(3-3-22) Last season Pryce Sandfort (6’7 Jr) was getting ready to help win a state title as a Waukee Warrior, this year he is getting ready to do it again…but this time as a member of the Waukee Northwest Wolves.

Sandfort

Waukee, one of the fastest growing communities in the Des Moines area, split the high school this past fall due to high student enrollment numbers. With that Sandfort would become a member of the first-ever Waukee Northwest basketball team.

Sandfort 2021-22 Stats – 27.5 PPG (1st) 10.7 RPG (3rd) 3.0 BPG (1st) 2.9 APG 53.3 FG% 62.5 EFG% 41.3 3PT%

One thing about the Waukee school district…they know basketball.

During the 2019-20 season Waukee was the 4A runner-up and last year they were the 4A State Champions.

2020-21 4A State Basketball Title Game

– No. 2 Waukee 61, Johnston 50

(March 2021) Johnston (12-5) shot out to a 14-2 lead, but unlike last year’s state title game loss to unranked Ankeny, Waukee (16-2) recovered in a big way.

The Warriors were within 16-12 after the first quarter, but didn’t take the lead until the final minute of the third. Waukee ended the third on a 7-0 run, with Malik Allen’s layup putting it up 41-39 and it never trailed again, outscoring Johnston 20-11 in the fourth.

Tucker DeVries scored 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and four assists. Omaha Biliew had 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks and Iowa signee Payton Sandford totaled 13 points and eight boards.

Steven Kramer led the Dragons with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Changes

With all changes like this there is some good and bad…but one thing it did was find out that two Waukee schools can still compete in basketball. When twice as many student-athletes had a chance to play varsity basketball…that is a major positive.

How impressive is it that both schools made it to the Sub State Finals, Waukee lost to a talented Ankney team, while Waukee Northwest will try and bring another 4A state title back to the community after their win earlier this week over Urbandale. They open the State tournament on March 9th against Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Sub State FINAL Scores –

  • Ankeny 62, Waukee 57
  • Waukee Northwest 57 Urbandale 45

IHSAA Class 4A boys basketball state tournament bracket

  • No. 1 Ames vs. No. 8 Burlington, 12:15 p.m., March 9
  • No. 4 Waukee Northwest vs. No. 5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 10:30 a.m., March 9
  • No. 2 Cedar Falls vs. No. 7 Prairie, 2 p.m., March 9
  • No. 3 Johnston vs. No. 6 Ankeny, 3:45 p.m., March 9

The talent on the two Waukee teams, despite the split, have produced new stars for the future. Had there been no split….oh my goodness!

Did you know…

One top player, Omaha Bilie, from Waukee’s state title team last season decided not to stick around for the change and transferred to Link Academy, a prep school in Missouri.

Advertisement