Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The start of the state tournament is just three days away.

On Monday morning the six-day tournament gets underway with all 40 qualifiers hoping to end the season by hoisting a state championship trophy.

Three Your Prep Sports area teams are among those vying for state gold as City High, Clear Creek Amana and West Branch head to Des Moines in search of state titles at Wells Fargo Arena.

Before we turn our attention to the week that lies ahead here is a look back at some of the best performances, players and coaches from the girls basketball regular season in the Your Prep Sports area.

Best Individual Performance: Aubrey Joens against Cedar Falls. In a career filled with sensational performances Joens was never better than she was in an 82-73 road win over the fifth-ranked Tigers. The City High senior scored 39 points on 11-of-21 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to go with two assists and two steals helping the Little Hawks rally late.

Best Individual Performance Part 2: Meagan Harvey against Pella. It’s almost impossible to be more efficient than the Clear Creek Amana senior was in a 75-59 substate semifinal win over the Dutch. Harvey made a school-record eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor.  

Best Team Performance: City High against Cedar Rapids Prairie. The Little Hawks have been impressive throughout the season but never more so than in their 85-53 win over ninth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie. City High went 11-of-14 from 3-point range while building a 53-31 lead and finished 14-of-25 from beyond the arc.

Biggest Upset: Clear Creek Amana over Marion. This one is easy. Not only did the Clippers avenge a 29-point regular season loss with its regional 66-49 final win they did so at Marion where the Indians were 59-1 over the past season and in impressive fashion never trailing over the final 24 minutes.

Comeback Player of the Year: Regina senior Elly Gahan returned from a shoulder injury that sidelined her for more than 14 games to help the Regals reach the 2A regional finals, averaging 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game over the final six games of the season.

Coach of the Year: Clear Creek Amana’s PJ Sweeney. Clear Creek Amana went 19-4 and reached the state tournament for the first time in program history but the mark of a good coach is a team’s improvement and the Clippers have kept getting better as the season progresses. Sweeney led CCA to wins over the second and third ranked teams in 4A in the final two weeks of the season.

Coach of the Year Part 2: Once again the Your Prep Sports area featured a number of excellent coaching jobs as three teams reached the state tournament and Solon tripled its win total from a year ago. However, what Mary Halvorson did in her first season leading Regina was impressive as any coaching effort around. Dealing with injuries throughout the season Halvorson directed Regina to a 16-8 record and a spot in the regional finals where the Regals played top-ranked and unbeaten Cascade as close as anyone this season.

Best Game: City High against West Des Moines Dowling. This was high-level basketball from the get go with two of the top teams in the state putting on a show in a Saturday matinee. City High used a driving basket by Aubrey Joens in the final seconds to earn a 75-73 back-and-forth win over the Maroons and Iowa recruit Caitlin Clark.

Breakthrough Performer: Solon sophomore Kaia Holtkamp. After pressed into immediate action last season as a freshman Holtkamp flashed her massive potential as a sophomore leading the Spartans with 11.2 points per game. Holtkamp added 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while cutting her turnover total nearly in half.

Best Clutch Performance: Sasha Koenig against Van Buren. The junior point guard is what coaches call a gamer, so it was no surprise that Koenig came up with one of her best games when West Branch needed it most. Koenig went 4-of-5 from 3-point range and scored a team-high 19 points to go with five assists in a 58-38 regional final win.  

Biggest Shot: Matayia Tellis against West Des Moines Valley. With its top scorer on the bench with five fouls Tellis took the game into her own hands, scoring on a driving layup as time expired to force overtime in what was eventually a 56-54 road upset of the tenth-ranked Tigers.

Longest Shot: Calia Clubb against Pella. Clubb does most of her damage around the basket but in the regional semifinal against Pella the Clear Creek Amana sophomore sparked her team when she tossed in a shot from beyond the half court line to beat the halftime buzzer.

Most Versatile Player: West High junior Audrey Koch. From scoring, rebounding, and passing to defending everything from guards to posts few players were asked to do more for their teams that Koch. The junior was always up to the challenge averaging a career-high 18.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Unsung Hero: Clear Creek Amana sophomore Calia Clubb. Clubb was a first-team all-WAMAC West Division pick so she wasn’t total unsung but shined this season in the shadow of all-stater Karsyn Stratton. Clubb averaged 9.1 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds to help the Clippers to their most successful season ever.

Best Under the Radar Performer: Regina senior Sam Greving. Greving quietly put up another solid season averaging 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as the stabilizing offensive force in the Regal lineup.

Defensive Player of the Year: West Branch senior Kaiya Luneckas. At West Branch the focus is always defense and Luneckas was at the center of the Bears’ defensive game plans all season. The 6-foot-1 senior was a disruptor at the top of the West Branch trapping zone defense and still managed to average a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game, grabbing a school-record 23 boards against Regina.

Newcomer of the Year: As a sophomore Elly Holubar isn’t technically a newcomer but after scoring 19 points in just 10 games last season Holubar made quite a splash in her first full season of varsity action. The 5-foot-7 ball of energy led Solon with 8.9 rebounds per game and added 6.9 points per contest while shooting a team-best 43 percent from the floor.   

Freshman of the Year: Kelsey Joens provided an immediate impact in her first prep season averaging 11 points and 4 rebounds per game while helping City High return to the state tournament for the fourth straight season.

Freshman of the Year Part 2: Keiko Ono-Fullard showed early on she was ready to be an impact player as a freshman and backed it up averaging 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and leading Liberty High in assists (2) and steals (1.2).

Bench Player of the Year: City High sophomore Eviyon Richardson was a starter a year ago but has provided immediate energy and instant offense off the bench for the Little Hawks this season averaging 7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Most Valuable Players: City High seniors Aubrey Joens and Rose Nkumu. The senior guards were so good this season its hard to distinguish who played a bigger role in leading the Little Hawks to a 22-1 record and a fourth straight tournament. Joens leads the Little Hawks in scoring at 20.2 points and averages five rebounds and 3.2 steals per game. Nkumu averages 14.4 points, six assists and 4.3 steals.

Most valuable player part 2: Clear Creek Amana senior Karsyn Stratton. In four years of writing this story there has never been co-players of the year yet alone a ‘Part 2’ but what Stratton has done this season is simply too impressive to ignore. The senior guard is averaging 21.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 2.3 assists per game and shooting 55 percent from the field while leading the Clippers to the first state tournament appearance in program history.

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