State tournament by the numbers

On Monday, a little after noon, at Wells Fargo Arena, the Winfield-Mount Union boys basketball team will be making its first trip to the state tournament since 1996. The Wolves will be one of eight teams attempting to run the table and win the Class 1A state championship.

All eight teams in the bracket will play on Monday, with top-seeded North Linn (23-1) taking on No. 8 seed Woodbine (23-2) at 10:30 a.m. WMU, the No. 4 seed takes on fifth-seeded Lynnville-Sully in the second game, at 12:15 p.m. One of those four teams will be playing for the championship on Friday.

Marquette Catholic (25-1) is the favorite on the other side of the bracket, after earning a No. 2 seed. No. 7 seed Glabrook-Reinbeck (21-5) will play Marquette Catholic at 2 p.m., with the winner of that game moving on to face either third-seeded Lake Mills (24-1) or sixth-seeded North Union (22-3) in the semifinals.

Out of the field of eight teams, just one is a returning team from last year’s final eight. North Linn took second place last season, falling to Grand View Christian in the state title game.

There are no unbeatens in the field, though every team has won at least 20 games, and only Gladbrook-Reinbeck has lost more than three.

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Woodbine’s Carter Gruver is the leading scorer in the field. Gruver is 18th in scoring in Class 1A this season, and he and North Linn junior Mason Bechen (20.5 PPG) are the only two Top-20 scorers in the entire field. Bechen sits in 20th exactly.

The field also has just one Top-10 rebounder in Class 1A. That man is WMU senior Abram Edwards, who leads the field with 11.6 boards per contest, ninth best in Class 1A.

The field does feature three of Class 1A’s Top-10 passers. Lake Mills junior Jackson Gaul is second in Class 1A, with 8.5 helpers per game. North Union senior Kyan Jones is fifth, with 6.3, and North Linn junior Mason Bechen (11) is eighth, at 5.7.

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The field is absolutely dominated by the upperclassmen. Each of the Top-10 scorers and passers in the field are juniors or seniors. Only one sophomore appears in the Top-10 rebounders, as Lynnville-Sully sophomore Dawson James pulls down 6.8 boards per game, which ties him for 10th.

LEADING SCORERS

1. Carter Gruver (11), Woodbine 20.6

2. Mason Bechen (11), North Linn 20.5

3. Ty Pflughaupt (12), North Linn 20.0

4. Cam Buffington (12), Winfield-Mount Union 19.1

4. Lance Helming (12), Lake Mills 19.1

6. Eli Menke (12), Lake Mills 16.4

7. Spencer Roeder (11), Marquette Catholic 16.3

8. Aiden Stensrud (11), Lake Mills 16.0

9. Abram Edwards (12), Winfield-Mount Union 14.4

10. Michael Boyd (11), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 14.2

LEADING REBOUNDERS

1. Abram Edwards (12), Winfield-Mount Union 11.6

2. Drew Eilers (11), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 10.1

3. Aiden Stensrud (11), Lake Mills 9.3

4. Kody Irmiter (12), North Union 8.5

5. Spencer Roeder (11), Marquette Catholic 8.2

6. Cam Buffington (12), Winfield-Mount Union 7.3

6. Michael Boyd (11), Marquette Catholic 7.3

8. Aiden Lofstrom (12), North Union 7.2

9. Klayton Van Dyke (12), Lynnville-Sully 6.9

10. Ty Plughaupt (12), North Linn 6.8

10. Dawson James (10), Lynnville-Sully 6.8

LEADING PASSERS (Assists per game)

1. Jackson Gaul (11), Lake Mills 8.5

2. Kyan Jones (12), North Union 6.3

3. Mason Bechen (11), North Linn 5.7

4. Carter Noun Harder (12), Lynnville-Sully 4.8

4. Spencer Roeder (11), Marquette Catholic 4.8

6. Isaac Clark (12), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4.7

7. Eli Scott (11), Marquette Catholic 4.6

8. Carter Gruver (11), Woodbine 4.5

9. Logan Bacon (12), Lake Mills 4.2

10. Jake Edwards (11), Winfield-Mount Union 4.0