Norwalk Star Born to Shoot Bowen Born Is 5-11 Scoring Whiz by Bruce Strand

WEEKLY ROUNDUP IOWA *West Hancock girls rolling *Second star moves in and West Sioux thrives *A mom expresses concerns about kid athletes Volume 5 January issue 2019-20 Norwalk star born to shoot Bowen Born is 5-11 scoring whiz By Bruce Strand

robably the top two boys pros- pects in Iowa — Xavier Foster, OskaloosaP 7-footer signed by Iowa State, and Bowen Born, Norwalk guard whose 5-11 stature landed him at a mid-major, Northern Iowa — duked it out Jan. 7.

Born got the best of it on this night. He poured in 49 points, topping his school record by two, showing his Northern Iowa happily announced the signing of Bowen Born. deadly accuracy on three’s, pull-up that one 48-44. Born hit 26 points jumpers and layups, along with the rience on the Adidas Gauntlet with and was named captain of the all- the Iowa Barnstormers was invalu- free throw line (15-for-15), leading tournament team. Foster, as re- the Warriors to a 73-64 win. able because it gets him accustomed nowned for his rim-protecting as to facing the taller guards he’ll see for his offense, logged 12 points, in college. Foster, who had missed the previous nine rebounds and three blocks. four games with mononucleosis, Cole Henry, now a UNI freshman Ben Jacobson and Northern Iowa countered with 36 points, including and Born’s future teammate, led six 3-pointers. got a commitment from Born, who Oskaloosa with 19 points and 14 re- chose the Panthers over offers from bounds. Well-acquainted from prep and Drake, Indiana State and others. He AAU basketball, the 7-0 and 5-11 had two unofficial visits to Iowa but Born has been unstoppable this sea- the Hawkeyes’ interest eventually stars had a good hug after the game. son, averaging 38 points, hitting Foster was effusive in his praise. faded. UNI was his first offer and his 55.6 percent on field goals and 40.3 first official visit. Jacobson made the “He’s the best scorer in the state,” percent on three’s. He’s near 1,800 Foster told the Des Moines Regis- lefty point guard a priority. The Des career points. His team is 7-2 and Moines Register ranks Born as the ter, praising the guard’s relentless ranked No. 8. quickness and shiftiness “no mat- state’s No. 1 prospect behind Foster. ter how tired he is” along with his Born acknowledges that his size amazing shot-making. Born exploded unto the state’s will present a challenge as a college consciousness as a junior when he player. He has said in interviews pumped in 27.8 points per game and The last time they dueled was the that’s he’s working on his body 2019 state finals. Oskaloosa won heated up at state for 32.7 per game. strength, and that his AAU expe- Born’s junior-year stats included 79 Pacesetter Newsletter Iowa Basketball News January issue Page 2

Norwalk’s Bowen Born Mike Born, still playing pickup games a couple times a three’s, .855 free throw shooting and a 102-to-41 ratio week at 53, is a basketball lifer, as noted in a July feature for assists to turnovers. in the Ames Tribune. He played for West Des Moines High School, Iowa State, and a year Europe, then was Born’s uncanny skills were apparent even when he was an assistant coach at Grand View, ran camps along with on varsity as an eighth grader, coach Chris Larson said. other ISU alumni, and coached in the NBA’s Develop- He remarked to the Register that the then 5-foot-3 and mental League, which led to becoming an NBA scout. precocious 13-year old was already “running our hud- Mike and Bowen frequently invade gyms together. dles” with amazing moxie for communications. Mike’s scouting career started with a stint with Port- Born has led Norwalk to two state Class 3A tourna- land, where Bowen practiced in the Blazers’ facility ments. His sophomore year, the Warriors were stopped and got to meet several NBA players. Mike and Vicki in the first round by Glenwood. He got the offer from Born also have a daughter, Aaron, who plays softball at UNI that spring. Simpson College, and a son, Redek, who plays middle school hoops. Mike has coached all of them. The teenager’s basketball lineage has become well- known as his reputation and press coverage has grown. Coach Larson told the Register that Born is “like noth- His grandfather, Gene Klinge, is Iowa’s all-time girls ing I’ve ever seen. He can score anywhere.” The coach- basketball coaching wins with 1,009 with West Central ing staff ponders how opponents will try to stop Born, and Waukon over 52 years. His father, Michael, played and the question “perplexes them,” he admits, because two seasons for Iowa State as a point guard, and is cur- they can’t really figure it out themselves. rently an NBA scout who has served the Indiana Pac- ers, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trailblazers. State Tournament for Hometown Teams! School based teams - see eligibility rules online. Pacesetter Newsletter Iowa Basketball News January issue Page 3 PACESETTER ROAD TO THE TARGET CENTER! 5-STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS IA • MN • ND • SD • WI In Partnership with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx March 28-29 Kingdom Hoops • Des Moines

