Thoughts, Observations and Reaction to The Class 5A and 4A Girls Basketball Postseason Pairings
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The final pieces of the girls basketball postseason puzzle were revealed on Wednesday afternoon.
A week after releasing the postseason pairings for the smallest three classes the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released regional pairings for Classes 4A and 5A on Wednesday.
With Wednesday’s release area teams West High, City High, Liberty High and Clear Creek Amana saw their paths to the state tournament that is schedule for March 3-8 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Here are a few immediate reactions to the final regional pairings for area teams.
City High and Liberty High Round 3?
The regional questions for City High, Liberty High and West High over the last month was which team could surge to the top of the Iowa City 5A rankings and would it be enough to earn home court advantage in a regional final.
The answers revealed on Wednesday were Liberty and yes it was.
Eighth-ranked Liberty High (15-5) earned the top seed in Class 5A, Region 8 and would host the regional title game with a semifinal win.
Ninth-ranked City High (15-6) is the two seed in Region 8 and faces Cedar Rapids Jefferson (8-12) in the semifinals.
City High defeated Jefferson 55-43 on Tuesday evening.
Liberty High moved up two spots to eighth in the Class 5A rankings on Wednesday, leapfrogging both City High and West High.
The Lightning defeated City High 56-51 on Friday in North Liberty to complete a season split with City High.
There was little separation on the court and in the rankings between City High, Liberty High and West High all season.
The three teams all split games with one another this season with four of those six games decided by nine points or less.
Extra Note on Liberty High’s Semifinal in 5A, Region 8
Liberty High will celebrate the opportunity to earn a trip to Des Moines without leaving North Liberty but the Lightning can’t think about a potential third meeting with City High just yet.
The Lightning will host the winner of the Region 8 quarterfinal between West Des Moines Valley and Urbandale on February 22 at 7 p.m.
West Des Moines Valley (5-15) has defeated Urbandale (4-17) twice this season, 52-39 on December 17 and 58-43 on January 24.
If the Tigers win the third meeting on February 19 in West Des Moines they will come to Liberty High as the most dangerous four-seed in 5A.
Don’t be fooled by the Tigers’ 5-15 record.
An absurd 16 of the 19 games against in-state competition for West Des Moines Valley this season have come against ranked opponents including eight games against top-four ranked teams.
West High in All-MVC Region 5
West High (14-7) went from eighth to 10th in the 5A rankings on Wednesday and earned the two seed in an all-Mississippi Valley Conference Class 5A, Region 5.
The Trojans will host Cedar Rapids Kennedy (9-11) in the Region 5 semifinals and are opposite top-seeded and fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie (17-3).
West High defeated Cedar Rapids Kennedy 71-63 on Tuesday in Iowa City and dropped its only meeting with Cedar Rapids Prairie this season 65-57 on January 17 in Cedar Rapids.
Your Prep Sports will break down Regional title games later as the matchups are finalized but a note to consider, West High fell behind 17-6 after the opening quarter in the first meeting with Cedar Rapids Prairie and outscored the Hawks 51-48 over the final three quarters.
Class 4A’s Top Scorers Meet in Region 4
No. 12 Clear Creek Amana (13-7) earned the second seed in Class 4A, Region 4 that features fourth-ranked Central DeWitt (18-3) as the top seed.
Five of the six teams in Class 4A, Region 4 have at least 13 wins.
No Class 4A regional has more than three teams with 12 wins or more on the season.
Clear Creek Amana will host the winner of Keokuk (16-4) and Mount Pleasant (3-18) on February 22.
The Clippers defeated Keokuk 68-35 in the regional title game last season so the Chiefs are familiar with the trip to Tiffin.
Region 4 features three of the top four scorers in Class 4A and Clear Creek Amana could be forced to defend two of them.
Central DeWitt senior Lauren Walker leads 4A with 25.4 points per game and Keokuk junior Kendra Boatman ranks fourth in 4A in scoring at 21.4 points per game.
Clear Creek Amana junior Averie Lower is the third highest scorer in 4A at 23.4 points per game.
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