Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The high school basketball season has already hit the unofficial halfway mark with the holiday break last month.

In all actuality the halfway point for most boys basketball teams is about right now after returning to action for the first time in 2026 last week.

Before the January schedule gets rolling full force Your Prep Sports will look back at the start of the season before focusing on the end of the season that concludes with the state tournament scheduled for March 9-13.

Here is a quick look at some of the best moments and games from the opening month of the season and a few mid-season awards.

Team With Best Resume

Solon

The Spartans are off to a strong 10-0 start that includes a pair of wins over ranked teams, a road win at WAMAC West Division leader Clear Creek Amana and a rivalry win over Mount Vernon.

Nine games into the season that’s a solid list of wins and the Spartans have done it in impressive fashion.

The two best wins for Solon are a 21-point home win over 2A fourth-ranked Regina and a 59-56 road win at then 3A No. 10 Center Point-Urbana.

Toss in a 71-52 win at Clear Creek Amana (7-4) and a 57-56 home win over Mount Vernon (8-1) and the Spartans have one of the better pre-holiday resumes in Class 3A.

Best Win

West High at Dubuque Wahlert

On its own, the Trojan’s 77-69 win at Class 3A No. 10 Dubuque Wahlert is big.

It’s what the Trojans have done since that make that win at Wahlert the best for any area team this season.

Since its eight-point road win over Dubuque Wahlert (5-3) on December 16 West High has posted back-to-back wins over cross-town rivals City High and Liberty High, improving to 5-3 on the season with the three-game winning streak.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for West High at Dubuque Wahlert.

Best Game

Clear Creek Amana over West High

The 58-53 season-opening win for the Clippers at West High could easily be categorized as the best win but it goes down as one of the best early-season games in the area.

Clear Creek Amana erased a seven-point halftime deficit and rallied from down six in the final five minutes for a big-time road win to open the season.

The Clippers outscored West High 20-9 over the final 4:40 to rally from a 44-38 fourth-quarter deficit.

Best Start

Regina

After a run to the state title game in football this fall resulted in a semi late start to the season for several key players for Regina it would have been easy to picture a slow start to the season for the Regals.

That hasn’t been the case.

Regina is off to an 8-1 start that includes a 5-0 mark in River Valley Conference South Division play and has won its games by an average of 24 points per game.

The lone loss for Regina was at Class 3A seventh-ranked Solon and the best win for the Regals was an eight-point home win over Northeast (8-3).

The Regals, which are up to third in the Class 2A rankings, certainly haven’t reached their peak this season but that was the objective in early January.

Given the challenges it has been a strong start for a Regina squad seeking a second state tournament trip in three seasons.

Best Individual Game

Jerimiah Washpun against North Scott

The dynamic Liberty High junior guard has a handful of games this season that could fit into this category but Washpun was never better than he was in an 87-76 season-opening loss to North Scott.

Washpun poured in a career-high 40 points and had nine rebounds, five assists and a steal in the opener.

The 5-foot-11 Washpun was 16-of-31 from the floor, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range in his 40-point outburst and went 2-of-3 at the free throw line.

Player that Has Put Themselves On Opponents Scouting Reports

Carson Meskimen

It hasn’t taken long for Meskimen to put himself not just on the scouting reports for opposing teams but at the top of those reports.

In his varsity debut season Meskimen has flashed early averaging 15.5 points per game while shooting 42 percent from the floor including 34 percent from 3-point range.

The 6-foot-1 Meskimen is averaging 2.9 rebounds, .9 assists and .7 steals per game in his first 11 varsity games.

Player that Has Stepped Up

Ethan Headings

As the only one of the Trojan’s top six returning scorers from last season the expectation was for Headings to step up in his final prep season.

What Headings has done through the eight games has been beyond what could have been expected from the 6-foot-2 senior forward.

After averaging 7 points, 2.3 rebounds 1 assist and .9 steals per game last season Headings has emerged as a force for West High this season while helping the new-look Trojans to a 5-3 start.

Headings is averaging 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor.

Player We Aren’t Talking about Enough

Jayden Harris

After bursting onto the scene with a huge junior season last winter Harris continues to quietly put together another impressive season.

The 5-foot-10 senior point guard leads West Branch in scoring and steals and is averaging a career-high in assists while helping the Bears to a 5-5 start.

Harris is averaging 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game while shooting 44 percent from the floor including 32 percent from 3-point range.

Best Individual Surprise

Corey Davis

Davis has emerged not only as one of the best stories of the early season but as one of the best players on a surging West High team that has won three in a row.

Davis started the season on the junior varsity team and didn’t play in two of the first three games as West High opened 1-2.

When Davis got his opportunity the 5-foot-7 junior guard seized it and hasn’t looked back.

Davis has scored in double digits in four of the past five games, scoring at least nine points in all five and ranks fourth on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game.

Davis is shooting 52 percent from the floor including 58 percent (11-of-18) from 3-point range to go with 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Mid-Season Newcomer of the Year

Coden Kurtz

In his first varsity season Kurtz has hit the ground running ranking third on the team in scoring and leading the Little Hawks in assists.

The 5-foot-11 Kurtz is averaging 7.7 points and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 44 percent from the floor including 35 percent from 3-point range (10-of-29).

The sophomore point guard is also averaging 1 rebound and .8 steals per game in his first season as a varsity starter.

Mid-Season Co-MVP

Tate McCollum

Solon is off to a 10-0 start and is up to seventh in the Class 3A rankings and McCollum has been the biggest reason for the Spartans’ impressive start.

The 5-foot-10 junior guard ranks third in Class 3A in scoring at 22.8 points per game and has been consistent scoring at least 14 points in every game this season.

McCollum has also been efficient, shooting 45 percent from the floor including 42 percent (47-of-111) from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free throw line while leading the Spartans in free throw attempts (46) and makes (35).

Over the last seven games McCollum is averaging 25.4 points per game and has a pair of 30-point performances.

In addition to the scoring McCollum is averaging 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Mid-Season Co-MVP

Beckett Boeset

Entering the season Boeset was expected to take on a much larger role after Clear Creek Amana graduated its top six scorers from last year’s WAMAC title winning team.

Boeset has thrived in his expanded role doing it all while helping the Clippers to a 7-4 start to the season.

As expected Boeset has emerged as the top offensive option for the Clippers averaging a team-high 20.5 points on 54 percent field goal shooting.

Boeset is shooting 39 percent from 3-point range (12-of-31) and 76 percent from the free throw line while leading the Clippers in free throw attempts (49) and makes (37).

The 6-foot-3 Boeset has done much more than just carry the load offensively leading the Clippers in rebounds (6.2), assists (3.7) and steals (3).

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