Boys’ basketball notebook: Iowa City High’s Christopher Watkins having terrific senior season

CEDAR RAPIDS — He’s one of the best players in the Mississippi Valley Conference. Most likely the best player in the MVC of whom you might not be aware.

Christopher Watkins of Iowa City High is a lanky 6-foot-6 senior forward who put up a big line Tuesday night in his team’s win at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Watkins had 19 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and two steals against the J-Hawks. City High is just 5-13 but has won three straight games.

“It was a good game. We played well. We just played as a team and played hard,” Watkins said. “I felt like I really could get any shot I wanted. And my teammates gave me the ball.”

Watkins has improved virtually all of his numbers from last season, sitting at 15.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and two blocks per game. City High plays Friday night at home against Cedar Rapids Washington.

“He's got a more complete game this year. A lot more assists than he had last year, and a few more rebounds, and he has extended his game,” said City High Coach Bill McTaggert. “Our game plan wasn't to shoot the 3 (against Jefferson). But I think he made every one of his 3s. The same way with the (Dubuque) Senior game earlier this season. Depending on who we're playing, he can extend his game out a little bit. He's more a complete player than he was last year.”

Watkins said he wants to play college basketball next season, adding Cornell College is recruiting him hard. McTaggart called him the nicest kid on the team.

The young man has had to deal with a lot in his life the last couple of years. His mother, Christine Blount, was shot and killed in Iowa City in December 2024, a murder still unsolved.

Watkins lives with an older brother, though there are a lot of hands in the community helping him.

“The whole family, just kind of everybody. Kind of just phenomenal that City High people have helped out,” McTaggert said. “It has been phenomenal.”

“It’s been very hard,” Watkins said. “My mama, the only person I've been with my whole life. Just me and my brothers, my mom, my sister. It's just been very hard with the situation. Everything. But I still just try to move forward ... I play for her a lot, yeah.”

Around the hoop

— Cedar Rapids Prairie piled up 106 points Tuesday night in a 106-57 win over Cedar Rapids Washington.

The Hawks had a 37-point third quarter, shooting 65 percent from the field in the game and 17 of 29 from 3-point range. They set a school record with 30 assists.

The point total is not a school record, as Prairie had 111 in a game in 1998.

— The fallout of the disintegration of the Northeast Iowa Conference has hit Decorah the hardest. The school is an independent this season.

That has meant a 2025-26 schedule that consists of only six home games. The Vikings will travel 2,900-plus miles by season’s end, playing eight true road games and neutral-site games at Upper Iowa University (two), Waldorf University, North Iowa Area Community College, Council Bluffs and Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

— The Iowa High School Athletic Association released official postseason brackets this week for Class 1A and 2A. Substate brackets for Class 3A and 4A will be revealed Monday.

The final official IHSAA top-10 rankings in 3A and 4A also will be released Monday. The final rankings in 1A and 2A were released this past Monday.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com