Threes company: Area teams play tonight

The state basketball tournament in Des Moines is just two wins away for everybody left in contention. Three of those teams are Henry County's own Mt. Pleasant, New London and WACO, all of which play tonight.

Mt. Pleasant travels to Fairfield for the substate semifinals against the rival Trojans. New London and WACO will meet up in Burlington to decide on a district champion. Winners today qualify for the substate final games, which will decide who gets to put their names on the state tournament bracket.

The Panthers look to play spoiler for one of the best Fairfield classes in recent memory. The fifth-ranked Trojans are led by an all-senior starting five and had to wait their turn in the Southeast Conference with Mt. Pleasant's 2018 class dominating for the last three years.

Mt. Pleasant had a rough time in the SEC opener in Fairfield, falling 56-34 in late November. Trojan big man Austin Simpson had a big game inside, scoring 22 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

The Panthers played the Trojans much tougher in their next matchup. The Panthers and Trojans were tied 18-18 at halftime, but Fairfield swept the regular season series with a 47-38 win, led by 17 points from Collin Breen.

The third quarter has been the doomsday period in each of Mt. Pleasant's matchups with Fairfield. The Panthers were outscored 17-2 in the third quarter of the early game in Fairfield, and 15-2 when the two teams met up in Mt. Pleasant.

If Mt. Pleasant can pull off the road upset, they'll either draw No. 6 Oskaloosa or Washington on Monday, Feb. 25. The Indians and Demons play in Oskaloosa tonight to decide the other half of the substate final.

Henry County is guaranteed to have one team playing for a state tournament berth on Saturday, Feb. 23, in Iowa City. The winner of the New London-WACO game will play for a shot at Des Moines over the weekend.

The Tigers and Warriors played one other time this year. New London defeated WACO 73-63 in New London, behind a 22-point game from Mason Porter. WACO's Drew Kissell was the leading scorer in that contest, putting up 23 points.

Both New London and WACO are coming off emotional highs. The fifth-ranked Tigers avenged their only loss of the season with a 75-60 win over Notre Dame on Tuesday, and WACO beat Pekin on a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Nik Coble.

The winner of Tonight's district final will play either Calamus-Wheatland or Alburnett. That game will be played at Cedar Rapids Prairie tonight to decide the other district in the substate.

All games begin at 7 p.m. tonight. Substate finals will also begin at 7 p.m.