Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The girls basketball season will officially come to a close this week at the state tournament in Des Moines.

Three teams from the Your Prep Sports area were among the 40 teams that reached the state tournament across five classes next week at Casey’s Center as Regina, Clear Creek Amana and West High all advanced to the state tournament.

Before the season officially ends with state title games on Friday and Saturday Your Prep Sports takes a look back at some of the best performances, players, coaches and moments from a memorable season in the area.

Best individual performance: Averie Lower against Clinton. Farewell performances don’t come any better than this. In her final home game Lower poured in 38 points of 15-of-24 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, grabbed 14 rebounds, had five steals and three assists in a 72-56 win over No. 15 Clinton in the regional title game.

Best individual performance part 2: Kennedy Simpson against Iowa Valley. The performance by Simpson in the season opener against Iowa Valley was among the best and most efficient efforts in the state this season. The West Branch senior scored 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds and added a steal in a 71-37 win.

Best individual defensive performance: Adalee Klein against Grundy Center. Klein changed the game early in the Regals regional final win over Grundy Center setting a tone in the paint while helping the Regals return to the state tournament. The 6-foot-2 Klein blocked seven shots and had nine rebounds while holding Grundy Center leading scorer Ava Mundt to eight points on 4-of-17 shooting in a 47-36 win.

Best team performance: West High against Cedar Rapids Prairie. The Trojans had plenty of strong performances during a 17-8 season that ended at the 5A state tournament including wins over state qualifiers Mount Vernon, Dubuque Wahlert and Cedar Rapids Washington. West High was never better than it was in a 79-55 win over No. 14 Cedar Rapids Prairie. Nine players scored and six different Trojans made 3-pointers as West High shot 61 percent from the floor, including 14-of-28 from 3-point range. West High had 24 assists on 27 made field goals and committed just five turnovers while scoring a season-high 79 points.

Coach of the year: Mary Rogers led Regina to an 19-6 record and a spot in the Class 2A state tournament. On the surface that’s a solid season for any coach. Considering what the Regals lost from a 24-2 state semifinal squad a year ago it’s even more impressive. Regina lost three senior starters that accounted for 58 percent of its scoring and 49 percent of its rebounding and still returned to the state tournament for the four time in five seasons under Rogers.

Coach of the year part 2: In his first season at Clear Creek Amana Matt Hoeppner guided the Clippers to a 20-3 record that included 17 consecutive wins to open the season, a WAMAC West Division title and a Class 4A state tournament appearance.

Best game: Liberty High against Cedar Rapids Kennedy. Keyed by a Morgan Bennett 3-pointer, Liberty High erased a four-point deficit in the final 30 seconds of regulation to force overtime and outscored the Cougars 11-4 in the second overtime to earn a 75-68 double overtime win over No. 14 Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the regular season finale for both teams.

Best win: Liberty High at Cedar Falls. Four days following a home loss to Waterloo West the Lightning recorded their best win of the season with a 69-65 road victory over fourth-ranked Cedar Falls. Natalie Ramsey had 38 points and 12 rebounds to lead three Liberty High players in double figures in the win.

Best comeback: Liberty High against West High. Liberty High trailed 40-33 with under 3:30 to play but senior forward Natalie Ramsey scored the final eight points of the game including the go-ahead jumper with 19 seconds left to give the Lightning a 41-40 win in a cross-town showdown at West High.

Biggest shot: Eve Vitense against Liberty High. Vitense capped the best game of her young career with the biggest shot of her career as the City High freshman guard hit a runner in the lane with 3.4 seconds remaining to give the Little Hawks a 51-49 win and a season split with cross-town rival Liberty High.

Best clutch performance: Grace Fincham against Liberty High. It doesn’t get more clutch than coming up with perhaps the best performance of your career in a regional final against a cross-town rival. That’s what Fincham did in a 61-54 win over Liberty High as she scored 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and added five assists to send West High back to state.

Best clutch performance part 2: Kennedy Stratton against Williamsburg. In a top-five matchup against an arch rival the Clear Creek Amana senior point guard came up with the best game of her career. Stratton had 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range and added four assists and three rebounds to help the Clippers rally for a 70-67 win.

Breakthrough performer: West High senior Grace Fincham. How does a returning all-state, 1,000-point career scorer and Division 1 signee earn breakthrough player? Simple, Fincham totally took her game to another level while leading West High to the state tournament in her final prep season. The Drake signee averaged career-highs in points (19.1) and rebounds (8.5) per game and shot 50 percent from the field while taking the most field goal attempts of her career. The 5-foot-11 Fincham shot a career-best 39 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line while attempting a career-highs in both.

