Raideretettes ranked in top 5 as season begins
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The girl’s high school basketball season is underway and with it, the preseason Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s preseason rankings are out.
The Mount Ayr Raiderettes appear in the first rankings, at No. 5 in Class 1A. The Raiders were 16-7 last season under longtime head coach Thad Streit.
The Raiders are favored to win or at the worst contend for the Pride of Iowa Conference title this season.
The Raiderettes have won 31 combined games in the past two years against 14 losses. Mount Ayr was third in the POI last season with a 10-3 record.
Mount Ayr returns four all-conference picks from last year including three second-team All-POI selections. Izzy Gilbertson, Breya Nickle, and Jaxy Knight were second-team picks while Dannie Stewart was an honorable mention pick.
Gilbertson led the Raiderettes in scoring and rebounding as a freshman with 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds. Nickle averaged 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds and Knight averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.2 steals a game. Steward averaged 8.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.3 steals a game.
In the preseason polls, regionally ranked teams are in Class 2A: Exira-EHK is ranked No. 7, and Hinton is ranked No. 13. In Class 3A, Clarinda is ranked No. 15. In Class 4A, Norwalk is ranked No. 4, Dallas Center-Grimes is No. 10, Carlisle is No. 12, and Oskaloosa is No. 15.
Mount Ayr has non-conference games against Lamoni, Bedford, Clarke, and Worth County at home and a non-conference game at Murray.
Bishop Garrigan won the Class 1A state title last year over Newell-Fonda 68-57. North Linn, Newell-Fonda are the only two other 8-teams from last year’s state tournament to open the year ranked.
Class 1A Girl’s Basketball Rankings
1. Algona Bishop Garrigan
2. North Linn
3. Montezuma
4. Riceville
5. Mount Ayr
6. Newell-Fonda
7. Dunkerton
8. Akron-Westfield
9. Kee
10. Lone Tree
11. East Buchanan
12. Fremont-Mills
13. Council Bluffs St. Albert
14. Springville
15. Gladbrook-Reinbeck
