Midseason conference call: SICL

Editor’s Note: This is Day 2 of an eight-day midseason tour around the area conferences in girls’ basketball. If all goes as scheduled, it will conclude next Friday, Jan. 2, the day that the season resumes.

Here’s the plan:

Friday: Big East

Today: SICL

Sunday: Upper Iowa

Monday: Northeast Iowa

Tuesday: Tri-Rivers

Wednesday: Cedar Valley

Thursday: Wamac (East and West)

Friday: MVC (Mississippi and Valley)

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SOUTH IOWA CEDAR LEAGUE

The frontrunner: It’s Sigourney. The Lady Savages (6-0, 6-0) haven’t exactly rip-roared through the competition, but they’ve been more than good enough. Sigourney is allowing a skimpy 28.2 points per game.

Other contenders: Lynnville-Sully (6-2, 6-1) and Keota (5-1, 5-1) are the primary challengers.

Potential spoilers: Belle Plaine (5-2, 4-2) and HLV (4-2, 4-2) are at the top of the next tier, and could move to contender status with some key wins.

Biggest surprise: Without a doubt, Keota. The E-Gals are a two-point loss to Iowa Valley from being an unlikely unbeaten. They legitimized themselves with a 15-point win over Lynnville-Sully in their last game before the break.

Biggest disappointment: I thought English Valleys was ready to rebound this year, but three close losses (56-54, to Lynnville-Sully, 46-45, to Keota and 41-39, to Belle Plaine) have kept the Bears low in the standings.

Leading scorer: Sigourney junior Carolyn Holm is averaging 20.7 points per game.

What to watch for: The most intriguing game through the rest of the season is a non-conference game. Sigourney travels to Knoxville, a ranked 3A squad on Jan. 31. If the Lady Savages can win — or at least compete — you can safely say that they’re a strong 2A team and ready to make some postseason noise. Other than that, the race appears to be for positioning. Can Keota keep it up? They’ve had a wonderful ride, but their margin for error remains slim.

Who will win it: A rival coach said he expects Sigourney to run the table in the SICL. If they don’t suffer injuries, the Lady Savages will win it, possibly by three or four games.

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