Sathoff selected as small school All-GTNS captain

The area saw a lot of success in boys? basketball this season, highlighted by Mount Pleasant?s state championship. IMS also saw some time at the state tournament; fittingly, those two teams carry the most All-Golden Triangle News Service team selections.

Mount Pleasant head coach Paul Rundquist has been named All-GTNS Coach of the Year for the third year running. In those three years, he has brought a team to the state tournament three times. This year was undoubtedly the most memorable of those trips: not only did he lead the team to a state championship, claiming Mount Pleasant?s first state title in 94 years, but he did it with a team that had no returning starters from the previous season. Rundquist led the Panthers to a school-record 26-win season with only one loss. The team was once again undefeated in the conference, going 8-0 in the regular season against Southeast Conference opponents for the fourth straight year.

In his 12 years at Mount Pleasant, Rundquist has racked up a record of 211-108 ? including 72-7 over the last three years ? making him the winningest coach in school history.

Without any returning starters, Mount Pleasant was looking for leadership at the start of the season, and Jordan Ashton, one of three seniors, stepped up.

He was the state?s All-Tournament team captain, and now is captain of the All-GTNS team as well. He has also been named the Southeast Conference Player of the Year and first team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association, as well as the Iowa Basketball Coaches? Association?s (IBCA) Class 3A Player of the Year, and will play in the IBCA Senior All-Star games at Dallas Center-Grimes High School on March 24.

Ashton stepped into the role of ball handler this year, leading a Mount Pleasant offense that averaged 62.2 points per game. The point guard was not only the Panthers? leading scorer with 18.4 points per game of his own, but also topped Class 3A with a total of 498 points this season. He also had 67 assists and 41 steals.

This is Ashton?s second year appearing on the All-GTNS team, but it is his first as captain.

Of course, the Panthers wouldn?t be anywhere without their dominating duo of 6-7 seniors, Nick Lyon and Blake Vandenberg.

Lyon was a threat for the Panthers on both sides of the court, averaging 11.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Like Ashton, Lyon makes his second All-GTNS appearance.

Lyon was also chosen for the state all-tournament team and has been selected to play in the IBCA Senior All-Star games. He was named second team all-state by the INA and first team all-conference. He shot 68.8 percent from the floor on the season, leading all conference players who played in at least 10 games. Lyon was second in the conference with 34 blocks and second with 47 steals.

His 203 rebounds put him fourth in the category in Class 3A. At the state tournament, he and Vandenberg tied as the leading rebounders with 29 boards each. Vandenberg was the team?s leading rebounder all season. He was also the SEC?s leading rebounder with 232 on the season, which ranked him second in Class 3A. Vandenberg also topped the SEC in blocks with 40.

Vandenberg averaged 8.7 points per game. In the state championship game, he stepped up to score five points in double overtime to help lead the Panthers to a 66-62 win over Western Dubuque. He earned first team all-conference honors this season.

Vandenberg has signed his letter of intent to play football at NCAA Division II Missouri Western University next season. He was also a member of the All-GTNS football team in the fall.

Joining the three Panthers as a first team All-SEC selection is Washington senior Colin Steele. He was selected to the All-GTNS team for the second-straight year after leading the Demons to a tie for second place in the Southeast Conference with a 5-3 league mark and a 13-9 overall record. The undersized 6-foot forward led the Demons in scoring and rebounding this season, averaging 13.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Steele has also been selected to play in the IBCA Senior All-Star games..

Steele?s teammate, senior Brock Kimball, added 11 points and five rebounds per game this season for the Demons, earning first team All-SEC accolades and a spot on the All-GTNS team. Not only did the 6-foot-3 forward have success on the court, but also in the classroom, earning academic all-state honors from the IBCA. Kimball is another member of the fall?s All-GTNS football team.

Rounding out the large school team is another undersized forward, 6-foot Davis Lowenberg, who managed to hold his own in the paint this season. The Fairfield senior was a full-time starter for the second consecutive season and continued to show growth with career highs in points (275) and rebounds (138). He also led the Trojans in blocks with 12. Lowenberg is a first-time All-GTNS selection and also received second-team all-SEC recognition this season.

