Belle Plaine’s recently completed boys’ basketball season was a series of ups and downs that began with six losses in the first seven games, followed by a four-game winning streak and ended with the team winning three of its last five games.
Coach Justin Northrop’s squad played an aggressive, up-tempo style of game, which seemed to suit this relatively young team well. This year’s Plainsman squad was heavily dominated by juniors, with just three seniors and two sophomores on the 12-man roster.
The Plainsmen finished sixth in the SICL Conference this year, beating English Valleys, Tri-County, Iowa Valley and Sigourney twice and North Mahaska and HLV once each. They scored at least 70 points in three of their games, including a 78 point performance against Iowa Valley.
As a team, Belle Plaine shot 36.8 percent from the field, including 22.3 percent three-point attempts. They also hit 54 percent of their free throws. The team also had 677 rebounds, 282 assists, 245 steals and 41 blocks this year.
Junior Ben Ehlen led the team in scoring with 285 points, 13 points per game. He also had 50 rebounds, 93 assists, 46 steals and 10 blocks. Senior Chris Janss was a close second in scoring with 279 points, for a 12.7 point per game average. He led the team with 174 rebounds and also had 32 assists, 53 steals and nine blocked shots. Junior Keegan DeMeulenaere finished with 183 points, 126 rebounds, 58 assists, 30 steals and 10 blocks. Sophomore Cooper Northrop had 141 points, with 67 rebounds, 21 assists, 37 steals and five blocks.
Junior Kyle Janss had 106 points, 48 rebounds, 27 assists, 34 steals and two blocks. Senior Seivon Stewart scored 66 pints, with 124 rebounds, seven assists, 15 steals and four blocks. Junior Mitch Jacobi had 54 points, 31 rebounds, 20 assists and 10 steals. Senior John Long had 46 points, 31 rebounds, 15 assists and 12 steals. Junior Jalen Schmuecker appeared in 14 games and had 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Junior Zach Snyder had seven points, 19 rebounds, two assists, five steals and a block in 15 games. Sophomore Logan Baburek played in three games and had three points, an assist and a steal. Another sophomore, Brett Hampton, appeared in one quarter this season.
This season, Keota and Lynnville-Sully tied for the conference title with records of 19-1. Keota’s leading scorer was one of seven seniors on the squad, but the team’s leading rebounder was sophomore Casey Sieren, who 36 blocked shots to go with his 144 rebounds.
Lynnville-Sully had five seniors in its roster this season, but the leading scorer was sophomore Chase Cullen, who had 302 points. The leading rebounder was a junior, Logan Vos, who had 223.