High School

Iowa Boys High School Basketball Substate Finals Locked In For Class 4A

State tournament bids to be handed out for largest class.

Dana Becker

Northwest’s Colin Rice (4) drives past his defender, Waukee’s Pete Craig (1), on Feb. 3, 2026, at Waukee High School.
Northwest’s Colin Rice (4) drives past his defender, Waukee’s Pete Craig (1), on Feb. 3, 2026, at Waukee High School. / Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The fourth and final bunch of Iowa high school boys basketball substate championship games are now set after the second round of Class 4A games were completed on Friday, February 27.

Substate championships in Iowa’s largest classification will take place on Tuesday, March 3, with the higher seed serving as host in all eight games. Winners advance to Des Moines, Iowa and the Casey’s Center to compete in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament beginning March 9.

New Champion Will Be Crowned In 4A This Year

Three-time defending 4A state champion Valley was eliminated by Ankeny, 72-36. The Tigers, who lost all five starters from a year ago, won just one game prior to earning a victory in the opening round of postseason play.

Cedar Falls, who has held the No. 1 spot in 4A throughout the season, scored a dominating 78-45 decision vs. Iowa City High to move on.

Colin Rice Goes Nuts For Waukee Northwest

Colin Rice, a Nebraska commit for Fred Hoiberg, scored a single-game school-record 50 points as Waukee Northwest topped Iowa City Liberty, 101-58.

Council Bluffs Lincoln, Ames, North Scott, Dowling Catholic, Dubuque Senior, Johnston, Linn-Mar, Muscatine, Norwalk, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Des Moines Roosevelt, Urbandale and Waukee all joined them in the next round after winning games at home.

The 1A and 2A substate finals will take place on Saturday, February 28 while the 3A games go down on Monday, March 2.

Here are the Iowa boys high school basketball Class 4A substate finals for Wednesday, March 3.

Iowa High School Boys Basketball Substate Championships

Wednesday, March 3

Class 4A

  • Urbandale at Ames
  • Linn-Mar at Cedar Falls
  • Norwalk at Dowling Catholic
  • Ankeny at Waukee Northwest
  • North Scott at Cedar Rapids Prairie
  • Johnston at Des Moines Roosevelt
  • Cedar Rapids Xavier at Dubuque Wahlert
  • Council Bluffs Lincoln at Waukee
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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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