree that Storm Lake and Spencer especially are really out in no mans land as a 3A school so unless they want to join a primarily 1A conference they would have some major traveling to do. Either the North Central or Raccoon River would mean road trips of 150 miles. I think it would be a tough sell for those conferences to even agree to take in teams with that obstacle.

A 7 team conference is not ideal but might have to be a reality. It will be especially tough for Western as it will mean another non-conference game will be added and they will have to find another team to play. This is a challenge as it seems many teams are just sick of playing them and don't want to be on their schedule. First it was the Sioux City public schools, which I got as it is no fun for 4A schools to get beat by a 2A. But now Sioux Center and maybe even MOC down the road. Which would be really weak moves by both schools. Western has a great rivalry with both those schools and it would be a real disservice to the fans to take them off the schedule.

The biggest issue for Western though is that those are going to be tough games to replace. Western has always liked to play a tough out of conference schedule so I can't see them scheduling down a class or taking on historically bad programs. They have had to go out of state and play South Dakota teams these past couple years to get those challenging opponents. They may have to do more of that in the future. What I would really love to see is getting Sheldon back on Western's schedule. That was a fantastic rivalry that needs to come back.

 

[kuchel20]

Another option for the Lakes could be Unity Christian who has wanted to leave the War Eagle for some time now.

 

[NWIAHawkfan]

Another option for the Lakes could be Unity Christian who has wanted to leave the War Eagle for some time now.

I think this makes a lot of sense. Being almost exclusively 1A, the War Eagle has never done Unity any favors, other than it is very convenient geographically. The Lakes would present a lot more travel but would be a much better fit competitively. I know Unity really wants into the Siouxland but I know they've been turned down just the same as Western.

 

[NWIAHawkfan]

They may have to do more of that in the future. What I would really love to see is getting Sheldon back on Western's schedule. That was a fantastic rivalry that needs to come back.

I think so too and now that there has been a coaching change at Sheldon, maybe it will. The addition of Sioux Falls Christian has become a really nice game and I know WC has played Worthington, MN and even Southwest Christian from Edgerton in the past. Hopefully we don't have to return to the days of playing Fort Dodge and Waterloo East like back in the 90's. Those were brutal road trips.

 

[ISUChip]

A 7 team conference is not ideal but might have to be a reality. It will be especially tough for Western as it will mean another non-conference game will be added and they will have to find another team to play.

Dropping from 8 teams to 7 would mean finding 2 additional non-conference games.

With the 21-game limit, there aren't a lot of opportunities for non-conf games with area conferences -- Siouxland teams only have 3 open spots for non-conference games, and I believe the War Eagle is the same way.

 

[Lyoncounty]

I think so too and now that there has been a coaching change at Sheldon, maybe it will. The addition of Sioux Falls Christian has become a really nice game and I know WC has played Worthington, MN and even Southwest Christian from Edgerton in the past. Hopefully we don't have to return to the days of playing Fort Dodge and Waterloo East like back in the 90's. Those were brutal road trips.

Dont forget Norfolk, NE and Mapleton

 

[aheyn297]

An 11-team league, double round-robin means 20 conference games and 1 non-conference. The Siouxland would be better off poaching two Lakes teams in that scenario. 12 teams, 18-game unbalanced schedule.

Maybe...

NORTH: Rock Valley, Central Lyon, George-LR, Sibley-Och, Okoboji, West Lyon
SOUTH: Boyden-Hull, Sheldon, MOC-FV, Sioux Center, Western*, Cherokee*

...or...

WEST: West Lyon, Central Lyon, Rock Valley, Sioux Center, Boyden-Hull, MOC-FV
EAST: Okoboji, Sibley-Och, George-LR, Sheldon, Cherokee*, Western*

How would the unbalanced schedule get to 18 conference games? I'm genuinely curious about this

 

[NWIAHawkfan]

How would the unbalanced schedule get to 18 conference games? I'm genuinely curious about this

I think what he means by unbalanced is, bwith 18 games and 12 teams, you'd play 7 teams twice and 4 teams once. Just like the Big 10 does. It's unbalanced because in certain years, one team can get the weaker teams twice and only have to play some of the better teams just once. They may get them at home and not have to play them on the road. There isn't true parity of competition to determine a league champion.

 

[aheyn297]

I think what he means by unbalanced is, bwith 18 games and 12 teams, you'd play 7 teams twice and 4 teams once. Just like the Big 10 does. It's unbalanced because in certain years, one team can get the weaker teams twice and only have to play some of the better teams just once. They may get them at home and not have to play them on the road. There isn't true parity of competition to determine a league champion.

Ok, I see. War eagle conference does something similar, but only one of the two matches between divisional teams counts as a conference game. Kinda strange imo

 

[ISUChip]

How would the unbalanced schedule get to 18 conference games? I'm genuinely curious about this

Damn, I meant 16. Two games vs. your division (10), once through against the other (6). That's what I get for posting in a hurry.