2020 I OWA - 3-game guarantee Register Online: http://www.pacesettersports.net/ YOUTH BASKETBALL ia-championship/ Registration Deadline: March 18 State Championships If past deadline, contact the office to check for openings. Sat. March 28: Boys Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Sun. March 29: Girls Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Teams must be school/community based. See guidelines on back or www.pacesettersports.net

Register Early for IA State & Save BIG! New Tiered Pricing! - 1st team to register/pay $100 - 2nd team to register/pay $110 - 3rd team to register/pay $120 Registration Steps: 1. Registration/Payment - 4th team to register/pay $130 2. Complete online roster - 5th team to register/pay $140 3. Complete player waivers - 6th team to register/pay $150 Check confirmation email for roster/waiver instructions and - 7th team to register/pay $160 online links. 9th Boys - Hull 4th Girls - Pella 2019 5-State Champions - 8th team to register/pay $170 2019 5-State Champions

The Iowa state champion will receive a bid to represent Iowa in the Pacesetter Great Five-State Championships at the Target Center in Minneapolis. 5-state playoff! - hometown teams! WHAT: Pacesetter Great Five-State Playoffs! WHERE: IA-MN-ND-SD-WI WHO: All boys’ and girls’ teams in grades 4-9 (School/community-based teams) Top finishers from State qualify for Great 5-State! Complete info: www.pacesettersports.net 320-243-7460 • [email protected] • pacesettersports.net • Pacesetter Basketball State Tournament for Hometown Teams! School based teams - see eligibility rules online. Pacesetter Newsletter Iowa Basketball News January issue Page 4 How much is too much for young athletes?

By Nancy Justis way for skill development in a reasonable amount of time Outlier Creative Solutions while still making the experience fun. Iowa Youth Sports Initiative, Cedar Falls, IA www.outliercreativesolutions.com An article in Coaching Young Athletes suggests development doesn’t have to happen in just formal settings. atching my 11-year-old grandson play three bas- Wketball games in one day, I happened to notice “There are ways to give kids a greater exposure to sports one of the best players on the team was not quite him- practice without putting them into a specialized formal self. single sport program,” the article noted.

He didn’t seem to have any energy and an unusual num- Suggestions include: ber of shots were not making the basket. — Multisport participation. Don’t try to pile all those He didn’t look like he was having any fun. hours into one sport. Many believe a prerequisite to becoming competent in a specific sport is being a good gen- He plays on two teams, which means practicing for two eral all-around athlete. However, there is a point where it teams. Was he just tired, not feeling well or worse, was he can go too far and kids and families can become overcom- showing signs of burnout at the ten- mitted in time and financially. der age of 11? — Athletes need not be specifically practicing for their I personally feel there is never enough sport to be developing skills related to that sport. A gen- learning time in youth sports. Playing eral strength-based session or a gymnastics-related circuit a game assists in learning the sport, is valuable in developing skills that are transferable to but I believe more time needs to be many sports. spent on skill development and that’s difficult to do in one or two practices — Vigorous active play. Providing opportunities for kids each week. to get out and actively play can help. Taking them to parks Nancy Justis and playgrounds and other sport fields where they can So how do parents and coaches bal- run, jump, climb, push, pull, lift and balance. ance practice time without developing problems of burnout and overtraining? Are there — If the child wants to throw or kick a ball, go play with guidelines for how many hours kids should spend in prac- them. A few minutes can gradually build up to a lot of time tice? spent involved in general and sport-specific rehearsal.

