Iowa all-state boys’ basketball 2022: North Linn’s Austin Hilmer a 1st-teamer for 2nd-straight year

CEDAR RAPIDS — It ain’t easy being me.

You couldn’t blame Austin Hilmer if he felt that way sometimes. At least a little bit.

The North Linn senior’s brother, Jake, had a historic prep basketball career. He shared the 2019 Iowa Mr. Basketball award with Bettendorf’s D.J. Carton, led the Lynx to their first state championship that season and is now starring in basketball and baseball at Upper Iowa University.

But Austin Hilmer, yeah, he’s really something , too. First team all-state in football this past fall, first-team all-state in baseball last summer.

And basketball, yeah, he can play that well, too. The point guard helped North Linn to the Class 1A state championship over the weekend, and now he’s being announced as a first-team all-state pick by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association for a second consecutive year.

“I’ve talked a lot about Austin sometimes being overshadowed by a big brother that was pretty darn good,” said North Linn Coach Mike Hilmer, Austin and Jake’s dad. “That doesn’t always go away. Austin has had a goal of taking a team to a state championship without his brother. He’s had a couple of shots at it, we’ve been close but didn’t get it done.”

Austin Hilmer played as a top reserve on North Linn’s 2019 2A championship team. The Lynx lost in the championship game in 2020 and last season before breaking back through with a 52-48 win over Grand View Christian this past Saturday.

He averaged a team-high 19.4 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 steals per game this season, Junior post Tate Haughenbury, the all-tournament captain in 1A, was named a second-team all-stater.

“For me, I was pretty emotional because I know what it means to me because I know what it means to him,” Mike Hilmer said postgame Friday. “The kid works his butt off. He always gets the chant from the crowd that Jake’s better. It’s all in good fun. But he deserves it.”

Hilmer was joined on the 1A first team by Springville senior Rhenden Wagaman and English Valleys senior Kaden Hall. Other first-team all-staters from the Gazette area are Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior Kenzie Reed in Class 4A, Marion’s Brayson Laube in 3A and Monticello’s Tate Petersen in 2A.

Sportswriters from around the state pick the teams, with guidance from various coaches. Three teams in each class are selected, with eight players per team.

Wagaman was a key part of a 19-5 season for Springville, averaging 22 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.6 steals. Teammate Luke Menster was a third-team selection, and those two both surpassed 1,000 career points this season.

Hall averaged a double-double of 22.8 points and 10.3 rebounds, as English Valleys recorded its second straight winning season. The Bears hadn’t had one in 20 years prior to last season.

Monticello qualified for the state tournament for the third year in a row and won a game for the first time since 1960, thanks in large part to the play of Petersen. The junior point guard, already a three-year starter, averaged 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists as part of a lethal one-two punch with sophomore Preston Ries, who was selected to the 2A third team.

Marion’s Laube also is just a junior. He went off for 35 points in the Wolves’ 3A state tournament quarterfinal overtime loss to Winterset and averaged 20 points per game this season, with an efficient field-goal percentage of 60.7

Reed helped guide Kennedy to the Class 4A state tournament semifinals. The smooth, pass-first junior point guard led 4A in assists at just shy of seven per game and scored at a 13-point clip, adding an efficient field-goal percentage of 56.5.

Teammate Colby Dolphin, also just a junior, was a second-team selection.

“They’re both, their basketball IQs are both very, very high. That’s why they look so smooth out there,” said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. “Kenzie, in transition, is the best I have ever coached. He can pull up and shoot the 3. He can hesitate and go by you. The tough part (for defenders) is that he is a better passer than he is scorer. You kind of try and sit on his pass, and he kind of scored at will because they kind of sat on our shooters.”

Reed impressed everyone with a 26-point outing in Kennedy’s 4A quarterfinal win over Waukee Northwest, a performance that included five 3-pointers.

“He’s steady and smooth out there,” McKowen said. “He’s the quarterback of our team, kind of gets us going.”

Ames point guard Tamin Lipsey has been named 2022 Iowa Mr. Basketball. Lipsey is an Iowa State signee who started as a freshman, missed his sophomore season because of a knee injury but led the Little Cyclones to a 4A championship this season.

Here are the entire all-state teams

CLASS 4A FIRST TEAM

CLASS 4A SECOND TEAM

CLASS 4A THIRD TEAM

CLASS 3A FIRST TEAM

CLASS 3A SECOND TEAM

CLASS 3A THIRD TEAM

CLASS 2A FIRST TEAM

CLASS 2A SECOND TEAM

CLASS 2A THIRD TEAM

CLASS 1A FIRST TEAM

CLASS 1A SECOND TEAM

CLASS 1A THIRD TEAM

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