Boys state basketball opening round recap

The Iowa High School Athletic Associations 2025 Boys Basketball State Tournament is in full swing, with quarterfinal rounds being played all day Monday and Tuesday.

Over the two day span, Class 4A, 3A and 2A semifinal matchups are now set. Class 1A beings Wednesday morning.

Here we will take a look at the tournament games that have taken place thus far through the three higher classes.

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In Class 4A, the upper seeds walked away winners.

Top ranked Cedar Falls had no problem will No. 8 seeded Dubuque Senior, downing the Rams 71-49.

The Tigers held a commanding 43-19 lead after the first half and the Rams never had an answer.

Cedar Falls got a game high 26 points from Anthony Galvin, who also went 7-for-8 from three.

They will play No. 4 Waukee Northwest who defeated No. 5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 71-64.

The Wolves built a 50-34 lead through three quarters and the Cougars just didn’t have enough time to get back into it.

Colin Rice led Northwest with 26 points on 10-for-13 shooting. Trey McKowen dropped in a game high 31 points for Kennedy.

No. 2 Linn-Mar moves on after a 69-60 win over No. 7 Waukee.

Linn-Mar lead just 19-18 after one half action, but the Lions 24-16 third period made the difference as the two squads scored 26 each in the fourth.

Davis Kern scored 24 points for Linn-Mar. Evan Jacobson finished with 27 points for Waukee.

The Lions will take on No. 3 Valley, who defeated No. 6 Ames in the quarterfinals.

The defending state champions were looking like they were going to pull away after three quarters, holding a 41-34 advantage, but Ames fire back in the final period.

The Tigers were able to hold off a late surge by the Little Cyclones to get back to the semifinals. Ames outscored Valley 16-12 in the final frame.

In Class 3A, the lower seeds showed out.

No. 1 Clear Lake was the only higher seed to pull out a victory. The Lions defeated No. 8 Central DeWitt 57-34.

Clear Lake led by just three after one quarter, 11-8, but outscored the Sabers 46-26 the rest of the way.

Thomas Meyer finished with 14 points for Clear Lake. Max Burgmeier had 14 as well for Central DeWitt.

No. 5 ADM defeated No. 4 Storm Lake 59-53. The Tornadoes led 26-25 at the half, but a 17-8 third quarter by the Tigers was the difference maker.

ADM led 42-34 heading into the final period and despite Storm Lake winning the scoring battle 19-17 it wasn’t enough.

Hudson Shull and Trey Bryte finished with 13 points each for ADM. Jaidyn Coon ended with 16 for Storm Lake.

No. 7 Xavier picked up a 52-37 victory over No. 2 Knoxville. After trading the lead early, Xavier would never trail in the state opener.

The Saints led 19-15 after one, 27-20 at the half and just 36-32 heading into the fourth.

However, Xavier finished strong outscoring the Panthers 16-5 in the fourth. AJ Evans finished with 21 points for Xavier.

Xavier will take on No. 6 MOC-Floyd Valley, who topped No. 3 Ballard 55-51.

It was all MOC-Floyd Valley through the first half as the Dutchmen led 12-6 after one and 25-12 at the half.

Ballard kicked it up a notch in the second half, cutting it down to 36-28 by the end of the third.

The Bombers took the lead in the early stages of the fourth and even outscored the Dutchmen 23-19, but it wasn’t enough to get the job done.

In Class 2A, it was an upper seed sweep.

No. 1 and defending state champion Western Christian defeated No. 8 Jesup 69-38.

The Wolfpack led 42-16 at the break and took the final two quarters 27-22.

They will take on No. 4 Grand View Christian in the semifinals. The Thunder defeated No. 5 Treynor 61-46.

It was a battle through one half as the two teams were knotted at 26-26.

In the second half it was all Thunder as GVC outscored the Cardinals 17-7 and 18-13 to advance.

Brayden Hoben finished with 26 points for Grand View Christian.

No. 2 West Lyon won big over No. 7 Union Community, 81-50.

West Lyon will square off with No. 3 Unity Christian. Unity Christian defeated No. 6 Grundy Center 48-46.

Grundy Center led for the majority of the game holding leads of 15-11, 28-25 and 36-30 after the first three quarters.

Unity Christian closed strong, outscoring the Spartans 18-10 to just pull out the win.

Jackson Vogel scored 14 points to lead Unity Christian.

In 1A, No. 1 Marquette Catholic will take on No. 8 Remsen St. Mary’s.

No. 4 Gladbrook-Reinbeck will squares off with No. 5 North Linn.

No. 2 Madrid gets No. 7 Boyden-Hull and No. 3 St. Edmond will battle No. 6 Woodbine.