SEISC North basketball at the break

As usual, the early stages of the high school basketball season have both answered, and raised, a few questions for the Union coverage area’s teams.

Most of the area conferences have nearly made it one time through the league schedule and approach the halfway point as the calendar turns to 2022, but all the area races are very much still up in the air.

Today, we look at the Southeast Iowa Super Conference’s North Division, which features nine schools. Five of those are in the Union coverage area.

In the boys’ race, it’s Winfield-Mount Union that holds control of the North. The Wolves, led by sophomore standouts Cam Buffington and Abram Edwards, are 6-0 in conference play, the only team in the North with an unblemished record.

The Wolves have won every North Divisoin game by double digits. The biggest of those wins came on Dec. 14, when they went to previously undefeated Mediapolis and shut down the Bulldogs 37-23.

Mediapolis is one game behind WMU in the standings, sitting at 5-1 in North play, but it's the team the Bulldogs are tied with that may be the heir to the crown if the Wolves stumble in January. Hillcrest Academy is also 5-1 in league play, and the Ravens are one of the hottest teams in the area.

The Ravens dropped their season opener at Mediapolis, falling 50-35, but they’ve won every game since. Hillcrest goes into the break having won its last six games overall, including its last five in North Division play.

Hillcrest junior Grant Bender has had a red-hot start to the season, scoring 19.9 points per game to lead the squad. Freshman Seth Ours also averages double digits, at 10.7 points per game.

WMU and Hillcrest will show down twice in 2022. The Ravens host the Woles on Jan. 7, and the two teams will play in Winfield on Feb. 8.

The rest of the Union area’s teams sit outside of the Top 4. Columbus sits in fifth place, at 3-4. Pekin is tied for sixth, at 2-4, and Highland is at the bottom, with an 0-6 mark.

Buffington’s 20.3 points per game leads the North Division. Bender’s 19.9 points per game put him at second. Columbus junior Grant Watson (14.3 PPG) sits at fourth, and Pekin junior Luke Long (12.9 PPG) is fifth.

Buffington also leads the league in rebounds per game, with 10.4. Pekin senior Colton Comstock has dished out 5.4 assists per game to top the league in that category.

On the girls’ side, undefeated Mediapolis leads the way with a 7-0 conference mark. The closest area team to the top is WMU, which sits one game back, at 6-1.

The Lady Wolves have dominated the vast majority of their North Division games this season, but the one blemish came against the division leaders. Mediapolis downed WMU 59-44, behind a 31-point game from senior Hallie Mohr, to take control of the North on Dec. 14.

Going into the final day of league play before break, the Wolves had two undefeated squads ahead of them, but WMU knocked previously unscathed Louisa-Mucatine off, 43-29, to move into second place alone.

The Highland Huskies have won two straight heading into the break, and they are the next team down from the Top-3, sitting in fourth place, at 4-2 in the league.

Highland’s two losses so far have both come against division leaders. The Huskies fell 56-29 against WMU on Dec. 3, and then dropped a road game at Mediapolis, 54-37, on Dec. 7.

Pekin currently lands at 1-5 in the North Division, good enough for seventh place in the league. Columbus is right behind them with a 1-6 mark, and Hillcrest Academy is at the bottom, at 0-6.

The Union coverage area sports three of the Top-5 scorers in the division. Pekin senior Kerrigan Pope scores 16 points per game for third in the North. WMU junior Bradie Buffington is fourth, at 15.6 points per game, and Hillcrest senior Esther Hughes is dropping 15.3 points per game for fifth.

WMU junior Melina Oepping leads the steals race, at 4.7 takeaways per game. Highland sophomore Sarah Burton’s 9.6 rebounds per game is good enough for second, and WMU junior Keely Malone dishes out 4.7 assists per game for second in that category.

The most important upcoming date in the North Division appears to be on Jan. 25, when WMU will take its shot at revenge on Mediapolis when the Lady Wolves host the Bullettes. They will host Louisa-Muscatine one week later.

BOYS STANDINGS

TEAM CONFERENCE OVERALL

1. WMU 6-0, 7-1

T-2. Hillcrest 5-1, 6-1

T-2. Mediapolis 5-1, 6-2

4. Wapello 4-3, 4-6

5. Columbus 3-4, 3-5

T-6. Lone Tree 2-4, 2-6

T-6. Pekin 2-4, 2-6

8. Louisa-Muscatine 0-5, 0-7

9. Highland 0-6, 0-7

GIRLS STANDINGS

TEAM CONFERENCE OVERALL

1. Mediapolis 7-0, 8-0

2. WMU 6-1, 9-2

3. Louisa-Muscatine 5-1, 6-1

4. Highland 4-2, 5-4

5. Wapello 4-4, 5-5

6. Lone Tree 2-5, 4-6

7. Pekin 1-5, 2-6

8. Columbus 1-6, 2-8

9. Hillcrest 0-6, 1-8