All-Region substate basketball teams released

Southeast Iowa and the Union area boys and girls basketball teams saw a lot of success this year on the hardwood.

Teams from all around the Union area battled night in and night out from the regular season into the postseason and for two squads, the hard work paid off with a trip to Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena for the state tournament.

Along this seasons journey, there has no doubt been some incredible teams, but there have also been some outstanding individuals on those teams whose skill set has been noticed not only throughout the area, but the state as well.

With the release of the latest 2023 All Substate All-Region lists it's time to give recognition to those girls and boys that have been given the distinction.

In the Class 1A Substate 4 boys field, there are three area athletes that have been named.

Sitting on top of the list is none other than New London’s Blaise Porter.

Porter scored 25 points per game this season, which led the Tigers. He also finished the year with a team-leading 4.6 assists per game, as well as tallying 8.4 rebounds per game, two steals and one block per contest.

He also played a large part in helping New London get back into the state tournament for just the second time in school history.

Joining Porter on the list is Winfield-Mt. Union junior Cam Buffington.

Buffington, who helped the Wovles get to the 1A-4 Substate Semifinal, led the Wolves with 19.7 points a night, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

WACO junior Hunter Hughes earned a spot as well.

Hughes averaged 15.6 points on the season, while grabbing 5.0 rebounds, dishing out 3.5 assists and tallying 3.3 steals.

Representing the area in the Class 1A Substate 6 list is Keota junior Sawyer Stout, Pekin senior Luke Long and Hillcrest Academy senior Grant Bender.

Stout had a great junior season, averaging 18 points a night for the Eagles as well as 1.9 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

Long led the Panthers averaging 15.8 points a contest. He also pulled down 6.1 rebounds, averaged 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals and one block.

As for Bender, he scored a team-high 18.4 points a game, while grabbing 6.0 rebounds and tallying 2.5 steals and 1.5 assists.

In the Class 2A Substate 6 field, Mid-Prairie senior Camron Pickard earned a spot on the list.

Pickard led the Golden Hawks with 15.8 points and 3.6 assists. He also averaged 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals.

Class 3A Substate 6 is lead by Mt. Pleasant junior Payton Hagans.

Hagans led the Panthers in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

He averaged 20.7 points a game, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals before an injury sidelined him in the final weeks of the season and into the postseason.

Fairfield senior Max Weaton earned a spot on the list as well.

Weaton averaged a double-double on the season averaging 19.5 points a game, while pulling down 13.6 rebounds. Weaton also averaged 3.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals.

Washington senior Ethan Patterson sits among the names as well.

Patterson scored 19.5 points a night, along with 4.8 rebound, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals.

Along with Weaton, fellow Fairfield senior JJ Lane earned a spot after averaging 18.2 points a contest as well as 3.7 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals.

Mt. Pleasant also earns a distinction at Coach of the Year as head coach Eric Rawson was named along with Newton’s Jason Carter.

Rawson helped the Panthers to an 18-6 overall record at the helm.

On the girls’ side, Winfield-Mt. Union senior Bradie Buffington holds the highest spot on the Region 8 list.

Buffington averaged 14 points per game this season. Along with pulling down 8.2 rebounds per game, she also blocked 2.3 shots per game and collected 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game, all while helping the Wolves get to the state tournament.

WACO senior Ellah Kissell earned a spot too.

Kissell led area 1A scorers with 22.2 points per game in her senior season. She also finished the year with 3.7 steals per game, 3.2 assists per game and 1.1 blocked shots per game, all of which led the Warriors. She also brought down 6.9 rebounds per game.

Join her Wolves teammate is fellow WMU senior Melina Oepping. Oepping finished second on WMU in scoring at 13.2 points a game, but led in rebounds with 9.0 a night. She also averaged 2.3 blocks, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals.

In Class 2A Region 8, Mid-Prairie senior Amara Jones was the sole selection.

Jones scored 10.4 points a game, while dishing out a team-high 4.4 assists and 4.2 steals. Jones also grabbed 4.0 rebounds.

Finally in Class 4A Region 7, Mt. Pleasant’s Andrea Lopreato earned a spot on the list.

Lopreato earned the honor after leading the Panthers with 22 points per game.

Along with her scoring, Lopreato pulled down 13.2 rebounds per game to average a double-double. She led the team with three steals per game, and also collected 2.4 assists and 1.0 blocks per contest.