A look at Saturday’s Class 1A, 2A Iowa high school boys’ basketball substate finals (Feb. 24, 2024)

There will be 16 teams in Class 1A and 2A clinching berths Saturday night to the Iowa high school boys’ state basketball tournament. Here’s a look at the substate final games involving area schools.

Class 1A substate finals

No. 1 North Linn (22-1) vs. West Fork (20-4)

Location: Dike

Time: 6 p.m.

Synopsis: Top-ranked North Linn’s loss was January 18 to Class 2A Alburnett, 52-45. Unranked West Fork’s losses have been to 2A teams Dike-New Hartford, Osage and Forest City, as well as to 1A No. 2 Madrid ... Junior guard Mason Bechen leads North Linn in scoring at 20.7 points per game. Senior forward Ty Pflughaupt is right behind at 19.9 ... West Fork is led by 6-foot-5 guard Cayde Eberling. He averages 20 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, scoring 26 points in West Fork’s district final win over Ankeny Christian ... North Linn has been to the state tournament seven consecutive years and to a championship game six years in a row. West Fork was last at state in 2020, was 2A champ in 2011 and runner-up in 2013 and 2014.

No. 10 Lansing Kee (22-2) vs. Gladbrook-Reinbeck (20-5)

Location: Oelwein

Time: 7 p.m.

Synopsis: It has been a magical winter for Kee, which won the Upper Iowa Conference for the first time and a district championship for the first time. The 10th-ranked Hawks have never qualified for the boys’ state basketball tournament. Their losses have been to Class 2A MFL MarMac and 3A Charles City. Kee’s top two players are 6-foot-5 junior forward Jordan Cota (19.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game) and junior guard Dalton Mudderman (17 ppg, 5.7 assists per game) ... Unranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck took out previously unbeaten and sixth-ranked Keota in a district final, 67-62. The Rebels’ five losses all have been to 2A teams, including three to 2A substate finalists Grundy Center (two) and Hudson (one). G-R has three players who average double figures, led by 6-5 junior center Michael Boyd (14.5 ppg). Boyd had 25 points and 14 rebounds against Keota.

Other games

No. 4 Lake Mills (23-1) vs. Remsen St. Mary’s (19-3) at Spencer, 4 p.m.

No. 8 North Union (21-3) vs. South O’Brien (21-3) at Spencer, 7 p.m.

No. 3 Bellevue Marquette (24-1) vs. Dunkerton (20-4) at Manchester, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Winfield-Mount Union (19-2) vs. Fort Madison Holy Trinity (19-5) at Fairfield, 7 p.m.

No. 7 Lynnville-Sully (23-1) vs. Bedford (23-2) at Creston, 7 p.m.

No. 2 Madrid (22-2) vs. Woodbine (22-2) at Carroll, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s Class 2A substate finals

North Fayette Valley (21-3) vs. No. 2 Hudson (22-2)

Location: Dike

Time: 8 p.m.

Synopsis: North Fayette Valley has never been a state tournament qualifier. West Union North High School qualified in 1963. NFV lost twice to 1A substate finalist Lansing Kee and once to MFL MarMac. The TigerHawks also beat MFL MarMac twice, including 46-42 in a district final. Forward Cael Reichter has been far and away North Fayette Valley’s most important player. The 6-6 junior averages 22.5 points and 13.6 rebounds and had a triple-double of 23 points, 23 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in that district final victory ... Second-ranked Hudson has lost only to a pair of top-ranked teams: 3A Decorah and 4A Cedar Rapids Kennedy. Its closest win was 11 points over Grundy Center, which also is in a 2A substate final. Senior 6-5 forward Camden Davis leads the Pirates in scoring (19.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg). Senior guards Culin Ugrin and Tanner Michael average 23 points per game combined. Hudson hasn’t been to the state tournament since 1994.

Iowa City Regina (16-6) vs. No. 5 Pella Christian (18-5)

Location: Iowa City Liberty

Time: 7 p.m.

Synopsis: Two programs here with a lot of tradition. Iowa City Regina been a state qualifier 16 times, the last in 2019. Pella Christian has been to state 17 times (all since 1990), including the previous two seasons. The schools each have three titles ... Regina has had a renaissance under first-year coach Paul Rundquist. The Regals lost their first two games, then rattled off 13 wins in a row. Regina then lost three in a row and four of five before rebounding. It beat Alburnett in a district final, 55-51. Senior forward Michael Martin had over half of Regina’s points in that game (28) and leads it in scoring this season (17.8 per game) ... Fifth-ranked Pella Christian has won nine of 10, including a 58-47 win over West Branch, which Regina split a pair of games with in the regular season. Senior guards Tysen DeVries (14.1) and Dane Geetings (13.9) are the Eagles’ leading scorers.

No. 10 Cascade (18-4) vs. No. 6 West Burlington (21-0)

Location: Iowa City High

Time: 7 p.m.

Synopsis: Both of these teams are ranked: West Burlington sixth and Cascade 10th. They have one common opponent in West Branch: Cascade lost to the Bears in the regular season, 63-58, while West Burlington beat them in the district finals, 61-44 ... Cascade’s last state tournament appearance was in 2018, when the Cougars won the 2A championship. Head coach Nate McMullen was an assistant for that team. Guard Jackson Lieurance has had a terrific junior season for these Cougars, averaging a team-best 22.9 points per game, including a 47-point game against Wilton that broke the school’s single-game scoring record previously held by Creighton University head coach Greg McDermott ... West Burlington’s leading scorer is junior guard Mason Watkins. The son of Southeastern Community College head coach and former Division I player Lorenzo Watkins averages 21.6 points per game. Senior guard Brady Martin averages 15.9.

Other games

No. 3 West Lyon (22-1) vs. Unity Christian (19-4) at Sioux Center, 7 p.m.

No. 1 Western Christian (19-3) vs. Estherville-Lincoln Central (19-3) at Sibley, 7 p.m.

No. 8 Treynor (19-3) vs. Grand View Christian (13-9) at Stuart, 7 p.m.

No. 4 Underwood (23-0) vs. South Hamilton (18-4) at Waukee Northwest, 7 p.m.

No. 9 Carroll Kuemper (19-3) vs. Grundy Center (19-3) at Boone, 7:30 p.m.

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