Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The start of the 2024 girls state basketball tournament is still more than a week away.

The field of 40 headed to Wells Fargo Arena for the state tournament schedule to run February 26 – March 1 will begin to take shape on Saturday.

Eight state tournament spots are up for grabs on Saturday with Class 3A regional finals being held across the state on Saturday evening.

Solon will host Chariton in a top-15 matchup on Saturday in Solon with the winner securing a spot at the state tournament.

Here is a quick look at the Region 5 title game schedule for 7 p.m. in Solon.

Class 3A, Region 5

No. 3 Solon (20-3) vs. No. 14 Chariton (20-3)

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: Solon High School

Statistical leaders: Solon – Callie Levin, 5-9, Sr., 22.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.2 steals, 4.4 assists; Hailey Miller, 5-7, Sr., 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2 steals. Chariton – Mckenzi Snook, 5-7, Sr., 16.5 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals, 4.6 assists; Tatyana Allen-Winston, 5-9, Sr., 15.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.6 steals.

About the Spartans: Last season Solon snapped a long state tournament drought with its first appearance since 2006.

Now the Spartans are seeking their first back-to-back state tournament appearances since 1998.

Since losing two of three games in a span of seven days to ranked teams Mount Vernon and Marion in January the Spartans have won eight in a row while averaging 66.3 points per game.

The current eight-game winning streak for Solon features a road win at fourth-ranked Mount Vernon and 56 and 61-point wins in its first two regional games.

Solon is the second highest scoring team in Class 3A this season averaging 63.7 points per game behind Levin (22.2 ppg) and Miller (14 ppg).

Senior forward Anna Quillin is averaging a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game and senior guard Mia Stahle averages 6.9 points, 2.9 steals and 2.6 assists per game.

About the Chargers: Chariton is seeking to put the exclamation point on one of the best seasons in program history with its first trip to the state tournament since 1924.

The Chargers have double digit wins for the first time since 2017-2018 and the 20 wins are the most in the last 16 seasons for Chariton who won 14 games each of the past two years.

The first two losses for Chariton this season each came to 2A fifth-ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and the Chargers have won three in a row since its most recent loss to Pella Christian on February 5.

Chariton defeated Centerville 66-30 and Mid-Prairie 53-33 in its first two regional games.

Snook and Allen-Winston give the Chargers one of the top senior guard tandems in the state accounting for 57 percent of the scoring and 55 percent of the rebounding for Chariton.

Allen-Winston and Snook combine to average 32.1 points, 18.7 rebounds and 8.6 steals per game.

Senior Addie McGee averages 7.2 points and four assists and senior Abby Doran averages 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

Who to watch: Solon – Senior guard Callie Levin is one of the best overall players in the state and one of the most productive players in program history.

An Iowa signee, Levin will seek to end her illustrious prep career at the state tournament.

Levin leads the Spartans with 22.2 points, 5.2 steals and 4.4 assists per game and is second on the team with 7.2 rebounds per game.

A matchup problem for any team, Levin will be key for Solon in keeping the Spartans settled on Saturday against a Chariton defense that wants to create havoc.

Chariton – Senior guard Mckenzie Snook is the player that makes it all go for Chariton.

Snook leads the Chargers in scoring (16.4), steals (6) and assists (4.6) and ranks second on the team with 9 rebounds per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 69 percent from the free throw line.

For Chariton to pull the upset on Saturday the Chargers will need a strong all-around game from their senior floor general.

What to watch: The game inside the game is Chariton’s ability to create turnovers that turn into offense and Solon’s ability to a take care of the ball.

Snook leads 3A with 137 steals (6 per game) and Chariton leads 3A as a team with 18.5 steals per game.

Solon will look to counter the Chargers attacking defense with a senior-lade backcourt led by one of the best lead guards in the state in Levin.

If Solon can limit turnovers, especially live-ball turnovers such as steals the Spartans should be able to put up points as they have all season.

Chariton will look to turn its turnover into transition points which Solon must limit.

The breakdown: Aside from turnovers the two biggest factors in this game could be offensive rebounding and free throws.

Chariton has been excellent on the offensive glass this season led by Allen-Winston who leads 3A with 6 offensive rebounds per game.

As a team the Chargers are averaging 16.3 offensive rebounds per contest, second in 3A.

Solon will try to force Chariton to score in the halfcourt and end possessions with a defensive rebound.

The other stat to watch is free throws which go hand-in-hand with offensive rebounds.

Allen-Winston ranks third in 3A with 106 made free throws and has shot 173 free throws which ranks second in 3A.

Many of those free throws are created off offensive rebounds which Solon must limit.

The Spartans will need strong rebounding efforts from Quillin and Levin to keep the rebounding numbers even.

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