Boys’ basketball notebook: Lansing Kee has approached rarefied air

CEDAR RAPIDS — It’s a school that always has been way more about getting three outs than shooting 3-pointers.

About coaxing free passes than free throws.

But this Lansing Kee boys’ basketball team is changing the sports narrative this winter in an extreme Northeast Iowa community known for baseball. The Hawks go into their Upper Iowa Conference game against Elkader Central with a 12-0 record and a No. 8 state ranking in Class 1A.

As far as anyone can tell, Kee never has been ranked in hoops. It has never qualified for the boys’ state basketball tournament, let alone for a substate final, it is believed.

The old Lansing High School did make it to state in 1946. Kee High School consists of students from Lansing and New Albin, and its surrounding areas.

“Yeah, we’re used to it in baseball,” said third-year Kee head coach Jeff Cota. “It was my birthday on Saturday, and we went out for a little while around town. Running into people, it’s definitely all they wanted to talk about.

“People around here like basketball. It’s just more of a baseball town.”

Cota expected his Hawks to improve upon last season’s 7-15 record, considering all five starters returned, but even he has been caught a bit off guard about being perfect this far in. A win Friday would tie the school record for longest winning streak of 13.

His son, Jordan, is a 6-foot-5 junior who leads Kee in scoring (20.0 points per game) and rebounding (8.4), an inside-outside threat who has a 54.3 field-goal percentage and who has its most 3-pointers. Junior Dalton Mudderman is the point guard, scoring at a 17.3 clip and averaging five assists per game.

They are the Hawks’ primary scorers. Senior guard Kaleb Drape also has started every game, with senior guard Andrew Kolsrud, junior forward Karsen Strong and 6-6 junior center Brayden Darling also getting starts.

Trey Cota, another of Coach Cota’s sons, has played in every game as a freshman guard.

“I knew we had a good group coming back,” Jeff Cota said. “But looking at the whole season, I guess I wouldn’t have probably thought we’d be sitting 12-0 right now. When you look at the schedule, I thought we’d have a chance to win every game, but you figure one or two would probably go the other way. But so far they’ve bounced our way.”

Cota has been with this junior class as a coach since they were in fourth grade. He coached Kee’s junior varsity until being promoted to head varsity coach.

The school has never won an Upper Iowa Conference championship, its last conference title coming in the Upper Mississippi Conference in 1983. Kee already has wins over MFL MarMac and North Fayette Valley, widely regarded as top title contenders, but return matchups come back to back against them next week.

The school record for wins is 18, accomplished in the 1978-79 season. The 1981-82 team went 17-2.

“We’re pretty tall this year, have good height,” Coach Cota said. “We’ve defended probably better than I expected. Teams get into the lane and see the tall guys we have in there and miss shots, whether we get a hand on them or not ... These kids, they play really hard. And they believe in themselves.”

Around the hoop

* Jack Miller broke Jesup’s all-time career scoring record last week in a win over Ackley AGSWR. The senior guard has 1,440 points in his four years on the J-Hawks’ varsity, surpassing previous record-holder Brad Schmitt.

Miller is an Upper Iowa University signee who is averaging 26.9 points per game in 10 games this season. He has a high game of 48 points.

* Postville has a 10-3 record going into Friday, surpassing its win total combined from the previous three seasons. The Pirates were 7-54 combined in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23.

* Iowa City Regina lost its first two games this season under new head coach Paul Rundquist, both to Class 3A schools. But the 2A Regals were on a nine-game heater going into their River Valley Conference game Thursday night against Mid-Prairie for a 9-2 record.

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