Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The postseason is rolling for area boys basketball teams.

Things pick up steam next week when teams in all class turn their attention toward playoff action.

With the opening day of the state tournament looming a little more than two weeks away here are five things to keep an eye on as area teams try to secure their spot at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. 

RVC Tourney Time

The River Valley Conference doesn’t play a post season tournament.

If it did it would look a lot like Class 2A, District 8.

Four RVC rivals gather in Cascade on Thursday for a district semifinal doubleheader that features a couple of cross-divisional matchups.

Regina (17-3) brings a nine-game winning streak into its semifinal matchup with Monticello (11-11) in the opener.

West Branch (13-9) gets sixth-ranked and top-seeded Cascade (20-1) on its home floor in the nightcap.

Regina outscored Monticello 36-21 in the second half of a 56-39 win over the Panthers in Monticello on December 12.

That same night in December West Branch hung with Cascade for the better part of three quarters before falling 66-51.

The winners will meet in the District 5 final on Tuesday in Maquoketa in another regular season rematch.

Super Sophomores

Over the course of the season a strong group of sophomores have emerged across the Your Prep Sports area.

Postseason play will provide the first real chance for the strong class of 2020 contingent to show what they can do under the bright lights.

Solon guard AJ Coons is one of the headliners of the talent-rich sophomore group.

The 6-foot-3 Coons is averaging a team-high 18.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for a Solon (13-7) squad that has won four of its last five.

Liberty High enters its first postseason behind the play of 6-foot-5 sophomore Andre Brandon.

Brandon led the Lightning to an 8-13 mark in their debut season averaging team-bests of 14.7 and 5.7 rebounds per game.

City High’s Keshawn Christian is averaging 12.9 points and has a team-high 39 assists entering the final game of the regular season and Regina has relied heavily on the services of two sophomores in point guard Masen Miller and 6-foot-9 center Even Brauns.

Miller is averaging 11.3 points and 3.1 assists while Brans is putting up 10.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.

Third Time X2?

Coaches aren’t thrilled about seeing a team for the third time in the postseason.

West High has the possibility of facing that situation twice in five days as the Trojans attempt to return to the state tournament for the eighth consecutive season.

Second-ranked West High (16-3) will host the winner of City High and Cedar Rapids Washington in a Class 4A, Substate 5 semifinal on February 23.

If City High (5-15) wins its opener at Washington on Monday it sets up a third meeting this season between the two cross-town rivals.

West High won the first two meetings by 27 and 33 points.

The second seed in Substate 5 is Cedar Rapids Prairie. West High already owns wins of 70-57 and 65-55 over the Hawks this season.

West High Bigs A Bother for Opponents

Speaking of West High the Trojans are rounding into postseason form following a 68-59 loss to Dubuque Senior on February 3.

The Trojans have won three straight by an average of better than 22 points.

The two biggest guys in the West High lineup have been a big part of that recent surge.

Forwards Patrick McCaffery and Seybian Sims combined to averaging 40.5 points while shooting 71 percent from the field in back-to-back West High wins last week.

The 6-foot-9 McCaffery is averaging a team-high 21.1 points per game on 53 percent shooting while the 6-foot-7 Sims is averaging 14.9 points while shooting an absurd 78 percent from the floor.

Familiar Foes in Unfamiliar Setting

It’s all been new for Liberty High this season.

The first postseason game in program history will come against a familiar foe for the Lightning.

Liberty High (8-13) will take on Fort Madison (13-9) in its first ever postseason contest on Monday in a Class 3A, Substate 5 quarterfinal at Mount Pleasant.

The Lightning lost to Fort Madison 65-48 back on December 19 in North Liberty.

Liberty High enters the postseason with some momentum having won three of its final four games to close its first regular season.

Playing an independent schedule this season before joining the Mississippi Valley Conference next season the Lightning saw a variety of opponents.

That list includes 3A top-ranked Mount Pleasant which handed the Lightning a 76-51 defeat last month and likely awaits the winner of Liberty High and Fort Madison in the substate semifinals.