Belle Plaine a factor in basketball now

BELLE PLAINE - This always has been a wrestling school, though it's impossible not to notice some of those familiar Belle Plaine mats names are playing a different sport these days.

'I am not taking a whole lot of credit for that,” Plainsmen boys' basketball coach Justin Northrop said. 'I just want them to have fun and shoot. In the old days, you used to get taken out if you took a bad shot, but I don't necessarily believe in that. I want us to play fast, get up and down the court. I think kids love playing that way.”

They love winning, too, and that's exactly what Belle Plaine is doing. It's 8-0 going into its game Friday night at Sigourney, which also owns that identical unblemished mark.

This is one of the biggest games BP has played in years, and that's not an exaggeration. Ask the coach.

'I know a lot of coaches don't ever want to say something like that, but I want our kids to embrace it,” Northrop said. 'It's a huge game, and the kids know it ... They really love that (mentality).”

Belle Plaine won 10 games last season and hasn't had a winning record since 2008-09. But there are a pair of four-year starters in seniors Justin Jacobi (15.1 points per game) and Trey Squiers (13.4), and a three-year starting point guard in junior Jacob Ehlen (15.3).

He's got one of those recognizable wrestling names, by the way. Jacobi will finish his career top five in school history in rebounds.

This is generally just a good group of athletes, as Northrop pointed out there are five guys who were state track and field qualifiers. Sophomore Brent DeMeulenaere (11.3 ppg) gives the Plainsmen four guys who average double digits in scoring.

'We've got a group of guys who are extremely smart,” said Northrop, in his sixth season. 'We look at grades constantly, and we've got a bunch of guys who are on the National Honor Society .. Overall, the big thing is just their maturity.”

Belle Plaine has never been to the state basketball tournament. Northrop believes 25 wins is the school record, which, obviously will be difficult to obtain.

But a South Iowa Cedar League championship? Everyone believes that's possible.

'We haven't won a conference title since 1973-74,” Northrop said. 'We need to change that.”

POSTSEASON GROUPINGS UPCOMING

The Iowa High School Athletic Association is expected to release district and substate groupings for Class 1A and 2A on Monday. Postseason groupings for Class 3A and 4A are expected the following week.

The actual pairings won't be released until the first week of February (1A and 2A) and second week of February (3A, 4A).

Teams will be seeded according to their records through their 15th game of the regular season. The postseason begins February 16.

CITY HIGH's SHOWALTER HONORED

Iowa City High Coach Don Showalter was honored Thursday as 2014 USA Basketball Co-Development Coach of the Year by USA Basketball's Board of Directors. Sue Phillips of San Jose, Calif., shared the award.

Showalter led a United States team to the gold medal at the 2014 Men's Under-17 World Championships. It's his sixth consecutive year winning the award, the second year in a row he has shared the honor with Phillips.

'This award is special as it involves many people that helped to make the USA Junior National Team a success,” Showalter said in a press release.

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