By Mark Schafer | The News-Review
DES MOINES – Winter is coming to an end.
Well, the winter sports season is, anyway. This week the Iowa High School Athletic Association will hold their State basketball tournament. Four new champions will be crowned. The basketball tournament also marks the end of the winter sports season for the IHSAA.
Class 4A
Valley of West Des Moines has a chance to repeat as the champions. The Tigers, who capped off last season by besting Cedar Rapids, Kennedy in the championship game, could see Cedar Rapids, Kennedy again.
Valley is only the No. 3 seed in the tournament despite a 20-3 overall record.
The top seeded team in class 4A goes to Cedar Falls who finished the year at 21-2. In the quarter finals the Tigers will take on Dubuque Senior who holds a 17-6 overall record.
Despite being heavy contenders in tournaments past, CedarFalls is 14-15 overall in State tournament games.
For Dubuque Senior, they are 6-9.
No. 4 seeded Waukee Northwest takes on last year’s runners-up in Cedar Rapids, Kennedy. Waukee Northwest is 2-2 all-time in tournament games. Cedar Rapids, Kennedy are trying to stay above .500 as they enter the tournament with a 20-19 overall mark in tournament games.
Linn-Mar is the No. 2 seed in this year’s class 4A tournament. The Lions are 21-2. They have a rich history at the tournament with a 22-8 overall record.
Linn-Mar plays seventh-seeded Waukee (18-6). Waukee is also no stranger to the tournament with a 10-10 overall record in tournament play.
Valley and Ames are two schools that are not only used to playing in Des Moines, but used to winning. Last year’s champs finished the season at 20-3 to earn the No. 3 seed. Overall the Tigers are 26-14 in tournament games.
There is nothing little about the Little Cyclones tournament history. Although they are the No. 6 seed with a 21-2 overall record, the Little Cyclones are perennial title favorites, and they hold a tournament record of 40-16.
Class 3A
Last year Assumption, Davenport rose to the class 3A crown, despite being the No. 4 seed.
This year’s class 3A field doesn’t feature Assumption, and the field seems incredibly talented. Clear Lake finished the year 24-0. They were able to grab the No. 1 seed. They also lead class 3A in most categories.
Central DeWitt is the No. 8 seed in the tournament with a 13-11 overall record.
Clear Lake is 1-6 all-time in tournament games. Central DeWitt is 7-4.
The good news for Storm Lake is that the No. 4 seeded team won the tournament last year. Storm Lake has also comes in with an overall record of 22-1.
The bad news is that their lone loss came from a team nicknamed the Tigers out of the Raccoon River Conference.
While fifth-seeded ADM is indeed named the Tigers, and they do call the Raccoon River Conference home, they are not the team that beat Storm Lake (that was Carroll). ADM is 21-4 overall this season.
Storm Lake is 11-11 in all-time tournament play. ADM is 2-2.
Knoxville emerged from the South Central Conference with a 24-0 overall record and they were able to grab the No. 2 seed in the tournament. They will take on No. 7 seeded Xavier in the first round. The Saints are 15-9 this season.
Knoxville has limited tournament experience with a 2-4 all-time record at the tournament. Xavier is 10-5.
Ballard is 21-2 on the season and they are another team out of the Raccoon River Conference. The Bombers are the No. 3 seeded team.
MOC-Floyd Valley finished the year at 20-4 and are the No. 6 seeded team.
Ballard is 7-15 all-time at the tournament. MOC-Floyd Valley comes in with a 10-8 overall record.
Class 2A
Once again Western Christian comes in as the overwhelming favorite to win the 2A title. The Wolfpack are perennial title favorites. They won the championship last year and earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament this year.
The Wolfpack holds a 22-3 record on the season. Jesup is the No. 8 seed. They finished the year at 16-9.
Western Christian has 48 victories in tournament play compared to just 16 losses. Jesup is 2-4 all-time.
Long time class 1A champions, Grand View Christian jumped up to play class 2A this year (they still classify as a 1A team, but wanted to play in class 2A). The Thunder are 23-1 and hold the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
Treynor is making another tournament appearance. The Cardinals are 22-3 and come in as the fifth seed.
For the Thunder they are 15-3 all-time in tournament play (all class 1A). Treynor is 14-20 at the tournament.
West Lyon is 21-3 this season and they hold the No. 2 seed. Union Community is the No. 7 seed with a 17-9 overall record.
Both teams share one common opponent this year in Kuemper Catholic. West Lyon fell to the Knights by three. Union upset Kuemper Catholic in the sub-state finals to earn a trip to the State tournament.
West Lyon is a perfect 4-0 in tournament play. Union is 0-1 all time.
Unity Christian is the No. 3 seed with a 20-4 overall record. They will play Grundy Center (22-2) in the first round. Grundy Center is the seventh-seed.
Unity Christian is 15-4 while Grundy Center is 5-10 all-time at the tournament.
Class 1A
A rematch of the finals could happen as early as the semifinals.
North Linn took the class 1A title last season. The Lynx were able to best Marquette Catholic by one point.
Both teams could meet again this year, but it would be in the semifinals.
Marquette Catholic is the No. 1 seeded team. They hold a 25-1 overall record.
The eighth seeded team is Remsen-St. Mary’s who comes into the tournament at 21-4.
Gladbrook-Reinbeck is the fourth seeded team with a 22-3 overall record. Meanwhile North Linn will try to defend their title from the fifth seed. Overall the Lynx are 23-2.
Madrid has been largely unchallenged this season as they finished the year 25-0 and were able to grab the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Boyden-Hull comes into the tournament with an 18-8 overall record. The Comets are the No. 7 seed.
St. Edmond finished the season with a 22-3 overall record and were able to grab the third seed.
Woodbine was a No. 8 seeded team last year, but the Tigers are 23-2 this season and they hold the No. 6 seed.
Some tournament facts: three of the four champions from last year return this year. A total of five teams in this year’s tournament are named the Tigers. Interestingly, in class 2A, there is no Tiger-named team, but the only two Knight named teams are in that class. Three teams (Woodbine, Madrid and Union) have never won a tournament game before. Western Christian could surpass 50 all-time tournament wins and still not win the championship.
