In River Valley North, it's Monticello in a landslide

Two weeks ago, it was a race. Now, it's a runaway.

Monticello became the first area girls' basketball team to clinch a league championship Tuesday. A victory over North Cedar — coupled with Cascade's loss at Camanche — wrapped up a share of the River Valley Conference North Division championship.

"It's really a good feeling,' Panthers Coach Donnie Kremer said. "Our seniors look some lumps in this league when they were sophomores.

"When we came out of Christmas break, it looked like a two-team race with Cascade. But we've played well, strung a few wins together and gotten some help."

Monticello (12-4 overall, 10-3 RVC) has won five straight games, including four league wins in a row — to build a 3 1/2-game lead on Cascade, Camanche and Northeast.

The Panthers have four RVC games remaining, and just one win will give them the outright title.

This is a program that always seems to contend, but its only previous league championship came in 2011, when it captured the Tri-Rivers Conference title.

'We've been second quite a few times, third a few times,' Kremer said. 'We had a chance to tie for first last year, but fell apart and lost the last couple games.'

This year, the Panthers have taken care of business and built a comfortable cushion. They've done it with a nice blend of seniors, juniors and sophomores.

Taylor McDonald, a sophomore, leads the squad at 11.4 points per game. Five others are scoring at least six points per contest. The other statistics are similarly balanced.

'Our chemistry is good,' Kremer said. 'We've got eight or nine kids that play well together. Any of them can be our leading scorer in a given game. That takes away the junk defenses that teams might use against us.'

The Panthers host Durant on Friday.

One other race is on the verge of closing. Waverly-Shell Rock has wrapped up a share of its sixth consecutive Northeast Iowa Conference title.

RICE IS ICE AT THE LINE

Marion sophomore Chloe Rice is the state leader in free-throw accuracy among all players with at least 40 attempts.

Rice is 70 of 77, for 90.9 percent.

Jolissa Kriegel of BGM has moved into the state lead in rebounding, at 13.9 per game. Kriegel has collected 1,022 rebounds in her career, which ranks 21st all-time in the state.

1,000 FOR GRIFFITH

Vinton-Shellsburg senior Maci Griffith surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her career in the Vikettes' 51-48 loss to Clear Creek Amana on Tuesday.

Griffith is averaging 18.2 points per game this season. She was a Class 4A third-team all-stater last season.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com