Looking ahead to SEC basketball

As fall sports take a step back, Southeast Iowa is just days away from the 2024-25 Southeast Conference basketball season.

Practices have already started on the girls’ side, and the boys will be practicing as early as next week.

With both seasons coming up fast, we’ll take a look back at last year to get a look behind the curtain for the upcoming winter season.

The 2023-24 girls’ basketball campaign was dominated by Keokuk. The Chiefs didn’t lose a single game in the Southeast Conference, and only lost three contests all regular season.

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The closest conference game the Chiefs played in was a 37-30 road win at Fort Madison in the final SEC game of the year. Keokuk would knock the Bloodhounds out of the Class 4 Region 1 semifinals before falling to Clear Creek-Amana one game before state.

Fort Madison lost twice to Keokuk and once to Burlington. The Grayhounds took third. Washington was fourth, beating Burlington once and sweeping Union area rivals Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield. The Panthers swept the Trojans in two nail-biters, and Fairfield closed the year out winless.

The SEC boys’ race was much more competitive. Mt. Pleasant defended its conference championship, but the Panthers only did it by one game, edging both Keokuk and Fort Madison for the top spot with an 8-2 record.

Mt. Pleasant’s losses both came in Lee County. The Panthers lost road games to the Chiefs and Bloodhounds, and were eventually knocked out of the postseason in Keokuk as well.

Washington wound up fourth in the SEC boys basketball race, scooping up four wins to stick right with Burlington. Fairfield went 0-10.

Listed below are the standings and statistical leaders for last year’s SEC basketball seasons, with expected returners showing in italics.

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2023-2024 SEC girls basketball standings

1. Keokuk 10-0, 19-4

2. Fort Madison 7-3, 14-8

3. Burlington 6-4, 11-10

4. Washington 5-5, 8-13

5. Mt. Pleasant 2-8, 4-17

6. Fairfield 0-10, 3-17

SCORING LEADERS

1. Mylee Stiefel (10), Burlington 20.9 PPG

2. Kendra Boatman (10), Keokuk 18.6 PPG

3. Savannah Hollander (12), Fairfield 15.9 PPG

4. Adalyn Long (10), Washington 12.2 PPG

5. MaKenna Altgilbers (12), Keokuk 10.3 PPG

REBOUNDING LEADERS

1. Kylee Hill (9), Burlington 9.4 RPG

2. Dayonna Davis (10), Fort Madison 8.1 RPG

3. Camryn Atterberg (11), Keokuk 7.0 RPG

4. Daphne Brown (10), Burlington 6.6 RPG

5. Savannah Hollander (12), Fairfield 6.2 RPG

ASSIST LEADERS

1. Kendra Boatman (10), Keokuk 5.0 APG

2. Mylee Stiefel (10), Burlington 3.8 APG

3. Savannah Hollander (12), Fairfield 2.5 APG

4. Adalyn Long (10), Washington 2.4 APG

5. Irelynd Sargent (12), 2.2 APG

2023-24 SEC boys’ basketball standings

1. Mt. Pleasant 8-2, 13-8

2. Keokuk 7-3, 17-7

2. Fort Madison 7-3, 11-10

4. Washington 4-6, 6-15

4. Burlington 4-6, 6-16

6. Fairfield 1-21, 0-10

SCORING LEADERS

1. Payton Hagans (12), Mt. Pleasant 22.8 PPG

2. Jaxon Clark (10), Keokuk 19.8 PPG

3. Tim Robinson (12), Burlington 17.5 PPG

4. Christian Stacy (9), Mt. Pleasant 14.6 PPG

5. Hunter Cresswell (12), Fort Madison 13.7 PPG

REBOUNDING LEADERS

1. Jaxon Clark (10), Keokuk 11.5 RPG

2. Hunter Cresswell (12), Fort Madison 7.9 RPG

3. Nate Stroud (12), Mt. Pleasant 7.0 RPG

4. Luke Konczal (11), Fairfield 6.8 RPG

5. Dayton Lamar (11), Fort Madison 6.1 RPG

ASSIST LEADERS

1. Diego Garcia (12), Keokuk 4.2 APG

2. Christos Kantzavelos (12), Burlington 3.5 APG

3. Riley Perkins (11), Fairfield 3.3 APG

4. Brenton Hoard (11), Keokuk 3.2 APG

5. Payton Hagans (12), Mt. Pleasant 2.9 APG

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