Fort Madison High School boys basketball coach Ryan Wilson has been tabbed to coach a select group of players in the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association All-Star games Saturday, March 23
There was no shortage of postseason awards handed out to the Wapello boys’ basketball team, as they recently had six players receive All-Conference honors by the Southeast Iowa Super Conference.
Maddox Griffin had a monstrous junior campaign and cashed in with a Co-Player of the Year selection in the North Division along with Pekin’s Brady Millikin. Griffin led many statistical categories in the league including points per game with 17.6, 163 total assists, 84 steals, and 71 made free throws. The 6’3’’ guard made 56% of his field goals, was a 72% foul shooter, and brought in 7.1 rebounds a night. Caden Thomas was also selected to the first team. No one in the division was more efficient, as the 6’5’’ senior made 65% of his shots to rank first and his 18 blocks was fifth. Thomas recorded 11.5 points and 6.4 boards a contest.
Wapello School Board approves spending reductions amid enrollment drop
Jim Rudisill
for The Hawk Eye
WAPELLO Three budget reduction proposals designed to save the Wapello School District nearly $110,000 were approved Wednesday by the school board during its regular monthly meeting.
Two of the proposals submitted by Superintendent Mike Peterson involve personnel, while the third called for using a transfer procedure to generate savings.
Peterson warned the board during its February meeting the district was facing a $110,700 shortfall because of an enrollment drop of nearly 16 students this year. He told the board Wednesday the three reduction proposals were developed by the district’s administrative team.
The Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team saw their five game winning streak come to a close at the hands of the Wapello Indians Friday 56-39. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, Wapello led wire-to-wire, holding a 19-11 lead after the first frame. In the second quarter, the Ravens went cold from the floor, going through a six minute drought from the field while Wapello put together a 12-3 run and held a 34-19 lead at half. Out of the break, the Ravens pulled within 12 before Wapello answered with a 10-0 run to stretch the advantage to 22. Hillcrest scored eight straight in the fourth to shrink the margin to 13 but would get no closer. After the game, Wapello head coach Ken Spielbauer talked about his team’s night. “Defensively, our guards did a great job of not letting the ball get to the high post. We also started shutting down their dive stuff. When they made a run, we didn’t panic. We have done a great job of staying calm most of the year and we responded well. We thought w