Class 3A boys substates: No. 2 Washington sent north

The question of whether the Southeast Conference’s five Class 3A boys basketball teams would wind up in the same substate grouping has been answered. They will not.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released its Class 3A substate groupings, and although four of the five teams were placed in Substate 5, one squad was missing.

No. 2 Washington was pushed out of the local substate, likely to separate the Demons from No. 1 Fort Madison. The Demons will be fighting for a state berth through Substate 4.

Washington currently sits at 14-2 on the year, and the Demons are the highest ranked team in Substate 4 according to computer rankings site bcmoorerankings.com. The next team down the list is Cedar Rapids Xavier. The Saints are currently 8-7.

Other teams in Washington’s Substate, in order of their BCMoore ranking: Central Dewitt (11-4), Solon (10-7), Grinnell (3-12), Center Point-Urbana (6-11) Benton Community (5-12) and South Tama (1-16).

If the seedings reflect the current bcmoore rankings, Washington would draw South Tama in Round 1.

Substate 5 will likely be headed up by Fort Madison. The Bloodhounds are 15-0 and the top team in the substate according to bcmoore. The second-best team according to those rankings is Marion, which sits at 14-3.

Clear Creek-Amana (11-4) is the next team down the list. If the seeds reflect the rankings, Fairfield (4-10) and Mt. Pleasant (7-9) would be the four and five seed, thus meeting in the first round of the tournament.

Other teams in the Substate are Oskaloosa (4-11), Mount Vernon (8-8) and Keokuk (4-11).

Winners of each substate will earn a spot in the Class 3A state tournament.