Wild Saturday Night Scores with Upsets, Jan. 13

[EastIowaHawk]

Terrific games today and tonight, with updates from the Wendy's Classic at Loras College.

Van Meter 55, Winterset 48 in battle of ranked teams
Black Hawk, WI 64, Gilbertville Don Bosco 57 at Dubuque Wendy's Classic at Loras College
Muscatine 76, Iowa City 57, as Joe Weiskamp gets healthy again
Buffalo Grove, IL 56, Dubuque Hempstead 52 in nail biter at Loras
Mt. Pleasant 65, Mount Vernon 48
North Linn 88, Maquoketa Valley 30
Cedar Rapids Prairie 79, Lane Tech of Chicago 65- impressive win over large school
Charles City 67, Osage 42
South O'Brien 70, Ipswich, SD 52
Wapello 82, West Burlington 56

Chicago Heights Marian Catholic 60, Dubuque Senior 53. #1-ranked Illinois 3A team with Ahron Ulis, brother of NBA and former Kentucky player Tyler Ulis, scoring 18. Good news is that injured leading scorer Noah Carter was walking normally on sidelines for Senior. I really think with Carter Senior could have won this game.

In OT, Dubuque Wahlert 74, 3A #1 Oskaloosa 70, for Wahlert's third win this week, as they are finally healthy. 6-4 center Matt Bandy outscores Xavier Foster with 19 points. I will say that I think Oskaloosa still should be #1 in Iowa as they are a complete team, with four talented players besides 6-10 Foster, who has many gifts. Osky Indians led by 6-9 Cole Henry and 6-5 Jared Kruse. Foster had two 3- pointers. Eagles' leading scorer 6-6 Peter Timmerman fouled out in the OT, as did Foster. Osky led 17-7 in the 1st quarter, before Wahlert fought back to take several skimpy leads late in the game. With wins this week over CR Kennedy and Waterloo West, Wahlert is righting their ship after having one to three rotation regulars unavailable for all but two games this year against 4A powers like IC West, Cedar Falls, Dub. Senior (with Carter), Dub. Hempstead and Linn-Mar, three on the road.. Wahlert reserve center, 6-9 Sam Gruel, the nephew of NBA Houston Rockets starter, Iowa All-American, and former Wahlert star Kevin Kunnert, saw extensive reserve action against Oskaloosa's formidable front line. Sorry for the long post but it was an incredibly exciting, well-played, tight game on a neutral court at Loras College. University of Iowa varsity assistants were watching the game.

Still awaiting scores from Harlan vs. Glenwood, Solon at Regina, Atlantic at Wahoo Neuman, NE, Pella Christian at Des Moines Christian, Bellevue West, NE at CBAL, and other games.

DM Christian 52, Pella Christian 36
N. Cedar 76, Wilton 33.

 

[EastIowaHawk]

More Saturday scores:

Ames 56, WDM Valley 42
Cedar Falls 75, Marshalltown 42
CR Jefferson 51, Marion 37 at US Cellular Center
DM North over Ottumwa
Glenwood 84, Harlan 79 Must have been a good game
North Scott 56, Wisconsin Dells, WI 48
NE Goose Lake 61, Tipton 40
Pella 72, PCM 50
Solon 48, IC Regina 42
Waterloo East 87, Waukon 45
Waterloo West 73, Union 48
Waverly 45, Webster City 40
Cedar Rapids Xavier 80, Perry 48
Bellevue West, NE over CBAL.

 

[Cheese2]

Terrific games today and tonight, with updates from the Wendy's Classic at Loras College.

Van Meter 55, Winterset 48 in battle of ranked teams
Black Hawk, WI 64, Gilbertville Don Bosco 57 at Dubuque Wendy's Classic at Loras College
Muscatine 76, Iowa City 57, as Joe Weiskamp gets healthy again
Buffalo Grove, IL 56, Dubuque Hempstead 52 in nail biter at Loras
Mt. Pleasant 65, Mount Vernon 48
North Linn 88, Maquoketa Valley 30
Cedar Rapids Prairie 79, Lane Tech of Chicago 65- impressive win over large school
Charles City 67, Osage 42
South O'Brien 70, Ipswich, SD 52
Wapello 82, West Burlington 56

Chicago Heights Marian Catholic 60, Dubuque Senior 53. #1-ranked Illinois 3A team with Ahron Ulis, brother of NBA and former Kentucky player Tyler Ulis, scoring 18. Good news is that injured leading scorer Noah Carter was walking normally on sidelines for Senior. I really think with Carter Senior could have won this game.

