Midseason boys? hoops report

With the midseason winter sports break upon us, and the holiday season in full swing, it?s time for reflecting on what has occurred so far up to this point in the year.

Today, the focus will be on the boys? basketball season for the area teams, while Monday featured girls? basketball and Wednesday will be devoted to wrestling.

On Thursday, the sports section will have the Top 10 stories of the past calendar year. Any and all suggestions are welcome by e-mailing the sports department (sports@washjrnl.com), or by calling in (319-653-2191). Your feedback is greatly encouraged.

Offensive consistency is the keyword flying around the Washington boys? basketball team this winter break, and they are working hard to build that for the second half of the season.

The Demons enter the winter break at 2-5 this year, and have scored more than 60 points in a game three times. They have also been held under 45 points three times this season.

?We need to work on moving on offense and moving on screens,? Washington senior Derek Anding said. ?We need quicker ball movement, because otherwise it?s easy for them to set up on defense.?

Anding is averaging 18.1 points per game so far for the Demons, as they hit the winter break.

The Demon senior has been joined by a pair of newcomers atop the scoring list this season, with sophomore Dalton Myers averaging 10.3 points per game and junior Bryce Sinn notching 7.6 points and a team high 6.4 rebounds.

As the primary big man for the Demons, Sinn (who stands at 6-foot-3) said he realizes he?ll be one of the smaller bigs on the court against most opponents, but he is working to make sure his production doesn?t dip.

?I know that I?m one of the taller kids on the team and we aren?t the tallest team,? Sinn said. ?I need to be a rebounder. We are going up against guys who are 6-foot-6. I have to be physical underneath. I know they can jump higher and they are taller, but if you are physical with them, you can move them out of the way.?

Washington?s victories came over conference foe Fairfield and a victory over Class 1A Sigourney, while the Demons have fallen to Class 4A teams Muscatine and Ottumwa.

Washington will look to start the second portion of the season fresh on Saturday when they host IMS at 7:30 p.m.

Coming into the season, Highland boys? basketball was pegged as one of the top teams in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division, and rightfully so.

After missing out on the division title by one game last year, the Huskies lost just one starter for this season, but an early loss looked to derail the dream season for Highland.

After a second-game loss to Wapello at home, the Huskies have rebounded and looked good doing it, outscoring opponents by an average of 16 points in their next six games.

That puts Highland at 7-1 at the winter break and right on top of the division, tied with IMS, Lone Tree and Winfield-Mt. Union at 4-1 in the conference.

?To the team I pass along the message that we just need to play hard and work hard,? Highland head coach Marcus Hall said. ?It is what it is, and we have a 7-1 record. Everything we want is attainable. We are going to take some time off from our feet and hopefully put some more things in.?

With the scoring, All-Conference performer Trent Lasek leads the way, averaging 14.9 points per game, but his strength for the team comes in his smart passes, which have helped him average 5.4 assists per game up to this point in the season.

Senior Tereze Lanfair has also made a presence for the Huskies, coming off the bench to average 11.3 points per game in the young season.

He also grabs 4.6 rebounds per game for Highland, behind team leader Bill Burton?s 6.6 rebounds per game.

Burton is third on the team in scoring with 9.9 points per game.

Highland will look to continue its season with a game against WACO on the road on Jan. 5.

IMS has joined Highland stride for stride to start the season, only dropping one contest after starting the season 5-0.

The lone loss of the year came to Pekin at home on Dec. 18, but IMS rebounded with a drubbing of Cardinal to round out the 2015 portion of the schedule.

Looking at IMS? schedule so far, they have yet to face any of the other one-loss teams in the division, with games against Highland, Winfield-Mt. Union and two games against Lone Tree left on the schedule.

Reigning conference Player of the Year Eli Gingerich seems to have only improved in his senior season for IMS, averaging 17.1 points, 7.1 assists, 3.7 steals and 4.3 rebounds per game this season.

Helping support Gingerich is junior Nick Yutzy, who is averaging 11.3 points and 4.4 assists per game from the back court, while inside, Drake Brezina is notching 11.3 points and a team high five rebounds per game.

IMS will need to improve on its shooting percentage to get past some of the other top tier teams in the conference, as they rank last in field goal and 3-point shooting percentage among the other one-loss teams in the division.

IMS will open its 2016 portion of the season when it takes on Washington on the road on Saturday.