Small schools led by IMS, Sathoff

IMS head coach Dwight Gingerich made it 12 in ?12. He led the school to its 12th state tournament appearance, all of which have come under his watch.

IMS, which entered the season as one of the top teams in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference?s North Division, struggled at times during the regular season. But after IMS lost its second game to rival Lone Tree, Gingerich got his team to focus on working the ball inside to its quality big men. The team responded with 10 straight wins, including a win over the Lions in the district final, to earn its second-straight trip to Des Moines. Although IMS lost to eventual state champion Boyden-Hull in the 1A state quarterfinals, Gingerich?s squad finished with a record of 22-5. Gingerich, this year?s All-GTNS small school Coach of the Year for the second-straight year, now has a career record of 555-146, which is 15th in the state in all-time coaching victories.

IMS senior Brian Hagedorn, a 6-foot-4 center, was one of the big men Gingerich wanted to run the offense through. That?s because Hagedorn was good on 71.7 percent of his shots this season, second only in Class 1A to fellow IMS post Johnny Lackender. Hagedorn averaged 10.5 points per game this season, and was his team?s leading rebounder with 5.4 boards per contest. For his efforts, he was a first team SEISC North Division selection.

Hagedorn?s teammate, Chance Miller, moved over to become IMS? point guard this season, and responded by averaging 5.3 assists per game. But the 6-foot junior was still the team?s leading scorer on a squad that had five players average double-figure scoring. Miller averaged 13.4 points per game this season while knocking in 43.8 percent of his 3-point shots. He was a first team SEISC North Division selection, a second team all-state selection by the Iowa Newspaper Association and was chosen to his second-straight All-GTNS squad.

It was Pekin?s senior guard Trey Sathoff, however, who was chosen as the All-GTNS squad?s small school captain for the second straight year.

If there was ever a Pekin record worth reaching, chances are Sathoff broke it. He wrapped up his Panther career as the top scorer, rebounder and 3-point shooter in school history, and he?s also the holder of numerous Pekin game and season records. In his farewell season, the 6-foot-4 Panther averaged 23.1 points and 9.7 boards per game while shooting 55.4 percent from the field, including 44 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

Sathoff, a three-time selection to first team all-state and All-GTNS, verbally accepted a scholarship offer to play basketball at Graceland College in Lamoni next fall.

Another record-breaking senior that shows up for the second time on the All-GTNS squad is Keota?s Casey Sieren.

Sieren entered the regular-season finale at Belle Plaine needing just four points to become the school?s all-time leading scorer, and he blew past that mark with a 24-point performance against the Plainsmen. Sieren rewrote the record books during his four years with the Eagles, and ends his career as Keota?s career leader in scoring, rebounds, steals and blocked shots. This season the 6-foot-4 center averaged a healthy stat line of 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 3.8 blocks per game, leading the South Iowa Cedar League in all four categories. Sieren led the Eagles to a perfect 20-0 run through the SICL to win the school?s fourth-straight league title, and Keota finished with a 23-1 record after a loss to top-ranked Danville in the district final. Sieren was a first team All-SICL selection and a second team all-state selection by the Iowa Newspaper Association. He has also been selected to play in the IBCA Senior All-Star games.

Joining the list of two-time All-GTNS choices, Colin Weaver was a catalyst in Van Buren?s push into the postseason this year. The athletic senior nearly averaged a double-double per game with averages of 18.4 points and 9.6 rebounds, and he also shot 52.2 percent from the field. Also a first team All-SEISC South selection, Weaver helped guide the Warriors to 10 straight wins at season?s end before Van Buren fell in the Class 2A District 12 final to Mediapolis.

Last but not least on the small schools squad is Winfield-Mount Union?s Clayton Robison, who makes his first All-GTNS appearance. The senior grabbed 338 rebounds this season, the second-highest total in Class 1A. He also tied for 18th in the class with 19 points per game. Robison was a second team all-state selection for Class 1A.

The 2012 All-Golden Triangle News Service boys? basketball team is selected by sports editors Ashlee De Wit of the Mount Pleasant News, Travis Brown of The Washington Evening Journal and Michael Leach of The Fairfield Ledger.