I think the 10,000 hours-of-practice rule suggested by Can the above kinds of activities amount to 11 hours per Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” is losing its lus- week? Absolutely. But it doesn’t seem forced, can be re- ter among many youth sports advocates. There’s another ally fun and all can contribute to success in other sports. guideline that states a young athlete should not practice any more hours per week than their age. An article originally published in “Los Angeles Sports & Fitness” by Brian McCormick, the performance director Eleven hours per week of practice for an 11-year-old? No for “Train for Hoops,” noted “When a child quits sports way. at an early age, he is less likely to resume these activities later. Kids love to learn and explore. They do not compare Recognizing a high percentage of kids are quitting orga- themselves to others. They enjoy playing and learning. nized sports by the time they reach 13, we need to find a Pacesetter Newsletter Iowa Basketball News January issue Page 5 West Hancock keeps rolling State 1A runners-up last year are strong 2A contenders

By Bruce Strand

he West Hancock girls started this season with high expectations and theT leadership of three veterans who are pillars of the program. One of them had a season-ending injury but the Eagles are rolling on with a 15-0 record and ranked No. 2 behind Cascade.

The Eagles are coached by Paul Sonius, who has 410 career wins, and powered in particular by a pair of three-year starters.

Rachel Leerar, junior guard, is averaging 21 points, 4.2 assists, three steals and 4.7 rebounds. She’s got 1,334 career points. West Hancock celebrated Amanda Chizek’s 1,000th point on Tuesday -- Maddie Eisenman at left (sidelined with an injury), “Rachel is our leader on the floor at the Kennedy Kelly (11), Mahayla Faust (10), Amanda Chizek (35), point,” Sonius said. “She is an excellent Emily Ryerson (2), Riley Hiscocks (12), and Rachel Leerar (3). slasher to the basket and will hound the need on our press,” Sonius said. Hiscocks is a solid one- other point on defense the entire length of the floor and on-one defender and capable shooter. Faust is a nice pure for 32 minutes as she hardly ever comes out.” shooter who’s delivered some clutch short-range shots.

Amanda Chizek, senior forward, averages 11 points, 10.4 Behind them, Sonius said, is a solid group lacking only rebounds, two assists and 2.5 steals. She just went over experience: Emily Ryerson, Carlee Bruns, Shae Smith, 1,000 points on Tuesday in a win over Lake Mills and is Ann Horstman, Leah Aitchison, Scout Johanson, Parker 23 rebounds short of 1,000. She would be the first West Hiscocks, Makayla Hartman and Shelby Goepel. Hancock player to achieve that double quadruple. Sonius has coached West Hancock for 13 years with 228- “Amanda has really developed into an all-around player,” 73 record, three state trips and six conference titles. He Sonius said, “as she makes a lot of great passes and pro- has relied heavily on assistants Kevin “Goose” Wilson tects our basket on defense.” and Dale Hesley all 13 years. Counting 18 seasons with Corwith-Wesley-Luverne his total record is 410-271. The other starters are sophomore Kennedy Kelly (10 ppg), senior Riley Hiscocks (5.5 ppg) and senior Mahayla The Eagles were state runners-up to Newell-Fonda in Faust (5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds). Class 1A last year, then got bumped up to 2A this year. The same thing happened after the last time they went to The Eagles had a big setback when senior Maddie Eisen- state. “We will probably yo-yo between 1A and 2A for the man, averaging 12 points, had a season-ending leg injury. next couple of years with our enrollment,” he said. Sonius called Eisenman “our leader off the court and on the court … looked up to by all the girls.” She continues The Eagles fire up an average 24 three’s per game and to be a leader without playing, the coach said. have six girls who can hit 25 to 35 percent. It’s a free- lance offense designed to cut and fill and keep the floor Kelly was the team’s super sub before the Eisenman in- balanced, Sonius said. “Every girl has the green light and jury put her in the starting lineup. “She has become our knows their shot. We get a lot of our buckets off drives sparkplug, as she is nonstop on defense which is what we Pacesetter Newsletter Iowa Basketball News January issue Page 6 West Hancock girls Coming up: youth playoffs, and backdoor cuts.” leading to Great Five-State Pacesetter Sports will conduct its 11th annual Iowa Youth On the defensive end, they full-court press with both zone Basketball State Championships in an NCAA-style play- and man-to-man and keep it up for 32 minutes. In the half off for teams in grades 4-9 in late March. Games will be court, they stay in your face with hedges, cut-throughs held at Kingdom Hoops in Des Moines with boys playing and traps. Saturday, March 28, and girls Sunday, March 29. All teams will play three or four games. Most of the cagers are members of the track team which has also been very successful. “We have very athletic girls The Iowa state champions will be invited to the Pacesetter here at West Hancock,” said Sonius. “Some of my better Great Five-State Championships in Minneapolis, against players go on to run track in college.” top teams from Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. All teams will play three games, includ- After a close regional finals loss two years ago, West Han- ing at least one game on the main Target Center floor. cock broke through to state last year in 1A. The Eagles The Pacesetter playoffs are run in cooperation with the beat Montezuma 59-50 in the semifinals with Leerar scor- Minnesota Lynx and Timberwolves, who host the Great ing 25 points, then lost to Newell-Fonda 76-52 in the fi- Five-State teams on their home court. nals, giving up a batch of points off turnovers. Montezu- ma and Newell-Fonda are ranked 1-2 in Class 1A. The first seven teams in each bracket will receive- dis counts. The first will get $70 discount, the second $60, West Hancock’s lone girls hoops state championship came and so on down to $10 for the seventh. Teams may regis- in 1980 when Iowa’s format was six-player ball. The Ea- ter online now at www.pacesettersports.net. gles are still looking for their first five-player state title. Submitted by Jeff McCarron Pacesetter Newsletter Iowa Basketball News January issue Page 7 Torrid tandem leads W. Sioux By Bruce Strand

