Another record-breaking season on tap for Meskwaki?

This school record looks like it's going to be erased already.

Meskawki Settlement School has had an Iowa High School Athletic Association-sanctioned boys' basketball program only since 2009. The Warriors won 18 games last season, the most in their short existence.

Going into a Thursday night tilt with Garwin GMG, Meskwaki was 11-0 and ranked ninth by The Gazette in Class 1A. It had seven more regular-season games remaining, including a pair against fellow top 10 Colo-NESCO.

Then there's what the Warriors hope is a long postseason run. That school win record appears to be in big-time jeopardy.

'Really, what we've been doing is stressing team play and unselfishness, more or less,' said Coach Dina Keahna. 'We've tried to get them to work hard on different aspects of their games.'

Keahna, a fellow member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, is the only female head boys' basketball coach in the state. She and everyone else expected this Meskwaki team to be strong, though one returning starter decided not to go out this season and two other key members transferred to South Tama.

'What it really amounted to is that was our depth,' Keahna said. 'We've really been trying to develop that.'

Junior guard Allis Tahahwah leads the team in scoring (19.4 points per game) and is a more mature player who is making better decisions on the court this season, according to Keahna. His older brother, Eammon, also starts.

Junior Terrell Grant is Meskwaki's main point guard, leads the team in assists and averages 12.3 points. Senior guard Royce Timberwolf averages 16.5 points, shoots it at a 58-percent clip and leads the Warriors in rebounds.

He's described by his coach as an excellent jumper. Jonas Bear is the team's fifth starter.

'We really are just taking it one game at a time,' Keahna said, using that old cliché. 'We think that is preparing us for what our sites are on.'

That, obviously, would be the state tournament. It won't be easy to get there, considering top-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck is in Meskwaki's district.

But these guys, and their coach, believe it's doable.

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AROUND THE HOOP

- English Valleys ended a 76-game losing streak in style last Saturday night, knocking off Fairfield Maharishi, 50-30. The Bears led the entire game, including 20-10 at halftime. Sam Schauer had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.

- Coaching milestones abounded last week. Jesup's Larry Baldwin won his 300th career game when his J-Hawks toppled LaPorte City Union last Saturday, 65-41. Jesup has an 8-6 record, with four of those losses coming in overtime and another in regulation by three points.

- Monticello shocked top-ranked Iowa City Regina last Saturday, 53-47. Not only was that a huge win for the Panthers, but it was the 200th in head coach Tim Lambert's career.

- Senior center Ethan Steinbronn recently became the all-time leading career scorer at West Central. The 6-foot-10 Upper Iowa signee is averaging 24.6 points and 13.3 rebounds per game for the Blue Devils (11-1).

- We're down to 13 undefeated teams left in the state. In Class 4A, that's Iowa City West, Pleasant Valley and Des Moines Hoover. In Class 3A, that's Waverly-Shell Rock. Class 2A unbeatens are Aplington-Parkersburg and IKM-Manning. Class 1A has the most in Ar-We-Va, Belle Plaine, Colo-NESCO, LeMars Gehlen, Danville, Gladbrook-Reinbeck and Meskwaki Settlement School.

- Mid-Prairie joined English Valleys in the no-longer-winless club with a 46-45 overtime win Tuesday night against West Liberty. That leaves Maquoketa, Tri-County and Cedar Valley Christian as the lone area teams not to crack the win column.

Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com