Most improved player: Solon senior Delainey Durr. Another senior that elevated their game to a new level in their final prep season, Durr played a pivotal role in helping the Spartans to a 15-8 record and a spot in 4A regional final. Durr averaged career-highs in points (15.1), rebounds (4.6), assists (3.1) and steals (2.8) and shot a career-best 39 percent from the floor and 77 percent from the free throw line.

Emerging star: Liberty High junior Ava Casey. Already a three-year starter Casey put together the best season of her career ranking second on the team in scoring with 9.1 points per game and leading the Lightning with 3.9 assists per contest. Casey shot 32 percent from 3-point range and led Liberty High with 52 made 3-pointers.

Player that wasn’t talked about enough: City High junior Hattie Galloway. The 6-foot-1 Galloway doesn’t record the type of stats that garner a ton of attention but was a huge reason City High upped its win total for the third consecutive season and reached a regional title game for the second straight season. Galloway averaged 6.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 blocks per game while emerging as one of the state’s better defenders.

Most persistent player: City High senior Thisbe Lewis. The first three seasons for Lewis didn’t produce much opportunity. Lewis appeared in 16 total games and had nine points and 12 rebounds in her first three varsity seasons combined. That lack of production early didn’t deter Lewis who started 21 games this season helping City High to a 17-7 record and a spot in a regional final. The 6-foot Lewis averaged 5.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor.

Most versatile: Clear Creek Amana senior Averie Lower. There is no question the Arizona State recruit is one of the best players in the entire state. It was the incredible versatility of Lower that made her one of the state’s best on both ends of the court. Lower could score from all three levels on offense, averaging 24 points per game while shooting 43 percent from 3-point range. The 6-foot Lower could also rebound (9.9 per game), pass (2.8 assists per game) and defend (4.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game) at as a high a level as one player in the state.

Unsung hero: Regina senior Maggie Sueppel. Every successful team has a player that does the dirty work and makes the hustle plays. Rebounding, screening, grabbing loose balls. For Regina it was Sueppel. The senior forward didn’t put up huge stats, averaging 4.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, but Sueppel was a key for Regina down the stretch as the Regals won 19 games and reached the state tournament for the second year in a row.

Hardest worker: West Branch junior Ava Burnett. There is really only one way to lead the conference in rebounding at 5-foot-8 and that is by out working people. That is exactly what Burnett did this season on her way to leading the River Valley Conference South Division with 8.6 rebounds per game while ranking second on the team with 9 points and 1.9 steals per contest.

Best under the radar player: Clear Creek Amana senior Lena Evans. A returning all-stater Evans wasn’t exactly a true under the radar player but she was often overshadowed by playing alongside one of the state’s best in teammate Averie Lower. Evans put up her own huge senior season averaging 17.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 3.3 assists per game.

Defensive player of the year: Liberty High sophomore Natalie Schechinger. The 5-foot-8 Schechinger has already earned a reputation as one of the state’s best defenders and often drew the assignment of guarding the opposing team’s top scorer. Schechinger led the Lightning with 1.8 steals per game to go with a career-high 6.6 points, 6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

Freshman of the year: Tenley Levin quickly established herself as one of the top young players in Class 4A leading Solon in scoring (18.5) and rebounding (8.6) during a strong debut season in which she also averaged 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.

Bench player of the year: West High senior Kate Van Waning. The senior guard started 11 games for the Trojans this season but was at her best bringing energy and scoring punch off the bench while helping West High to a 17-8 record and a spot in the 5A state tournament. Van Waning averaged 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game and shot 44 percent from 3-point range.

Most valuable player: Liberty High senior Natalie Ramsey. One of only four players in Class 5A to average a double-double this season the South Dakota recruit was the only 5A player to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Ramsey was simply outstanding while leading the Lightning to a 15-8 record and a spot in a 5A regional final averaging 21.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The 6-foot Ramsey shot 46 percent from the floor including 34 percent from 3-point range and 84 percent from the free throw line.

Most valuable player part 2: Regina sophomore Addie McLaughlin. There many players in the state that did more for their team as consistently and efficiently as McLaughlin did during a breakthrough sophomore season. The 5-foot-5 point guard was the only player in the state to average at least 20 points and six assists per game, leading the Regals with 22.1 points and 6.1 assists per game while also averaging 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 steals per game.

McLaughlin did it all while shooting 47 percent from the floor, including 35 percent from 3-point range and 72 percent from the free throw line.

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