Sports Calendar: Regional 1A Basketball kicks off Thursday
It's time! The basketball postseason kicks off Thursday night with regional girls basketball. It all begins with the 1A first round.
Before that, there is one non-basketball item on the sports calendar for Thursday. It will be senior night for the Red Oak bowling team as they host Harlan. The action starts at 3:30 p.m. at Red Oak Lanes.
Regional Basketball Preview: Class 1A
Region 8
Three area teams from Region 8 will be in action Thursday night. All games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
In Stanton, the Viqueens look to advance to the quarterfinals once again when they host the Lenox Tigers. It's the second time this week that Stanton (10-9) plays Lenox (3-18). Stanton defeated Lenox 52-44 on Monday night.
The Viqueens will be led by sophomore guard Chelsea Weis, who averages 8.6 points per game this season. Lenox's player to watch is senior Katie Dukes, who averages 10.4 points per game.
The winner of Stanton-Lenox will play Adair-Casey Tuesday night in Adair for the regional quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the Essex Trojanettes will also be home to open the regional tournament when they host South Page. Essex (16-5) enters the postseason finishing second in the Corner Conference tournament and tied for second with Nishnabotna in the regular season standings. They've defeated South Page (8-13) three times already this season. The most recent game, which was Jan. 30, resulted in a 71-33 blowout.
Jescenia Mosley will be the player to watch for Essex. Mosley, a sophomore, has been solid for the Trojanettes as of late. She leads the team with 11.8 points per game in 20 games this season.
Kysa McClarnon is the player to watch for South Page. McClarnon is averaging 12.3 points per game.
Meanwhile, East Mills goes on the road to play Nishnabotna. The Wolverines (7-13), enter the regional tournament coming off of a win over Heartland Christian on Tuesday night.
Nishnabotna (13-5) is coming off a loss to Essex Tuesday night. The season series favors Nishnabotna, who won both meetings this year.
For East Mills to advance, they'll need their trio of seniors, Samantha Opal, Kendra Croghan and Jessie Doyle to step up. Opal, in particular, is the leading scorer for East Mills, averaging 8.5 points per game.
Nishnabotna will rely on senior Anne-Marie Maher, who is averaging 11.5 points per game in 17 games this season.
The winners of Essex/South Page and East Mills/Nishnabotna will face off in the quarterfinals Tuesday night in Essex.
The other Corner Conference first round match-up features Sidney against Heartland Christian. The winner of that game plays Fremont-Mills Tuesday night in Tabor.
Finally, Orient-Macksburg will host East Union, while Iowa Christian takes on Ankeny Christian in Saydel. The winners of both games face off in Adair Tuesday night in the quarterfinals.
Region 2
The only area team in Region 2 is Griswold. They will be on the road Thursday night to face Coon Rapids-Bayard. Griswold (5-15) enters the regional first round with a four-game losing streak. Their last win was Jan. 30 against Missouri Valley.
Coon Rapids-Bayard (14-7) has fared a little better as of late, winning three of its last four games.
This is the first meeting between the two schools this season.
Griswold will be led by Jeana Freund, who averages 8.9 points per game. Coon Rapids-Bayard has two players averaging at least 10 points per game, including McKenna Zanders, who averages 19.5 per game.
The winner of the game plays Exira-EHK Tuesday night in Exira.
The other first round games in the top of the bracket feature Glidden-Ralston versus Guthrie center and CAM versus Paton-Churdan. The winners of both games will face off Tuesday night in Glidden.
In the bottom half of the Region 2 bracket, Harris-Lake Park hosts Clay Central-Everly. The winner of that game plays George-Little Rock Tuesday night.
Additionally, River Valley hosts Ar-We-Va and Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn takes on St. Marys-Storm Lake. The winners of both games face off in Marcus Tuesday night.
All stats and information courtesy of QuikStats Iowa.