HIGH SCHOOL POSTSEASON BASKETBALL FEATURE STORY – BY ANNABELLE SCHNEIDER – KMAQ SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL POSTSEASON BASKETBALL FEATURE STORY – BY ANNABELLE SCHNEIDER:
On Saturday night in local high school basketball, it was the Class 1A and 2A substate final for the local high school boys basketball teams. Four of our area schools were competing for a spot in the state tournament at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines: Bellevue, Northeast, Marquette Catholic and Calamus Wheatland. Two area teams qualified for state: Bellevue and Marquette Catholic. Cal-Wheat and Northeast had their seasons sadly come to an end. With two of our area girls teams competing at the state tournament this week and one boys team still in the mix, fighting for their spot in Des Moines, each team had a remarkable year of basketball during the 2025-26 season. Here is their journey, beginning with Bellevue.
The Comets started off their season with an 83-48 victory against Easton Valley and won five straight before falling to Northeast 81-45. They lost two more games after that to Newman Central Catholic and Cascade and finished their season with a 22-3 overall record. They got their revenge against Northeast on January 30th when they beat them by 20; 67-47. Bellevue’s first opponent in the postseason was North Cedar and they breezed past them 87-37. After that, the boys picked up wins against Central Elkader and Maquoketa Valley before meeting East Marshall in the 1A-3 championship. In a game that was broadcast here at KMAQ, the Bellevue Comets defeated the Mustangs 66-55 and punched their ticket to the State tournament for the first time in four years.
The Marquette Catholic Defenders also punched their ticket to State in dramatic fashion. Their game against Montezuma went back and forth, sending the game to overtime. On a last second buzzer-beater by Louis Gonner, the Defenders came away victorious, 66-63. Marquette posted a 23-2 overall record on the season with their two losses coming to #4 Burlington-Notre Dame and #6 Bellevue. Nonetheless, they are back at state once more with their eyes set on bringing home some hardware to their school.
Tonight, two of our area schools are playing with high stakes involved. One team will play their first State Tournament game, the other hoping to qualify in boys 3A. The Central DeWitt Saber boys will take on the Solon Spartans at 7pm for a chance to make it to state for the second consecutive year. The Sabers have had a quiet season; they enter this matchup with a 15-8 record but have picked up big wins against ranked opponents in the MAC – Bettendorf and North Scott. Led by Brady Meadows’ 14.4 points per game, the DeWitt boys look to join their female counterparts at the Casey’s Center.
Live from the Casey’s Center at 8:30pm the hometown Maquoketa girls will play their first opponent: Mediapolis. The Cardinal ladies were ranked number 1 in Class 3A for nearly the whole season. Their four losses all came to ranked teams. Led by senior Cora Widel, who broke the program’s all time scoring record, these Cardinals are state bound once again, and have their eyes set on one thing: bringing home a state title. Listen to the game on KMAQ right after the Central DeWitt vs Solon boys substate final with Justin Tjaden and Dale Scott.
Tomorrow, the Central DeWitt girls will play a 4A state quarterfinal game against Norwalk, the very team that eliminated them last year. The Sabers lone loss was their first game against Iowa City High. Since then, the Sabers have won 22 straight and will look to continue the winning streak in Des Moines. Listen to that game on KMAQ around 1:15!
