Tournament talk and other tidbits
The field has been set for this year's edition of the State Girls Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines next week. It was another banner year for the Mississippi Valley Conference as four of its 14 schools will be taking their respective acts on the road to the capitol city next week, three 4A teams plus Dubuque Wahlert in Class 3A.
As for the Metro area, it was a season of mixed results. One team will be busing to Des Moines, the Xavier Saints. With Xavier as the lone representative, this marks the fewest Metro teams participating in the state tournament since 2004, when Kennedy was the only school to make it to Des Moines.
I really don't think it was a "down" year for the girls game in town, Some terrific individuals took the court this year, but a majority of the teams were very young this season.That youth led to a more balanced Metro scene. Injuries also took their toll on some of the Metro teams. Jefferson was an example, losing three starters from its lineup throughout the year. Linn-Mar also lost Shanice Cheatham to a major knee injury which affected its season.
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