Last year’s champs, this year’s favorites

For the most part, last year's champions are this year's favorites.

Four defending state champions begin the new season as No. 1 teams in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union preseason rankings, released Wednesday.

West Des Moines Dowling (Class 5A), Harlan (4A), Western Christian (2A) and Burlington Notre Dame (1A) open on top. Pocahontas Area, which moved up from 2A after merging its program with Laurens-Marathon, received the nod in Class 3A.

Dowling, which returns three starters from last year's title team (including double-digit scorers Audrey Faber and Becca Hittner) leads a CIML cavalry. Six of the top seven 5A teams are from Central Iowa, with No. 5 Iowa City West the only interloper.

Last year's runner-up to Dowling, Southeast Polk starts at No. 2, followed by Waukee and West Des Moines Valley.

West was 12-11 last season, but returns UNI recruit Mikaela Morgan and brings back Cal State-Fullerton signee Dani Craig, who missed her junior season with a torn ACL.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy is eighth, Iowa City High ninth.

At 26-0, Harlan was last year's only unbeaten. The Cyclones look to complete a volleyball/basketball double for the second straight year and bring back five starters, led by posts Taylor Frederick and Jess Schaben.

Still, the Cyclones will be stiffly challenged in 4A. They won their three state games last year by a combined nine points against the teams that are ranked 2-through-4 - Carlisle, North Scott and Western Dubuque. All return a good amount of their rosters.

Cedar Rapids Xavier and West Delaware are 14th and 15th.

Last year's 3A champion, MOC-Floyd Valley was hit hard by graduation, losing Miss Iowa Basketball 2014 Alexis Conaway, among others. That opens the door for Pocahontas Area, which went 21-4 last year and pushed Western Christian in a 2A regional final. Mediapolis, a semifinalist last year, is No. 2. Center Point-Urbana and Mid-Prairie are ninth and 13th, respectively.

Western became the sixth team in five-player basketball to win three consecutive championships, and the Wolfpack bring back their top two scorers - Jamie Gesink and Kenzie Bousema - in an effort to stretch that streak to four. Northwest Iowa rival Unity Christian was the 3A runner-up last year and follows Western with four starters back.

North Linn, a semifinalist last year, is The Gazette's highest area team in any class at No. 3 in 2A. The Lynx welcome back four starters, including Nicole Miller, a Drake recruit who was third in the state in scoring last year at 25.3 points per game. Cascade is 15th.

Burlington Notre Dame brings back its four top scorers from last year's 1A title team and is an easy pick to lead the small-school list. Colo-Nesco, a semifinalist last year, is No. 2. Iowa Valley is ninth.

The regular season opens Friday.

PRESEASON GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS

(Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union)

Class 5A

1. West Des Moines Dowling (23-3 in 2013-14), 2. Southeast Polk (18-7), 3. Waukee (20-4), 3. West Des Moines Valley (22-2), 4. West Des Moines Valley (22-2), 5. Iowa City West (12-11), 6. Johnston (14-10), 7. Ankeny Centennial (16-7), 8. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (16-8), 9. Iowa City High (24-1), 10. Mason City (16-7).

Class 4A

1. Harlan (26-0), 2. Carlisle (20-7), 3. North Scott (17-7), 4. Western Dubuque (23-3), 5. Perry (19-5), 6. Ballard (21-5), 7. Sioux City Heelan (20-4), 8. Davenport Assumption (17-7), 9. Keokuk (17-7), 10. Pella (16-7), 11. Indianola (13-9), 12. Waverly-Shell Rock (19-4), 13. Lewis Central (17-6), 14. Cedar Rapids Xavier (11-12), 15. West Delaware (17-6).

Class 3A

1. Pocahontas Area (21-4), 2. Mediapolis (24-2), 3. Spirit Lake (18-6), 4. Hampton-Dumont (19-6), 5. Sioux Center (13-10), 6. Shenandoah (17-6), 7. Nevada (19-5), 8. Red Oak (16-8), 9. Center Point-Urbana (18-7), 10. Carroll Kuemper (14-9), 11. Crestwood (22-3), 12. Monroe PCM (15-8), 13. Mid-Prairie (11-10), 14. Saydel (13-11), 15. Central Lee (13-8).

Class 2A

1. Western Christian (27-1), 2. Unity Christian (22-5), 3. North Linn (24-2), 4. Des Moines Christian (20-5), 5. South Central Calhoun (21-3), 6. IKM-Manning (18-5), 7. Dike-New Hartford (20-3), 8. Fort Dodge St. Edmond (21-3), 9. Hudson (25-2), 10. Manson-NW Webster (20-5), 11. Mapleton MVAO (20-5), 12. Eddyville EBF (17-6), 13. Woodbury Central (21-4), 14. Panorama (20-4), 15. Cascade (26-1).

Class 1A

1. Burlington Notre Dame (24-3), 2. Colo-Nesco (24-2), 3. Bedford (17-8), 4. Grand View Christian (17-6, as Grandview Park Baptist), 5. Kingsley-Pierson (17-8), 6. Bellevue Marquette (16-7), 7. Fremont-Mills (20-5), 8. Newell-Fonda (24-3), 9. Iowa Valley (20-3), 10. Rockford (17-8), 11. Central Lyon (9-15), 12. Exira-EHK (17-8), 13. Murray (20-3), 14. Paton-Churdan (16-8), 15. Tripoli (18-7).

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