 

[NWIhoopsFAN]

I know this would likely never happen, but wouldn't the following be interesting and plausible assuming LeMars goes to the MRC....

Siouxland:
Sioux Center 2A/3A
MOCFV 3A
Sheldon 2A/3A
Boyden Hull 1A
Rock Valley 2A
Western 2A
Unity 2A
West Lyon 2A
Central Lyon 1A
GLR 1A

Lakes:
Spirit Lake 3A
Spencer 3A
Storm Lake 3A
ELC 2A/3A
Okoboji 2A
Harris-Lake Park 1A
Clay Central Everly 1A
HMS 1A
Sibley 1A

War Eagle
Cherokee 2A/3A
Hinton 2A
West Sioux 1A
Akron Westfield 1A
Remson St. Mary's 1A
MMCRU 1A
Gehlan Catholic 1A
Trinity Christian 1A
South O'Brien 1A

Obviously the Siouxland would turn into one of the toughest if no THE toughest conference in the state with 10 total teams. There would still be the opportunity to play 3 non-conference games against some lesser quality teams if desired or some of the better teams in the other 2 area conferences. For the Lakes and War Eagle you would have 16 conference games allowing them to play 5 more non-conference games. This is a very geographical senario, but would still be very competitive IMO. GLR and CL might not be fans of this situation, but in years past they've had better teams that were competitive and this would only help the 1A schools come tournament time.

 

[ISUChip]

Obviously the Siouxland would turn into one of the toughest if no THE toughest conference in the state with 10 total teams.

That would be a pretty salty volleyball league, too. Wow.

 

[tantrent]

I know this would likely never happen, but wouldn't the following be interesting and plausible assuming LeMars goes to the MRC....

Siouxland:
Sioux Center 2A/3A
MOCFV 3A
Sheldon 2A/3A
Boyden Hull 1A
Rock Valley 2A
Western 2A
Unity 2A
West Lyon 2A
Central Lyon 1A
GLR 1A

Lakes:
Spirit Lake 3A
Spencer 3A
Storm Lake 3A
ELC 2A/3A
Okoboji 2A
Harris-Lake Park 1A
Clay Central Everly 1A
HMS 1A
Sibley 1A

War Eagle
Cherokee 2A/3A
Hinton 2A
West Sioux 1A
Akron Westfield 1A
Remson St. Mary's 1A
MMCRU 1A
Gehlan Catholic 1A
Trinity Christian 1A
South O'Brien 1A

Obviously the Siouxland would turn into one of the toughest if no THE toughest conference in the state with 10 total teams. There would still be the opportunity to play 3 non-conference games against some lesser quality teams if desired or some of the better teams in the other 2 area conferences. For the Lakes and War Eagle you would have 16 conference games allowing them to play 5 more non-conference games. This is a very geographical senario, but would still be very competitive IMO. GLR and CL might not be fans of this situation, but in years past they've had better teams that were competitive and this would only help the 1A schools come tournament time.

How about you make the Lakes a true 2A/3A conference with MOC, SC and Unity joining to make it a 10 team league. Put Hartley and HLP in the Siouxland and leave the rest in the War Eagle. Now you would have two good 1A/2A conferences and one really good 2A/3A conference. I really don't care for 3A teams in 1A/2A conferences. Other then travel, they have no good excuse to be there.

 

[Bbvr]

Western and unity hopefully will never be in the Siouxland conference it is fair and balanced now let's keep it that way

 

[theocia]

Western and unity hopefully will never be in the Siouxland conference it is fair and balanced now let's keep it that way

So you're saying the Siouxland schools couldn't compete with them?

I know a lot of Siouxland teams hope the same thing.

 

[Bbvr]

Has nothing to do with teams competing with them there are reasons why they get denied when they apply to get in the Siouxland I have my theories, you can come up with your own

 

[theocia]

Has nothing to do with teams competing with them there are reasons why they get denied when they apply to get in the Siouxland I have my theories, you can come up with your own

You said fair and balanced. What do you mean by that?
Western and Unity are right in the middle in enrollment and geography.

 

[Bbvr]

A dictionary with tell you if you don't already know

 

[theocia]

A dictionary with tell you if you don't already know

Lame!

You said, "Western and unity hopefully will never be in the Siouxland conference.."
Why do you hope they won't be in the conference?

 

[chibull2000]

I think the big reason behind unity and western is the lack of middle school sports. I thought I had heard that.

 

[NWIhoopsFAN]

Middle school schedules are so short for that to matter and most middle schools don't strictly play conference opponents. I've been told that MOC and Sioux Center are the only schools that have previously voted yes for Unity or Western to join the conference if that means anything...

 

[sarcastico]

Middle school schedules? That is a crazy lame excuse. It is pretty simple really, the area public school just don't like Western and Unity because they are private schools. You can go to any town in the Siouxland and hear people complain about both of them. It is really no secret how much they are disliked.