Mid Summer Check In – A Way Too Early Look At Sleepers, Dominant Forces, and Balance Across Iowa

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am putting all of the “What If” questions off to the side - they are hurting my vibe.  I’m sticking to the athletes, the ones where this is what it is all about.  Here are few thoughts I have in regards to the teams and the athletes heading into the 2020 season that I am so excited to see happen and what it will look like throughout the season. </span></p> <p><strong>What Out For Glenwood</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They made the state tournament, they were the only ones to take a set off of Sergeant Bluff-Luton who swept their way after to claim a state title.  I know Western Dubuque and Xavier will be right up there as early season favorites, but DO NOT sleep on this team from Southwest Iowa (which is also a great RAGBRAI town).  They have been to state in multiple sports. St. Cloud State commit [player_tooltip player_id="41305" first="Elle" last="Scarborough"] will be electric all the way around, but [player_tooltip player_id="79240" first="Brynlee" last="Arnold"], a 6’3 left handed attacker from the middle and right side is one who is on a quick rise to the top of 2022 prospect. </span></p> <p><strong>The Battle For Central Iowa Supremacy</strong></p> [caption id="attachment_101329" align="alignright" width="386"]<img class=" wp-image-101329" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/07/DSC02686.jpg" alt="" width="386" height="257" /> Waukee[/caption] <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There were key players who graduated and will have some turnover this year, but there are the core schools that include Ankeny, Dowling, Valley, and Waukee who have made it a tradition of finishing their season in Cedar Rapids.  That’s not all though.  Ankeny Centennial will reload, but Urbandale also has the pieces to make a run with upstart soon to be Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="79678" first="Lily" last="Dykstra"]!  Even schools like a Southeast Polk and Des Moines Roosevelt are upset minded and are able to compete among the best.  </span></p> <p><strong>How Do You Draw The Lines of Class 3A and Class 2A</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How many ways can you slice a cake or pizza? Thats what it will look like for Class 3A this Fall when you have Eastern Iowa powers that would include, Osage, Mount Vernon, Davenport Assumption, Union, and West Liberty.  All of these teams have state tournament experience and at somepoint will see each other this season.  Same goes for 2A.  With Dike-New Hartford moving down into Class 2A there is DNH, Hudson, Clarion-Goldfield Dows, Denver, Beckman, Grundy Center, and Wilton.  These teams have had to design schedules against top large schools to not only gain that experience, but build a resume come tournament time. </span></p> <p><strong>Don’t Sleep on Cedar Falls</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To replace the likes of [player_tooltip player_id="17093" first="Alayna" last="Yates"] and Kacia Brown just doesn’t happen over night, however CF has a program, the next one in to take the place, but replacing these players may be by committee.  Emmy Wedgbury has the leadership to pull a team together and compete until the end.  She could play any position on the court.  The Tigers will also have recent UNI commit [player_tooltip player_id="79256" first="Alivia" last="Bronner"] n the backcourt where I think they might be a big time threat come postseason play once they put all the pieces together.</span></p> [caption id="attachment_101330" align="alignright" width="395"]<img class=" wp-image-101330" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/07/DSC03044.jpg" alt="" width="395" height="263" /> Unity Christian[/caption] <p><strong>Northwest Iowa and the Ever-Changing Dynamic</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unity and Western are in separate classes.  However the other Sioux County teams will be looking for different routes to Cedar Rapids with Sioux Center and MOC-Floyd Valley (which are all in Class 3A.  These teams know each other so well, but sometimes they get buried with all of the talent that is so close to each other.  Another Northwest Iowa team I’m excited to see play will be Newell-Fonda.  These athletes have found success and hardware in basketball and softball.  Last season they fell just short of the state tournament in the regional final.  Will this be the year when they can make it to state in all three major team sports?</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_101248" align="aligncenter" width="677"]<img class=" wp-image-101248" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/07/PDSummerShowcase2_7th-300x150.jpg" alt="" width="677" height="341" /> Photo: Prep Dig[/caption]