Sports : Vikings begin road to Des Moines leading many team, individual stats

Going into the post-season, the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings lead all Class 3A basketball teams in points scored and point differential. The top-ranked Vikings, the only unbeaten team in Class 3A, has scored 1,478 points and has won its 21 games by an average of 19.8 points.

An interesting stat about the Vikings, who host Independence Monday night in the District opener, is how their scoring quarter-by-quarter has been nearly perfectly consistent.

The team has scored 370 first, third and fourth-quarter points, and 368 second-quarter points.

Another scoring note: Fourth-ranked Centerville (18-2) averages .5 points more per game than the Vikings (70.9 to 70.4).

Individual leaders on the Vikings include:

Max Kearns: Assists (161) First in Class 3A

Grant Sagan: Points (414) Second in Class 3A

Max Griffith: 3-point shots made (77) First in Class 3A

The road to Des Moines, and possible State opponents

The Vikings are considered the top seed in their district, and as the top-ranked team in Class 3A are likely to be top-seeded if they reach the state tournament.

If the VIkings defeat Independence,which has just won one game this season, they would play the winner of the Benton-Union game, Thursday at Linn Mar High School in Marion. The Sub-State game takes place Feb. 25, at Cedar Falls High School.

While many Vinton-Shellsburg fans who have been watching the Vikings all season (and for years before that would disagree, at least one Iowa sports writer has labeled Vinton-Shellsburg a "Cinderella" team because of its limited history at the State Tournament. Terry Hersom of the Sioux City Journal says "Vinton High had state tourney teams in 1927, 1931 and 1986 while Vinton-Shellsburg’s only appearance was a first-round loss to Algona in 1996."

The Class 3A schools in the Feb. 11 ranking of the AP Top 10 include:

Record Pts Prv
1. Vinton-Shellsburg (10) 20-0 118 1
2. Atlantic (1) 19-1 107 2
3. Assumption, Davenport (1) 15-4 93 4
4. Centerville 18-1 84 3
5. Waverly-Shell Rock 16-4 53 8
6. Creston 17-3 50 5
7. Dallas Center-Grimes 18-2 44 6
(tie)Carroll 16-2 44 10
9. MOC-Floyd Valley 17-4 26 7
10. Solon 17-3 19 NR
Others receiving votes: Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 9. Iowa Falls-Alden 4. Le Mars 4. Mount Pleasant 2. Grinnell 2. Harlan 1.

Likely favorites in the 8 Substate groups based on records and rankings are listed below, although each year has seen its share of upsets.

1.Sioux City Bishop Heelan Heelan and MOC-Floyd Valley.

2. Waverly-Shell Rock Iowa Falls-Alden.

3. Vinton-Shellsburg vs. Cresco, or possibly Waukon or Decorah.

4. Davenport Assumption and Center Point Urbana, which gave the Vikings their toughest two games of the season.

5. Mount Pleasant (last year's state champs) or Solon.

6. Grinnell or Centerville.

7. Dallas Center-Grimes.

8. Atlantic/Creston vs. Carroll.