IGHSAU releases 1A-3A basketball brackets

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released postseason girls basketball brackets for classes 1A, 2A and 3A on Tuesday. The vast majority of Union area teams now know their paths to Wells Fargo in Des Moines.

All but one high school (Mt. Pleasant) covered by the Southeast Iowa Union are in one of the bottom three classes. Fairfield moved down to Class 3A this season, joining Washington as the only Southeast Conference teams in the class.

In Class 3A, Fairfield and Washington both received the unfortunate task of playing in Region 2, the same region that holds No. 2 Solon. The Trojans will travel to Solon to take on the Spartans in Game 1.

While Fairfield plays at Solon, Washington will be on its way to Davenport to take on Assumption in the bottom half of the bracket.

The Solon-Fairfield winner will take on either Central Lee or Davis County in the next round. No. 12 Mount Vernon and Tipton await the Knights or Demons.

Mid-Prairie will be hosting PCM in the Region 8 opener. The winner of that will play against No. 11 Vinton-Shellsburg or South Tama in the semifinals. No. 8 Grinnell, Albia, Chariton and Centerville are on the top half of that bracket.

In Class 2A, Cardinal will be at Pella Christian for a Region 4 opening round matchup. The winner of that game will travel to No. 4 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in the quarterfinals.

Pekin will play in Class 2A Region 6. The Panthers play Durant for a chance to take on top seed and sixth-ranked Iowa City Regina.

On the other side of the bracket, Van Buren County will travel to Louisa-Muscatine. The winner of that game gets No. 12 Mediapolis in the quarterfinals. Already in the Region 6 quarterfinals is Columbus, which plays at Wilton.

Eighth-ranked Winfield-Mount Union gets the No. 1 seed in Class 1A Region 8. The Wolves’ first game will be at home against Holy Trinity Catholic or Wapello.

With a win, WMU would play either WACO, Keota, Notre Dame or New London. WACO and Keota play in the opening round at WACO on Feb. 9, and New London travels to Burlington to face Notre Dame.

The second seed in the region belongs to No. 11 North Mahaska. Twin Cedars would host every game in the bottom half of the bracket, including if the Sabres went against North Mahaska in the semifinals.

Highland and Hillcrest Academy were pushed North, playing in Class 1A Region 3. The Huskies will play at English Valleys in the opener, with Hillcrest playing at Montezuma.

The top seed in Class 1A Region 3 is No. 3 North Linn, which plays on the opposite side of the bracket as both Highland and Hillcrest Academy.

The Class 1A opening round will take place next week, on Feb. 9. The first games for Class 2A and 3A will be played on Feb. 14.