The 2022 Iowa high school basketball season is underway with both the PV boys’ and girls’ teams off to strong start. Both teams are coming off of outstanding 2021 seasons, during which the boys went undefeated in the regular season and the girls made it to the second round of the state tournament.
With the start of a new season, the teams will look to achieve these previous marks again and aim for more.
The PV girls’ basketball team is a young group this year. The Spartans’ roster consists of three sophomores, a junior and only one senior in their starting line up. Halle Vice, the lone starting senior, thinks the team will only improve, “The team may be young but that means we can learn and improve faster and the experience from last year makes us set higher goals for this year.”
Despite the loss of some seniors the Spartans are looking to make a strong push for a back-to-back state appearance.
Head Girls Basketball Coach, Jennifer Geotz thinks last year was beneficial for the team. “Experience is something that you can’t teach, it has to happen. You have to live it. And many of these girls did that last season in our run at the state tournament.” The team has looked very strong this year starting out with a win against Davenport North, the second ranked team in the MAC. and hoping to continue with a competitive season long into the playoffs.
On the other hand, the PV boys are off to a rocky start. They opened the season Already 1-2 with more losses than last year, where the team finished with a 22-1 record. Junior, David Gorsline isn’t discouraged however, “We understand that we will lose a few games but our view is set on the postseason and playing our best during that time.”
The Spartan boys lost three senior starters from last year and similar to the girls, this year they also have a young team. With one senior and four juniors in the starting line up, the boys are looking to gain more experience as the season progresses.
Despite the rough start, the head coach of the boys basketball team, Steve Hillman still has high expectations for the season, “Our goal is to continue to improve throughout the season so that we will be playing at our best in January/February.” After only three games Hillman still has the team set on making a playoff run.
Both teams are very similar in terms of team structure and experience, and both have a common goal: to win.
“We didn’t make it out of the substrate finals last year and I think getting to the state playoff game would be really exciting,” Gorsline said. Vice has the same outlook for the girls team, “we want to win the MAC for the second year in a row and make it even further in the state tournament.” Both teams are motivated to improve upon last year’s results.
With the heart of the 2022-2023 season fast approaching, Spartan basketball will push forward in the win column as they look to qualify for their respective state tournaments.
