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| Durant senior Will Bentley and the Wildcats enter the class 2A boy's basketball poll this week at #7 after starting the 2015-16 season 8-0. Durant hosts Wilton Tuesday night in their last game before Christmas break. Photo by Ryan Stonebraker, Tipton Conservative. |
DURANT — After starting the season 8-0, the Durant boy’s basketball team has entered the Associated Press top-10 rankings for class 2A. The Wildcats jump all the way to #7 after not being ranked in the first poll of the season last week. Durant is one of three class 2A schools with both their boys and girls teams ranked. The other two are Hull Western Christian and Treynor.
The Wildcat boys basketball team started to receive statewide recognition last week when the first Associated Press basketball polls were released. Durant was officially 12th last week under the ‘others receiving votes’ line of the class 2A basketball poll. Monday afternoon, the Wildcats learned that they were one of three River Valley Conference schools ranked in the top-10 in class 2A.
“We were watching film tonight and I got a call. After getting off the phone, the guys were curious. I told them that we were ranked, and they were pretty happy,” said Durant coach Matt Straube.
“It’s nice to be recognized for the nice start we have had. It’s nice to be ranked, but we don’t care about the ranking, we want to be conference champs,” said Straube.
In preseason media interviews Straube said that he felt that his team could go 8-0 going into the Wilton game on Tuesday December 21. It has now come to pass.
“One of the things that I love about the team is that we are playing very hard. We are going to enjoy the moment, but we have a very big basketball game against Wilton tomorrow,” he said.
The Beavers already own big overtime wins at home over West Branch and Camanche and have played at Cascade, the #2 ranked team in class 2A.
The Wildcats know that they have not hit the tough part of their schedule yet. Durant will play at West Branch on January 5 to start their post Christmas schedule. The Bears nearly knocked off #2 Cascade and lost in overtime at Wilton. That starts a string of four big games followed by games with Camanche, Iowa City Regina and a return trip to Wilton on Friday, January 15.
“We know that we have some tough games coming. It starts with Wilton Tuesday night,” said Straube.
“Our players don’t think that we have ‘arrived’. We are going to need to beat one of the top-four North teams, a West Branch, Wilton or Regina to feel like we have backed up this ranking,” he said.
Durant is the only unbeaten team in the River Valley Conference South division at 8-0 overall and 3-0 against RVC South foes Tipton, West Liberty and Mid-Prairie. The Wildcats lead the RVC South in total rebounds with 248 and lead in offensive rebounds (79) by 12 over the second place team. Durant is second in the RVC South in assists with 96. The Wildcats are second in the South in made three pointers (37) and free throw attempts (125).
Individually, Durant has three of the top-10 scorers in the South led by Will Bentley with 98 points, the 4th best total as of Monday, December 21.
Defensively, the Wildcats give up just under 40 points a game and lead the RVC South in steals with 87 and blocked shots with 23. Durant had held three RVC South teams to less than 40 points in each of their wins over Tipton, West Liberty and Mid-Prairie. Durant has held five of their eight foes to under 40 points.
Two River Valley North teams are also ranked in the top-10. Cascade checks in at #2 while NE Goose Lake is #5. The Wildcats are one of three new teams in the top-10, joining Dyersville-Beckman and Pocahontas. NE Goose Lake is 9-0 and has the most wins in the 2A poll while Durant is 8-0 and has the second most wins in the top-10. Monticello is in the ‘others receiving votes’ line.
Class 2A
Record
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Pts
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Prv
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1. Western Christian, Hull
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(13)
|
4-0
|
130
|
1
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2. Cascade,Western Dubuque
|
6-0
|
106
|
3
| |
3. Dike-New Hartford
|
7-0
|
95
|
5
| |
4. Treynor
|
6-0
|
89
|
2
| |
5. Northeast, Goose Lake
|
9-0
|
79
|
6
| |
6. Pella Christian
|
5-1
|
58
|
4
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7. Durant
|
8-0
|
31
|
NR
| |
8. Beckman Catholic, Dyersville
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5-2
|
30
|
NR
| |
9. Kuemper Catholic, Carroll
|
5-1
|
26
|
7
| |
10. Pocahontas Area
|
7-1
|
25
|
NR
|
Others receiving votes: Ridge View 12. Anamosa 8. Aplington-Parkersburg 7. Sioux Center 7. MFL-Mar-Mac 3. PCM, Monroe 2. Monticello 2. Garner-Hayfield/Ventura 2. Des Moines Christian 1. Shenandoah 1. Interstate 35, Truro 1.
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