Latest on the Iowa Boys State Basketball Tournament [UPDATED BRACKETS]
Eight teams in each of four Iowa classes have met one of their big goals of the boys' high school basketball season... they've made it to the state tournament. Now they each try to win three more games and, in turn, take home a state championship. Last week, the Iowa Girls State Basketball tournament wrapped up in Des Moines, this week it's the boys turn at Wells Fargo Arena.
*We'll be updating this story throughout tournament week.
1A
[FRIDAY UPDATE] North Linn won their 2nd title of the last five years in their 5th straight appearance in the championship game. The Lynx defeated Grand View Christian in Friday's championship game.
[THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE] North Linn will play for the state championship Friday afternoon after defeating Remsen St. Mary's 56-46. The 2nd-seeded Lions will play the top seed Grand View Christian at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. It's North Linn's 5th straight appearance in the 1A title game.
[TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE] 2nd-seeded North Linn blew out North Mahaska 89-43 in the opening round, setting up a semifinal game against #3 seed Remsen St. Mary's Wednesday evening at 7:15.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Boys state tournament action will start in Class 1A Monday morning, but the first area team will actually take the floor Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. That's when second-seeded North Linn (24-1) will play #7 seed North Mahaska (20-5).
2A
[FRIDAY UPDATE] Rock Valley won the 2A championship with an upset victory over top-seeded Central Lyon.
[TUESDAY UPDATE] #6 seed Monticello beat 3rd-seeded Mid-Prairie 46-43 Tuesday morning. The Panthers will play #2 seed Rock Valley in the semifinals Thursday afternoon. They defeated #7 seed Jesup 75-61 Tuesday afternoon.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Our listening area is well-represented in Class 2A, where three teams are in the eight-team field. All three of those teams play during the day on Tuesday, March 8. #3 seed Mid-Prairie (24-0) will play 6th-seeded Monticello (21-3) at 10:30 a.m., in the first game of the day. That will be followed by #7 seed Jesup (19-5) playing 2nd-seeded Rock Valley (19-5).
3A
[FRIDAY UPDATE] Dallas Center-Grimes defeated Central DeWitt to win the 3A title.
[WEDNESDAY UPDATE] Winterset knocked Marion out of the 3A field on Tuesday with a hard-fought 81-77 victory.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Marion is the only team from the area in the 3A field. The #5 seed, Marion (19-5) will play 4th-seeded Winterset Tuesday afternoon at 3:45 p.m.
4A
[FRIDAY UPDATE] Ames did what they did throughout the entire tournament--they won in a blowout--to take home the 4A crown.
[THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE] The tournament runs of Cedar Rapids Prairie and Cedar Rapids Kennedy came to an end Thursday night with both losing to higher seeds in the 4A semifinals.
[WEDNESDAY UPDATE] Both Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Prairie have advanced to the semifinals in Class 4A. The Cougars defeated Waukee Northwest 61-55 and the Hawks won over Cedar Falls 62-52. They won't play each other in the semifinals meaning that, if both win on Thursday, they'll meet for the 4A title Friday night.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Nearly half the 4A field is from the Mississippi Valley Conference. The first of the three area teams to take the court is Cedar Rapids Kennedy. The 4th-seeded Cougars (20-3) play #5 seed Waukee Northwest (20-4) Wednesday morning, March 9, at 10:30 a.m. At 2 p.m. that afternoon, two Mississippi Valley Conference teams will go head to head when #2 seed Cedar Falls (20-2) plays 7th-seeded Cedar Rapids Prairie (17-6).
LOOK: Biggest underdog victories in March Madness