The final four games of the 2021-22 Little Hawkeye Conference season begin tonight, and while the girls race appears to be #2 in 4A Dallas Center-Grimes’ race to lose, the boys competition for the league crown could come down to the wire.
Five teams are in the hunt for the championship, with the DCG boys (#1 in 3A) coming off of a blowout loss to Indianola but maintaining a one-game lead. The Mustangs have a tough stretch this week, hosting Pella Christian tonight and traveling to Pella High School Friday, with two games against teams that nearly upset them in the first rotation next week with Norwalk and Newton — a schedule that could open up the rest of the league, especially as #11 in 4A Indianola has completed their series with the top 3 in the standings. Newton’s upset of Pella keeps them in the hunt, but they’ll need a few more upsets and help from others to climb the two games need. Pella Christian (#6 in 2A) and Pella (#3 in 3A) could claim at least a share of the league title if one or the other win out (they play each other in the final game of the conference next Thursday the 10th.
Little Hawkeye Conference Boys Basketball Standings (four to play):
DCG – 8-2
Pella – 7-3
Pella Christian – 7-3
Indianola – 7-3
Newton – 6-4
Norwalk – 4-6
Oskaloosa – 1-9
Grinnell – 0-10
The girls race is likely favoring the Mustangs, who have defeated both Grinnell (#6 in 4A) and Indianola (#5 in 4A) and head into the softer portion of the remaining schedule — and while Pella and Norwalk both have upsets on their mind, it would take a lot to topple a white-hot DCG team that appears to be surging toward bigger goals in early March. Indianola and Grinnell are likely battling for second (and play tonight for control of that spot, live on 94.3 KNIA), or at best, a share of the league title barring major upsets in the final few weeks.
DCG – 9-1
Indianola – 8-2
Grinnell – 8-2
Norwalk – 6-4
Pella – 5-5
Osky – 3-7
Newton – 1-9
Pella Christian – 0-10
Stay tuned to KNIA/KRLS for coverage of Little Hawkeye Conference basketball this Tuesday and Friday, and next Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.