Classes 1-3 get the semifinals of the boys’ state tournament underway today after the large schools wrapped up their opening round games yesterday.

After a Wednesday that saw five upsets in the class 2A and 3A brackets, Mount Pleasant (24-1), the highest seed remaining in 3A, apparently took note, holding six-seed ADM (21-4) under 33% shooting, allowing just 2-of-14 three point attempts to run away with a 62-32 win.  Three scored in double-figures for the Panthers led by Nick Lyon’s double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.  Mt. Pleasant squares off against Grinnell Thursday night in the semifinals.

Class 4A action saw all four top seeds advance Thursday.  The Cedar Rapids, Jefferson (15-9) J-Hawks might as well have been just the Hawks because they forgot the “J” as the Hawks from Ankeny (24-0) held Cedar Rapids to one field goal in the first quarter and just under 19% shooting for the game to post a 58-26 win. Ankeny dominated play in the paint by outscoring the J-Hawks 32-8 inside.  The Hawks square off Friday against…

Sioux City, East (20-3) turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 20 points for Valley, West Des Moines (18-6) but the Black Raiders got to the free throw line 38 times, hitting 23, and dominated in the paint to overcome their turnovers with a rebounding margin of +17 to pull out a 66-60 win.  Sioux City outscored the Tigers 28-10 inside with Adam Woodbury putting up a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, JC Fuller poured in a game-high 19.

Iowa City-West (24-0) remained unbeaten by handing Waukee (17-7) a 74-52 loss.  Five players posted double-digits in the scoring column for the Trojans, led by 15 from Jeremy Morgan, as West shot 51% from the floor while dominating the glass 36-23.  Next up for IC-West is…

With North Carolina head coach Roy Williams in the crowd to see Tar Heel commit Marcus Paige in action, Linn-Mar (20-4) got 23 points from their McDonald’s All-American, who gave the Lions their first lead with 67 seconds left and assisted on the game-winner from Andy Henry for a 51-50 win over Dubuque, Senior (18-6).  The Rams had a shot for the win but Kyle Haber missed a jumper as time expired.  Linn-Mar committed just five turnovers in the game and scored 18 on 14 Dubuque giveaways.

Check out the state tournament page on the IHSSA website for live stats, boxscores, broadcasts, and plenty more about each game in Des Moines.