Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The girls basketball season is already off and rolling and some of the best teams in the state reside in the Your Prep Sports Area.

Three teams, City High, West High and Regina all opened the season ranked in the top four in their respective classes.

As the season begins to heat up here are a few storylines to keep an eye on.

Title Chasers

City High, West High and Regina ago reached the state tournament a year ago.

All three teams enter this season with higher expectations than just a return trip to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Each of those three top-four preseason teams have championship expectations backed up by the talent to make good on those goals.

Second-ranked Regina is the highest ranked of the trio to open the season.

The Regals are 51-2 over the past two seasons losing in the eventual state champion in the 2A semifinals each of the past two seasons.

Regina brings back four starters led by all-staters Alex Wiese and Mary Crompton from a 26-1 squad that fell to Western Christian in the semifinals.

West High was also a semifinalist a year ago, falling to eventual champion West Des Moines Valley in the 5A semifinals.

Third-ranked West High can match size and talent with nearly any team in 5A with a trio of division one recruits in Logan Cook (Iowa), Rachael Saunders (Creighton) and Cailyn Morgan (Northern Iowa).

City High opens the season ranked fourth in 5A after returning to the state tournament for the first time since 2014 last spring.

The Little Hawks have one of the top trios in the state led by one of the state’s best players in Ashley Joens.

Sophomore guards Aubrey Joens and Rose Nkumu are division one talents.

All the Way Back

West High will begin its journey back to the state tournament without one of its stop players.

Saunders, who tore her ACL in a 5A quarterfinal win over Waukee last month, will miss a few weeks of the season as she works her way back to full strength.

The 5-foot-9 senior guard has passed the rest required to return but is being cautious and precise in her rehab with an eye on being at her best for a title run in March.

“Coach (BJ) Mayer wants me for the second part of the season to be at my best then so we are going to try to ease me into it,” Saunders said. “I’m really just trying to get by knee back to its prime condition and hopefully being able to contribute as soon as possible.”

When she is at her best Saunders is among the top playmakers in the state.

The Creighton recruit averaged 12.4 points per game last season and was second on the team with 47 assists.

West High has the depth to absorb the early absence of one of its leaders but will be tested by a pre-holiday schedule that features four games with ranked opponents including a cross-town contest with No. 4 City High on Dec. 12 and a road trip to Minnesota powerhouse Hopkins on Dec. 9. 

Catch Her While You Can

For opposing coaches Ashley Joens is one of those players that has seemingly been around forever.

The City High senior is already a 1,000-point scorer, three-time all-stater and Mississippi Valley Conference divisional player of the year.  

ESPN ranks the 5-foot-9 Joens as the 19th best senior in the country and the Iowa State signee was recently named to the watch list for the national girls high school player of the year.

Those are the types of rankings and accolades that put Joens in rare territory for Iowa prep players.

A rare talent that can play everything from point guard to center, Joens is on pace to leave City High as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

If you can’t had a chance to watch Joens in action do it’s work the price of admission.

Sister Act

Joens and younger sister Aubrey (a sophomore who already owns offers from Iowa State and Creighton) are one of the top sister duos in the state but aren’t the only area duo causing problems for opponents this season.

Sister Tatum and Sasha Koenig give West Branch one of the most entertaining and productive back courts around.

Tatum, a 5-foot-7 ball of energy headed to Bradley next season, averaged 20 points per game a year ago and needs just 30 points to become the Bears’ all-time leading scorer.

Sasha, a speedy 5-foot-3 freshman, had 21 points in her career debut on Tuesday in a 40-point win over Durant.

The duo makes a West Branch squad that was 14-9 a year ago a contender in a strong year in Class 2A.

New Beginnings at Liberty High

Liberty High played the first game in program history on Tuesday, a 54-28 loss at Fairfield.

Former Linn-Mar and Iowa player Jamie Brandt leads the first-year program after spending the last three seasons at Linn-Mar where she compiled a 48-24 record and reached the 5A state semifinals in 2015.

Liberty High will play its home opener on Monday against Mount Vernon.