Boys' Prep Basketball: Teams To Watch

Area teams to watch this season:

LINN-MAR: Defending Class 4A state champ will break in four new starters around North Carolina signee Marcus Paige. Look for 6-foot-7 center Derrik Gogg to have a good season. Perhaps Andy Henry will step up and become a force, as he was on the football field. The Lions have been to the state tournament eight consecutive seasons, finishing fourth or better each year. Will that string continue?

IOWA CITY WEST: Trojans placed fourth in Class 4A last season and have some significant pieces returning. Like guards Dondre Alexander (13.2 ppg, 5 rpg) and Jeremy Morgan (9.7 ppg). Like forward Jake Gylten (7.2 ppg) and guard Wyatt Lohaus. West must find a good interior player to offset graduation loss of Okey Ukah, but this team is loaded. And there's not a better coach out there than West's Steve Bergman.

CEDAR FALLS: Top three scorers are back from 15-5 team in point guard James Harrington (19.7 ppg), guard Caleb Konieczny (11.4 ppg) and forward Tony Johnson (8.1 ppg). Add to the mix four juniors who played a ton as sophomores (Ike Boettger, Nick Clark and identical twin brothers Kalund and Kalehl Brown, and you've got a really good team. Perhaps the Mississippi Valley Conference's best.

DUBUQUE SENIOR: Rams still might be a year away, but they'll be plenty improved from last season's 10-12 team. Junior forward Nick Weeber averaged 20 points per game as a sophomore. Top four scorers return, including sophomore Seth Bonifas, whose size (6-foot-9) and improved game over the summer led to a scholarship offer from Iowa.

MOUNT VERNON: Top three scorers return from a team that lost a heartbreaker in the Class 3A substate finals to Marion. Guard Jacob Timm, son of head coach Ed, averaged 13.9 points per game last season, complimented strongly by forward Micah Russell (13.3) and guard Jack Keleher (9.5 ppg). MV, which has dropped to 2A this season, beat Cedar Rapids Kennedy in a Monday jamboree. Kennedy was without two suspended starters, and it was a jamboree, but still ...

NORTH CEDAR: Knights made it to state for first time last season and placed fourth. With the firepower coming back, another fourth-place finish might be disappointing. All-stater Jordan Hay (23.4 ppg) is this team's best player, but also around are sharp-shooting guards Kyle Jackson (10.5 ppg) and Seth Bendixen (9.7 ppg). Six-foot-nine center Josh Sander also returns.

IOWA MENNONITE: Three of the top four scorers off a Class 1A state tournament team return for head coach Dwight Gingerich. Junior guard Chance Miller (14.7 ppg) heads that list. Forwards Brian Hagedorn (10.5 ppg) and Johnny Lackender (10.2 ppg) are actually home schooled but are important members of the club. The school with no nickname always is good. This season won't be an exception.

NORTH LINN: Lynx lost just three times last season and has everybody back. Top three scorers are Jake Oswald (13.0 ppg), Nicholas Aberle (9.5 ppg) and Hunter Pflughaupt (9.0 ppg). Certainly among the favorites in the Tri-Rivers Conference.

OTHERS TO WATCH: Maquoketa, Lisbon, MFL/Mar-Mac, North Fayette, Dyersville Beckman, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Lone Tree, Williamsburg, Iowa City Regina, Solon.