Des Moines — Western Christian and MOC Floyd Valley open State Tournament play on Tuesday.
(22-2) Western Christian is the #2 seed and opens the 2A quarterfinals against (18-6) Kuemper Catholic the #7 seed in 2A. Pregame begins at noon for a 12:15 opening tip.
It will mark the final State Tournament for long time Western head coach Jim Eekhoff who has announced he will retire at the end of this season.
The Wolfpack feature three players who average double figures per game. Josh Van Lingen has averaged 18.1 points per game with Taylor Miedema at 12.1 per game and Jesse Jansma at 11.5 per game. From three point range Jansma has hit on 45.5 percent of his attempts.
Van Lingen is the rebounding leader at 243 on the year and assists with 82. He’s also blocked 62 shots. Ben Gesink leads the team in steals with 33.
Kuemper Catholic is led by Matt Dentlinger who is averaging 18.6 points per game. Dentlinger also leads the team in rebounds with 258. He’s also blocked 65 shots. Parker Badding leads the team in assists with 68 while Spencer Collison is the steals leader with 28.
Pregame is set for 12:00 noon with a 12:15 opening tip on KIWA FM 105.3.
The Western – Kuemper quarterfinal will be followed by MOC Floyd Valley’s 3A quarterfinal with Dabuque Wahlert. The Dutch are the #4 seed at 21-3. Wahlert is the #5 seed at 19-5.
The Dutch have two players averaging double figures on the year with Levi Jansen hitting for 17.3 points per game. Christian Korver adds 14.8 per game hitting 41.8 percent from 3-point range. Jansen leads the team in rebounds with 178, assists with 120 and steals with 44.
Wahlert is led by two players in double figures led by Cordell Pemsl at 21.8 per game and David Wedewer with 11.8 points per game.
Pemsl is the rebound leader with 245 and steals with 40. Riley Till leads the team in assists with 72.
Pregame is set for 1:45 with a scheduled 2:00 pm opening tip on KIWA FM 105.3.We’ll stream from the website at www.kiwaradio.com.
