Examining the area Iowa high school girls’ basketball regional brackets in 5A and 4A

The 2023 calendar year was, quite frankly, nothing special for area Class 5A girls’ athletics.

No area big school qualified for the state tournament in girls’ basketball. Or softball. Or volleyball.

With the new year, the question is whether — and when — that drought will end.

Possibly within the coming days.

Tenth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie appears to be staring at a regional-final showdown with No. 7 Cedar Falls.

And if you’re looking for a dark horse, consider No. 14 Cedar Rapids Washington, a one-win club last season that has returned to respectability and could run into No. 2, but less-than-full-strength Davenport North in its regional final.

Following is a synopsis on each 5A and 4A region that includes area teams, in the wake of the brackets’ release Wednesday.

Class 5A

Quarterfinals: Feb. 14

Semifinals: Feb. 17

Finals: Feb. 20

REGION 2

At 10-10, Washington doesn’t resemble last year’s 1-19 outfit. The Warriors have won four of their last five games, and with a young roster, their best days lie ahead. The Warriors host their semifinal game with Muscatine (11-9), and the winner gets a shot at No. 2 Davenport North (18-2), but North is now without junior Journey Houston, an Iowa recruit who is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. That gives the Warriors a puncher’s chance to reach Des Moines.

REGION 6

No. 6 Pleasant Valley (16-4) is the defending state champion and the lynchpin of this region. Iowa City High (6-13) is the lone area team in this region, favored to win its quarterfinal with Davenport West (3-18) and takes its shot at PV in the semifinal.

REGION 7

Prairie (15-2) and Cedar Falls (18-1) play Thursday night for the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division championship, and there’s another bit at stake, too. With one more set of rankings coming out, it’s more than likely that Thursday’s winner will host a probable regional-final rematch Feb. 20. Prairie does have a tricky semifinal against Linn-Mar (11-9).

REGION 8

The presumptive regional-final matchup is an all-CIML affair between No. 8 Ankeny and No. 9 West Des Moines Valley (both 11-9). If someone is going to play wrecker to that scenario, it is surging Iowa City Liberty (9-8), which has won four games in a row and faces Valley in a semifinal.

Class 4A

Quarterfinals: Feb. 14

Semifinals: Feb. 17

Finals: Feb. 20

REGION 1

Top-ranked Clear Creek Amana (20-0) got the treatment that a No. 1 deserves. The Clippers are the only ranked team in the region, and drew a bracket consisting mostly of Southeast Conference schools, headlined by Keokuk (17-3), the likely regional-final foe.

REGION 2

Like Clear Creek Amana, No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock is 20-0. Unlike the Clippers, though, the Go-Hawks have a challenging path to Wells Fargo. The champion of the MVC Valley Division, No. 14 Western Dubuque (15-6) is on the other side of the bracket, and the Bobcats have won eight games in a row. Western Dubuque is likely to face Decorah (14-6) in a competitive semifinal.

REGION 5

This is a rare region with three ranked teams. No. 5 North Polk (19-2) is pretty much a lock in the top bracket, with No. 11 Marion (15-5) is projected to host No. 12 Maquoketa (18-3) in the bottom. The Cardinals have clinched a share of the River Valley Conference North Division crown, their first league title in 20 years.

REGION 6

If Cedar Rapids Xavier (7-13) is going to reach another state tournament (it would be the 16th in school history), it will take an extended road tour to get there. The Saints need three wins to reach Des Moines, and it starts at North Scott (8-11) in Round 1. Then, they probably would have to beat No. 10 DeWitt Central (15-4) and No. 6 Mason City (19-2) in succession.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com