SOLON — The varsity boys wrapped up the regular season last week with a pair of dominating wins as they knocked off West Delaware for the season sweep and demonized the Washington Demons in a non-conference romp for a 20-1 record overall going into the postseason and a Monday, Feb. 19 opening round game against Davis County (after this edition’s deadline). The Spartans finished the regular season at 15-1 in the WaMaC East to claim the championship with Marion at 14-2, Mount Vernon 10-6, Center Point-Urbana 7-9, Independence 5-11, and West Delaware 2-14.
Solon 64 West Delaware 39
Vince Steinbrech dominated with a game high 24 points as the Spartans traveled to Manchester last Monday in a make-up of a contest originally scheduled for mid-January. Solon led 11-9 at the end of the first but exploded for a19-point effort in the second while holding the Hawks to only five points for a 30-14 halftime lead.
Caleb Bock had an 11-point night with ten from Jake Benzing, eight from Gehrig Turner, four by Brett White, three from Nolan Seagren, and two points apiece by Austin Knight and Karsyn Regenniter. Benzing produced a game high six rebounds, turner made four assists, and Steinbrech had two steals.
Solon 70 Washington 54
The regular season ended on the road last Thursday with a trip to Washington and a non-conference win over the Demons. Solon led 19-6 at the end of the first period and were up 32-26 at halftime. The Spartans exploded for 20 points in the third while holding the Demons to just eight for a 52-34 advantage going into the final eight minutes.
Benzing led with 17 points, Rylen Stiegelmeyer had a 15-point night, and Turner put up 14. Knight had a six-point night with three points each from Seagren and White while Bock had two points. White led on the boards with nine rebounds, Steinbrech had eight, and Knight made seven with four assists each by Knight and Steinbrech.
Spartans 5th in IHSAA rankings
Solon held the No. 5 spot in Class 3A in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s sixth rankings of the season released last Monday. Clear Lake held the No. 1 spot followed by Decorah, Waverly-Shell Rock, Adel-DeSoto-Minburn (ADM), the Spartans, Marion, Winterset, MOC-Floyd Valley, Assumption Catholic (Davenport), and Pella.
Postseason Substate play
Games on Monday included Solon hosting Davis County while Keokuk took on Mount Pleasant, Clear Creek Amana (CCA) played Washington, and Williamsburg tangled with Fort Madison.
The second round is set for Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m. with the Substate Final Monday, Feb. 26 at a neutral site.
Tickets are available at www.ihsaa.org/tickets.
The winner of the Substate Final advances to the 2024 IHSAA State Basketball Tournament Monday, March 4-Friday, March 8 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.