Regina finds success in basketball, too

IOWA CITY - At Iowa City Regina, basketball is that neat little sport guys play after winning another state football championship and before winning another state soccer championship.

Don't get him wrong. Randy Larson realizes every school has its athletics strengths, and at Regina, those involve a leather oblong ball and a white round one that you kick or head.

That's just the way it is, no matter how difficult it might be sometimes for the guy coaching hoops.

"It's not easy," Larson said. "The guys work all summer and fall on football. Then whenever we start practicing in late November, we don't have anyone who has picked up a basketball since that last February or March. We just don't."

That has changed some with this group, as Larson said he has a handful of guys who have improved their individual skills via summer work. That includes the team's leading scorer.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Regina is having a great season. The Regals brushed past West Liberty on Tuesday night to improve to 11-0.

Is this officially considered a surprise?

"We've got a better record than I thought we'd have at this point, quite frankly," Larson said. "This is a good group of guys. They love playing with each other."

The star of the team is Drew Cook. The 6-foot-6 junior, an all-state quarterback, averages 23.5 points, utilizing a true inside-outside game.

Six-foot-three junior Phil Arendt is the team's other main inside threat, with sophomores Nathan Stenger, Nick Phillips and Ethan Suchomel playing important guard roles.

Forward Mike Sehl is the lone senior that gets significant playing time, so he future looks bright for Regina. Definitely in football and soccer, and now basketball, too.

"Drew is such a big matchup nightmare for teams," Larson said. "We've got six or seven guys that can shoot the 3 and we can counter balance that with Drew and Arendt inside. But what I think is going to determine how we develop defensively."

Around the hoop-- The Iowa High School Athletic Association released district pods for Class 1A and 2A Monday and will release district and substate pods for Class 3A and 4A next week.

It will be very interesting to see if North Scott, Bettendorf, Iowa City West and Dubuque Senior stay out of each other's substates. They are widely considered the four top teams on the eastern side of the state.-- It's down to four unbeaten teams in the area in Regina, Keota (11-0), Cascade (9-0) and Jesup (8-0). Four area teams are still looking to break into the win column: Ed-Co (0-9), Cedar Valley Christian (0-9), Independence (0-10) and English Valleys (0-10).