Boys? tourney brackets unveiled

The brackets for the Class 1A and Class 2A boys? basketball tournament were released on Wednesday afternoon.

Starting in the Class 1A bracket, IMS will have a winnable game against HLV in the first round on Feb. 19, but could run into a tough Montezuma team in the second round.

What IMS has going for them is that the potential game with Montezuma would be at a neutral location, so they wouldn?t have to worry about being a true road team.

On the other side of IMS? bracket, the team to watch out for is Belle Plaine, who has lost only one game this season, to Montezuma.

WACO will help kick things off for area teams in the boys? tournament, hosting winless Maharishi on Feb. 16, and potentially moving on to take on Holy Trinity, who has been consistently good all season.

Despite being 12-6, Holy Trinity has only lost back-to-back games once this season, with both of those coming in early December.

In District 10, Keota will have to get through Twin Cedars, but if they can do that, it would set up a likely match-up against local rival Sigourney.

Sigourney swept the season series between the two, winning both games by an average of 15 points.

In Class 2A, the local team to keep an eye on is the Highland Huskies, who earned a first-round bye.

Highland will only need to win two games to advance to sub-state, but could run into a tough Burlington, Notre Dame team in the district finals on the way.

The one downside for Highland is that they don?t get to host a playoff game, having to travel to Burlington for their first game, then potentially Mt. Pleasant for a second game, before substate in Muscatine.