he West Sioux Falcons were already anticipating an excellent basketball season. Then a second all-state candidateT fell into their laps last summer.

Led by a Division I bound quarterback who’s also a mar- velous basketball guard in Hunter Dekkers, and the new- comer, Bryce Coppock -- between them averaging 49 points per game -- the Falcons are 12-0, scoring 86 points per game, and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A.

“This is about as talented of a team as I have seen anywhere,” said coach Jerome Hoegh about his 10-year ten- ure there, eight as head coach. “I hope that I can put them in a decent situation and not get in their way.” The West Sioux Falcons -- Front: Kade Lynott, Dekkers has signed with Iowa State after earning first- Austin Wilbert, Hunter Dekkers, Bryce Coppock, team all-state honors three times. He led the Falcons to Baxter Walsh. Middle: Levi Koopmans, Carter state championships as a sophomore and junior. Their bid Bultman, Brady Lynott, Mason Coppock, Blake for a three-peat was halted by West Lyon 26-21 in the Van Ballegooyen, Chris Schmidt, Back: Jordan Class 1A semifinals this fall. Dekkers now hopes to be Rehder, Aaden Schwiesow. part of his school’s first state title in basketball. Jamie Van Kley photo Dekkers passed for 3,640 yards and 36 touchdowns as a they are happy with each others’ successes no matter what senior with new classmate Coppock one of his targets. He the situation.” amassed 10,627 yards and 126 touchdowns in his career. Coppock is averaging 24.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.4 West Sioux, in Hawarden in northeast Iowa, went 21-1 in steals and 4.7 assists. Hunter Dekkers is averaging 23.9 basketball last year, losing in district finals, with Dekkers points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.2 assists, hitting 38.4 percent averaging 22.5 points, six rebounds and five assists. Other on three’s.Walsh adds 12.4 points per game, Lynott 8.7 starters back are Baxter Walsh and Kade Lynott. and Bryce’s kid brother Mason Coppock 7.3.

“He could play (college basketball) at a very high level,” Heogh, a science teacher who’s also track head coach, ac- Keough said about the 6-3, 223-pound quarterback. “I knowledged that this group has potential to accomplish have no way of knowing how high, but he is extremely what hasn’t been done before at West Sioux. “We have talented and has a great mind for the game.” had some great teams several times in West Sioux’s his- tory,” he said. “Last year was a great example, but also in This summer, West Sioux hired a new principal, Alynn 2006 with a 23-1 record, losing in sub-state. and also a Coppock. Her son Bryce had one season of prep basket- few times before in the 80’s and 90’s.” ball left. The 6-0 guard had sparkled at Newell-Fonda, averaging 16, 22 and 28 points in grades 9-10-11. His The current team, along with its inherent talent, is a group freshman brother Mason is also playing on varsity. that lives in the gym and loves to compete. Most of the basketball team also plays in the renowned football pro- “He has been terrific. He is an unbelievable basketball gram. “The lifting and just the competition of football has player and an even better person,” Heough said. “He has been a huge asset to our team,” Keough said. meshed exceptionally well, in part because he played football but mostly because he and the other kids are just After a late start with basketball, West Sioux beat South great kids. They are unselfish and just want to win, so O’Brien 55-54 and Western Christian 79-68. Since then their closest game has been against St. Mary’s, 72-58.