Iowa Boys State Tournament: Previewing The Four Championship Games

The stage is now set for the final day of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Basketball Tournament.

All four games will be contested on Friday, March 13 from the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

It has been an incredible week of action from the event, as High School on SI has provided complete game-by-game coverage of it all.

The championship games can be viewed live and for free on the IAHSAA YouTube page beginning with the Class 3A contest.

Here are previews for all four games starting with 3A and going through 4A, 1A and 2A.

Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament Championship Games

Class 3A: Ballard vs. ADM, 1 p.m.

It will be a showdown between Raccoon River Conference rivals for the Class 3A championship when Ballard meets ADM.

The Bombers won the league crown, finishing 10-1, with the lone loss coming to the Tigers in the second meeting this past January, 62-57. Ballard won the first encounter in mid-December right before the holiday break, 54-33.

In the quarterfinals, the Bombers rolled Gilbert, 70-40, before surviving a late run by Carroll in the semifinals to advance, 57-55. Evan Abbott scored 19 points vs. Carroll, as Parker Miller added 12 and Jude Gibson finished with 11.

Abbott has 35 points in two games, Gibson has 31 and Miller has scored 19. Gibson also has 14 assists and 13 rebounds.

For ADM, it has been a long week. They started off with an overtime win over Cedar Rapids Xavier, 68-59, before eliminating Storm Lake in an absolute classic, 72-70 in double overtime. Stars Hudson Lorensen and Trey Bryte have been magical, with Lorensen scoring 72 points and Bryte producing 28 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists in two games.

Ironically enough, over the last 40 meetings, the series is dead-even at 20 wins for each team. Ballard has won three of the last four since ADM reeled off four wins in a row.

Class 4A: Cedar Falls vs. Johnston, 3 p.m.

Will Gerdes would not be denied a spot in the state championship game of Class 4A this year, as the future Northern Iowa Panther has carried Cedar Falls this week. Gerdes scored 28 points with eight rebounds and two blocks in a 59-46 semifinal round victory over Dowling Catholic.

The Tigers showed how effective and powerful they can be during the second and third quarters vs. the Maroons, scoring 36 points while shooting 15-for-28 from the field.

In two games this week, Gerdes is 24 of 30 from the field with 56 points and 23 rebounds in 61 minutes played. Jaydon Kimbrough has scored 38 points, including 28 in the quarterfinals.

Cinderella of the tournament, Johnston, stands across the mighty Tigers. The Dragons have defeated both Waukee Northwest and Waukee to reach this round, playing the grind-it-out style head coach Courtney Henderson prefers.

In the win over Waukee, Tino Daye scored 17 points, Joshua Jenkins added 16 and Nicare Cavil finished with 13. Johnston drained 10 triples and shot over 46 percent from the field for the game.

Class 1A: St. Edmond vs. Bellevue Marquette Catholic, 5 p.m.

For the second straight game at state, St. Edmond handled its opponent, running past Burlington Notre Dame in the semifinals, 74-55. Hunter Horn scored 27 points with 11 rebounds, Carson Bargfrede added 17 points and seven boards, and Jakob Koopman finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

More importantly from Koopman was his defense on Notre Dame star and Western Illinois commit Shay Stephens. He limited Stephens to 18 hard-earned points on 5 of 19 shooting from the field.

The Gaels last won it all in 2000, reaching the final four other times since.

Bellevue Marquette is back in the title game after falling to Madrid last year, as the Defenders knocked off MMCRU in the final four, 65-56. Louis Gonner led three players in double figures with 17, as both Koen Roeder and Justin Severson each scored 13.

Gonner has 34 points in two games at state, shooting 58 percent from the field. He has knocked down three 3-pointers and is 9 of 14 at the free throw line.

This will be the third straight finals appearance for Bellevue Marquette, and the fourth all-time trip there. They are in search of the first title in school history.

Class 2A: Kuemper Catholic vs. Unity Christian, 7 p.m.

Ryan Clair and Kuemper Catholic will be on the hunt for the second state basketball title in school history on Friday after advancing to the finals with a thrilling 58-57 victory over Treynor.

Clair scored 27 points with five rebounds, going 11-for-15 from the floor. He has helped lead the high-scoring Knights all year long in pursuit of another title to go along with one captured in 1985.

The senior has 42 points in two games and is shooting almost 67 percent from the field and 57 percent from the 3-point line. Dylan Schon has 27 points and 13 rebounds for Kuemper Catholic.

Unity Christian might be the hottest shooting team in the state tournament, as the Knights exploded vs. Iowa City Regina in the semis, 72-46. They shot a blistering 61 percent from the field and made 10 of 18 from the 3-point line.

Dylan Bosma accounted for nine of those triples, scoring a game-high 27 in the win. Austin Wieringa, Tyce VanDonge and Keagen Winterfeld combined for another 39 points and 16 rebounds with 10 assists.

Bosma has 37 points scored in two games while VanDonge leads with 41. Wieringa has 29 this week at state.