The KCII Area Game of the Week regular season slate comes to an end tonight with the Keota Eagle girls and boys basketball teams traveling to Eldon to face the Cardinal Comets.
The Keota Eagle girls will face the Comets boasting a 10-10 overall and 6-8 conference record after a win against Belle Plaine last week. Cameron Haifley led the way for the Eagles with 26. This year, Keota scores and gives up 45 per game, shooting 31% from the field, 25% from three and 53% at the line, with 27 rebounds, nine assists, 13 steals, one block and 20 turnovers a night. Individual leader is Haifley with her 11 points and two steals an outing.
The Cardinal girls are winless through 20 games after recently falling to Clarke Community. The Comets score 35 points-per-game, and give up 62, shooting 30% from the floor, 28% from the outside and 50% at the stripe, with 23 boards, six assists, 10 steals, one block and 25 turnovers a night. Kolbi Saner leads Cardinal, averaging a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards a game.
Keota girls Head Coach Jeff Sprouse joined KCII Sports on Saturday’s edition of the KCII Radio Coaches Corner to preview his team’s matchup with the Comets. “Cardinal, they are a team a lot like us. They are not super big, but they are super scrappy. One thing we are going to have to do is we have to be ready when we step out on the court,” Sprouse said.
In the Varsity Bound era, the girls’ series is tied 1-1 dating back to 2023. Keota won the latest matchup a season ago 33-32.
The Keota boys will be looking to push their win streak to five games in-a-row in the nightcap. The Eagles are 17-3 overall and 12-2 in the SICL East after a non-conference win on the road at Highland last night. Billie Kindred continued a fantastic senior season by pouring in a game-high 30 in the win. This season, Keota scores 70 a game, while giving up 51, shooting 45% from the field, 33% from downtown and 56% at the line, with a third-most in Iowa 39 boards, 19 assists, 10 steals, three blocks and 11 turnovers a game. Kindred tops the charts in the SICL East with his 24 points and 14 rebounds per game.
The Cardinal boys are 2-17 and 1-13 in the South Central conference after falling to Clarke Community last week. The Comet boys score 45, and give up 75 an outing, shooting 36% from the field, 27% on treys and 56% at the foul line, with 14 rebounds, six assists, five steals, one block and 17 giveaways a game. Individually, Chase Hengstenberg leads Cardinal with 13 points a contest.
Keota boys Head Coach Dan Stout joined KCII Sports on the postgame show Monday following his team’s non-conference victory in Riverside to give his thoughts on the matchup with Cardinal. “One thing I want to see us do a little bit better job of is making sure that we know who can score for the other team, make sure that we can get them shut down, and play together as a whole unit,” Stout said.
In the Varsity Bound era, Keota leads the boys’ series 2-1 dating back to 2021, including last year’s matchup with the Comets 83-40.
You can hear tonight’s doubleheader between Keota and Cardinal streaming exclusively online at KCIIRadio.com on the KCII3 Stream, beginning with pregame coverage of the girls game at 5:30, tipoff at 6, and coverage of the boys game to follow from Cardinal High School.