Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The start of the state basketball tournament is less than a week away.

Eight teams have already secured spots at the state tournament with Class 3A regional finals taking place on Saturday.

Monday 1A and 2A teams will play for spots at state and by Tuesday evening all 40 state tournament spots will be spoken for.

Here are five things to keep an eye on entering regional finals as area teams try to extend their seasons and punch tickets to the state tournament that runs February 26 to March 3 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Sending Off Some Senior Standouts 

The 2018 class is absolutely loaded with talent across the entire state of Iowa.

Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the Your Prep Sports area.

Some of the top senior talent in the state resides right here and the beginning of the postseason means some brilliant careers will soon be coming to a close.

Before it is too late take the time to catch like likes of City High 2,000-point scorer Ashley Joens or West High stars Logan Cook and Rachael Saunders one final time.

Along with Joens, Regina’s Mary Crompton and West Branch standout Tatum Koenig will both complete their careers as the all-time leading scorers at their schools.

Koenig closed her career with a spectacular 24-point performance in a regional final loss to Regina.

All five of those seniors rank among the best to ever wear the uniform at their schools and are worth watching in their high school colors least one more time before they move on to collegiate careers.

Blemished but Battle Tested

It’s been a while since Regina entered a regional final with anything other than a 0 in the loss column.

The Regals put together back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons with both ending in state semifinal losses.

A loaded up non-conference schedule and an early season injury to senior all-state guard Mary Crompton contributed to four-regular season loss for the seventh-ranked Regals.

Those two factors also have Regina (20-4) playing at its highest level in two years entering a Class 2A, Region 5 title game against Danville on Monday according to second-year head coach Jeff Wallace.

Crompton has returned to average a team-high 18.1 points in 15 games and bolster a senior laden Regina back court that features senior stalwarts Greyson Dumont, Lauren Gaarde and Alexa Lehman.

Dumont and Gaarde combine to average nearly eight assists and six steals per game.

“The kids are really dialed in,” Wallace said. “I’ve always said a team with a bunch of seniors is a really hard team to knock out just because they are playing with that sense of purpose and that sense of urgency you have to have in postseason time.”

West High Hits the Road

West High will be seeking a third state tournament berth in the past four seasons on Tuesday.

Each of the previous two state tournament runs for West High, in 2015 and last season, the Women of Troy hosted a regional final.

Tuesday West High will need a road win to return to state.

Ninth-ranked West High (15-7) travels to No. 8 Pleasant Valley (21-1) on Tuesday for the Class 5A, Region 2 title game.

Pleasant Valley won 16 straight games to open the season before a loss to 4A fourth-ranked North Scott.

The Spartans haven’t played a game away from home since that loss to North Scott on January 26 and are 10-0 at home this season.

West High spent most of the season ranked in the top three before losing four straight games to ranked teams in a seven-day span in late January but have won four straight since. 

City High Trying to Stay Perfect

There is already one unbeaten team in the state tournament field with Crestwood (23-0) qualifying in Class 3A.

Eight other teams without a loss still have a chance to qualifying including the lone remaining unbeaten Class 5A team City High (22-0).

Standing between the Little Hawks and a second consecutive state tournament berth is a matchup with No. 14 Bettendorf (16-5) in the Class 5A, Region 3 title game on Tuesday at City High.

City High was also unbeaten entering the state 2014 state tournament. The only other Class 5A team to enter the state tournament without a loss was Indianola (23-0) last season.

Top Matchups Elsewhere in 5A

If you are looking for the best matchups outside of the area or want to follow results that could affect state tournament seedings there are three 5A games that stand out.

No. 11 Cedar Rapids Prairie (16-6) travels to No. 6 Waukee (18-4) in a Mississippi Valley Conference vs. CIML showdown.

Fifth-ranked Ankeny Centennial (19-3) faces No. 12 West Des Moines Valley (12-10) for the third time this season and No. 7 Southeast Polk (19-3) hosts No. 10 Indianola (19-3) in a rematch of the regular season opener for both teams won by the Rams.