Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – A decorated prep athletic career for Evan Flitz is down to its final few days.

The most prolific quarterback in West High history, Flitz will end his high school athletic career this week on the basketball court at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

He would prefer to end it with a second consecutive state title.

If Flitz continues to play the way he did on Tuesday in a Class 4A state quarterfinal he may just get the send off he is seeking.

Flitz scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting to help second-ranked West High (20-4) return to the state semifinals for the eighth straight season with a 62-50 win over Muscatine.

“It would be awesome to end with a championship but tight now we are thinking about winning a semifinal game,” Flitz said. “Obviously goals at the end of the year don’t happen without the steps you need to take so we are just focused on Thursday right now but it would be a huge honor and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

Flitz entered the state tournament averaging 5.7 points per game in his first season as a starter.

The 6-foot senior guard saved his best performance for the state’s biggest stage.

Flitz scored in double figures for the fourth time in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, going 3-of-4 from 3-point range while taking turns chasing Muscatine standout Joe Wieskamp on the defensive end.  

“He shot the ball well but he was really good on defense too,” West High coach Steve Bergman said. “He was very good.”

Stepping up on the big stage is nothing new for Flitz.

He led West High to back-to-back Class 4A state title games as one of the top quarterbacks in the state the past two seasons.

Flitz was the captain of the Class 4A all-state team last fall following a senior season in which he led the state in passing while rewriting the West High record book.

In the final game of his career Flitz torched top-ranked West Des Moines Dowling for 350 yards and three touchdowns on his way to setting 4A championship game records for completions and passing yards.

This week he is bring that experience from the football field to the basketball court.

“I think I can bring some stability and leadership to this group of guys and be that calm voice in the huddle letting guys know that everything will be alright if we stick to the game plan,” Flitz said. “I think that having that experience with football has been really helpful for me.”

A career 46 percent 3-point shooter, Flitz missed all three of his field goal attempts and both of his 3-pointers in a substate final win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

On Tuesday, Flitz buried his first two 3-point attempts and had 11 of his 14 points in the first half.

“It was really important to hit some shots early because we are good shooters, we have confidence that we are going to put shots in the basket it just hasn’t been that way the past couple of games,” Flitz said. “We expect to make shots because we are confident and when we knock them in we are a tough team to beat.”

With West High expecting to see plenty of zone defense as opponents attempt to counter the Trojans front court duo of Patrick McCaffery and Seybian Sims some hot shooting by Flitz and fellow guard Dante Eldridge becomes a key for the defending champion Trojans.

“That would be a huge boost because he has been up and down a little bit this season,” Bergman said of Flitz shooting well. “He was very good today.”

Flitz has been good at state before.

He canned a pair of 3-pointers in last year’s state title win over West Des Moines Valley and is now 5-of-8 from 3-point range at state in his career.

The Pomona College football recruit would like to add a few more buckets and another state title over the final two games of his career.

“I’m just taking it a day at a time knowing that the end is near but making the most of it,” Flitz said. “Getting those extra shots up in the gym and just enjoying these last couple days with this high school team.”