In OT, Dubuque Wahlert 74, 3A #1 Oskaloosa 70, for Wahlert's third win this week, as they are finally healthy. 6-4 center Matt Bandy outscores Xavier Foster with 19 points. I will say that I think Oskaloosa still should be #1 in Iowa as they are a complete team, with four talented players besides 6-10 Foster, who has many gifts. Osky Indians led by 6-9 Cole Henry and 6-5 Jared Kruse. Foster had two 3- pointers. Eagles' leading scorer 6-6 Peter Timmerman fouled out in the OT, as did Foster. Osky led 17-7 in the 1st quarter, before Wahlert fought back to take several skimpy leads late in the game. With wins this week over CR Kennedy and Waterloo West, Wahlert is righting their ship after having one to three rotation regulars unavailable for all but two games this year against 4A powers like IC West, Cedar Falls, Dub. Senior (with Carter), Dub. Hempstead and Linn-Mar, three on the road.. Wahlert reserve center, 6-9 Sam Gruel, the nephew of NBA Houston Rockets starter, Iowa All-American, and former Wahlert star Kevin Kunnert, saw extensive reserve action against Oskaloosa's formidable front line. Sorry for the long post but it was an incredibly exciting, well-played, tight game on a neutral court at Loras College. University of Iowa varsity assistants were watching the game.

Still awaiting scores from Harlan vs. Glenwood, Solon at Regina, Atlantic at Wahoo Neuman, NE, Pella Christian at Des Moines Christian, Bellevue West, NE at CBAL, and other games.

DM Christian 52, Pella Christian 36
N. Cedar 76, Wilton 33.

Huge W for Wahlert. This Wahlert team is balanced on O, defends well, and with this win proves they can beat any 3A team in the state. How did they get it done exactly against such a talented Osky team? I thought Osky with their D1 bigs and solid role players would be very difficult for anyone in 3A to get a W against.

 

[EastIowaHawk]

I don't want to take anything away from Oskaloosa because it was a game that could have gone either way easily. Wahlert is just getting tougher and scrappier after having been in so many games against very good teams. They return five starters from last year's team that went to the sub-state final, losing to champ CR Xavier, with one starter out. And two talented sophomores have moved into the starting lineup/rotation. They have played the top 5 MVC teams so far, and they are now healthy and jelling. In my opinion Oskaloosa is one of the top five or six teams in the state, regardless of class. Osky is not a one-man team, and all their starters are very strong players and good shots. The only difference is toughness, and maybe experience. Xavier Foster is so talented that he doesn't break a sweat. I can't think of another recent player in Iowa who is that talented and that tall and that impressive at such a young age. And he hit two out of three 3-point shots. As soon as he plays with a little chip on his shoulder, and a little more desire, and crashes the boards more, Oskaloosa is going to be almost unbeatable in 3A. Maybe this close OT loss is the best thing that could happen to them. I fully expect Oskaloosa to make a serious run at the next three state 3A championships. The only thing I can say about Wahlert is that they have become very much better than their record indicates. These two could easily meet again at state if the IHSAA doesn't foolishly put Osky in the same substate with Mt. Pleasant, and pairs Wahlert again with Xavier, which happens most years, it seems. Of course there are other strong, contending teams too (Glenwood, Heelan, Norwalk), but I don't want this thread to get too complex. The tourney trail starts in a month or so and there will be no shortage of threads and posts about the fairness of district and substate pairings.

 

[Cheese2]

I don't want to take anything away from Oskaloosa because it was a game that could have gone either way easily. Wahlert is just getting tougher and scrappier after having been in so many games against very good teams. They return five starters from last year's team that went to the sub-state final, losing to champ CR Xavier, with one starter out. And two talented sophomores have moved into the starting lineup/rotation. They have played the top 5 MVC teams so far, and they are now healthy and jelling. In my opinion Oskaloosa is one of the top five or six teams in the state, regardless of class. Osky is not a one-man team, and all their starters are very strong players and good shots. The only difference is toughness, and maybe experience. Xavier Foster is so talented that he doesn't break a sweat. I can't think of another recent player in Iowa who is that talented and that tall and that impressive at such a young age. And he hit two out of three 3-point shots. As soon as he plays with a little chip on his shoulder, and a little more desire, and crashes the boards more, Oskaloosa is going to be almost unbeatable in 3A. Maybe this close OT loss is the best thing that could happen to them. I fully expect Oskaloosa to make a serious run at the next three state 3A championships. The only thing I can say about Wahlert is that they have become very much better than their record indicates. These two could easily meet again at state if the IHSAA doesn't foolishly put Osky in the same substate with Mt. Pleasant, and pairs Wahlert again with Xavier, which happens most years, it seems. Of course there are other strong, contending teams too (Glenwood, Heelan, Norwalk), but I don't want this thread to get too complex. The tourney trail starts in a month or so and there will be no shortage of threads and posts about the fairness of district and substate pairings.

Great info and insight as always EIH. Wahlert has excellent experience and young talent...that is always a great combination. They definitely have the pieces to make some noise in Des Moines. What will the state do for substate pairings? How do they divide up the top teams on the east side(Osky, Xavier, Wahlert, Mt. Pleasant, Assumption)? It would be nice to see them make an effort to get the teams with the most talent there this season. I think if Assumption didn't get upset by Wahlert last year, they could have been a viable threat to win it all.

 

[EastIowaHawk]

Assumption, especially with Peeters back, is a very good team. The MAC is so competitive this year that, again, records are deceptive. I want to enjoy the season for a month before the tourney starts, but the 3A post-season is going to be a lot of fun to watch, especially if the IHSAA spreads the teams around as fairly as they can.