(Avoca) Thursday night on 96.5 FM and WesternIowaToday.com a big Western Iowa Conference boys basketball matchup will play out in Avoca. Class 2A #7 AHSTW puts their 16-2 record on the line against 12-5 Treynor.
The Vikings lead the WIC at 13-1 and Underwood is 12-2. AHSTW plays Treynor on Thursday and travels to Tri-Center on Tuesday. The last time AHSTW and Treynor got together it was a 20-5 4th quarter comeback for the Vikings to secure the win. Coach GG Harris says defense was the difference late in that game. “Defense and defensive rebounding. They do what they do really well. Once we kind of got in a rhythm we understood who they wanted to go through guard wise and then just keeping (Ethan) Dickerson off the boards and making sure he didn’t get too deep of post positioning. Our half court defense really buckled down.” Harris says, “We are going to take a few notes from that game and they’ve gotten better. At any time their guards can get really, really hot so we have to make sure they stay uncomfortable on the perimeter.”
AHSTW is coming off of their 2nd loss of the season. They fell to Class 1A #1 Grand View Christian 67-46 on Monday. “It was really a good atmosphere. We didn’t know what to expect, but they brought a nice crowd and it was a really good environment for us to play in #1. #2 we saw a lot of different defenses. It offered us a lot to learn from and grow from.” Harris says, “There was a lot of really good moments for us. They exposed a lot too.”
AHSTW has won four of the past six against the Cardinals, but Treynor owns a 8-4 advantage since 2017-18. One of these two programs has won the conference every year since 2016 (IKM-Manning won in 2015). Treynor has four league titles in the span including running the table in the league in 2018, 2019, and 2020. AHSTW has won back-to-back WIC crowns.
AHSTW coach GG Harris:
