Activities Department Update

We are continuing our series of analyzing leadership and championship mentality displayed in the documentary, The Last Dance.

"If you are trying to maintain dominance over someone, you don't want to give them a chance to gain confidence."- Michael Jordan. This quote pretty much sums up the mentality the Bulls and Jordan had when they were rolling through their championship seasons. They did not want to just beat a team, they wanted to showcase their dominance over them, not just for that team, but to send a message to others as well. It was a win at all cost mentality. Michael Jordan was known for calling out his teammates for not meeting expectations that were set by the coaches and players, the same standards that allowed the Bulls to be able to achieve six championships.

"Don't wait for someone to give you something. You are strong. You are intelligent. Go out and earn it and work for it."- Michael Jordan's mother. It is a known fact that at one point, Michael Jordan did not make it on his high school's basketball roster. A defeated, saddened, and frustrated Michael listened to his mother tell him this quote. Between this encouragement (not making excuses for him) from his mother and the competitive mindset instilled by his brothers and father, a beast was unleashed in Michael. He perfected his craft and got faster, stronger, and gained confidence. He used his failure as a lesson to improve himself and set a mentality towards success.

"Michael had supreme confidence, he loved the big stage." John Paxton. Michael Jordan is arguably one of the best players when it came to big games and important moments. He never let a situation, a game's importance, or a moment alter his confidence or mentality. He thrived in clutch moments. He rose to the occasion for his team. He was not afraid to fail or succeed in the moment. His desire and effort to win exceeded his self-doubt and fear of failure. He used that mentality to have a couple of stellar playoff performances, some of the best in NBA history, including a 63 point performance against the stacked Boston Celtics.

When you are doing something for school, work, or practicing, or playing a game, do it to the best of your abilities. When you are competing against someone, do so with confidence and play to win rather than playing to not lose. When failure or road blocks occur, learn from them and use them to better yourself. Be elite!

The girls are 5th in the conference with a record of 10-11. The girls lost to #1 ranked Mediapolis a couple of weeks ago, but Kenna Sandoval continued her streak of double point games hitting 11 points on the night. The girls finished with a win against the Falcons of West Burlington as the girls edged out the Falcons with 20 points coming from Kenna Sandoval, Nora Lampe with 18 points all coming from the 3 point line, and Taylor Jones finished with 13 points. On Senior night, our girls could not keep up with the Warriors’ press and speed as Van Buren County took the win. Taylor Jones led the team with 16 points off multiple baseline drives. The girls could not finish their game at Keokuk with a win, but played some of their best basketball of the season against a tough Lee County foe. The girls defeated the Pekin Panthers in the SEISC Shootout event on the 5th. Kenna Sandoval currently leads the conference in points and rebounds collectively and per game averages. She is also 6 points away from achieving 1,000 career points. The girls finished their regular season with a loss to a challenging Illinois opponent, Illini West. Their first round regional game will be against #1 ranked Mediapolis on Saturday, February 14th.

Our boys squad is currently 13-7 on the season after a tough 5 games in 6 nights a couple weeks ago. The first loss of the week came from Illinois top 10 opponent, West Hancock where our boys kept it tight, losing by 5. Will Hayes and Kaden Swan both ended with 9 points. The boys lost to conference foe, Mediapolis by 6 after leading the majority of the game until the last two and a half minutes. Carson Morrison led the team with 16 points, assisted by Owen Swan’s 11 points. The third loss came in the last few seconds against West Burlington in a remake game due to weather. Ward Fraise topped his three game streak of playing very well off of the bench with seven points and multiple steals. Owen Swan and Will Hayes both hit double digits with 12 and 14 points respectively. On senior night, the boys beat a sound rival in Van Buren County. Will Hayes hit multiple mid-range shots and ended the night with 21, and the Swan boys scored 13 (Owen) and 14 (Kaden) points. The boys sit in 3rd place as the boys topped Pekin in the SEISC Shootout event. The boys will finish the regular at Davis County on February 12. Due to the success of the season, our Hawks will receive a first round bye in the district tournament and advance to play in the second round and face the winner between West Burlington and Cardinal in hopes of advancing to state.

The bowling girls finished out their season on February 2nd with a finish in the 1A state qualifying match at KingPins in FunCity. Krystal DeBrackeleire finished as the top bowler with 1,705 pins knocked in the season and a series high of 321. Serena Liebelt finished with the highest game score with 208, and a series score of 345. This small team saw very good improvement over its inaugural season and looks forward to competing next year.

The boys came off of a long mid-season break with another great win at West Burlington, but then came up short as a team against Louisa-Muscatine last week. The team win at FunCity was a Baker Game total 2604-2561. Chad Barnhardt led all competitors with 395 pins knocked, and a high game of 224, and combined series score of 395 pins. Emery Edmondson led the team in pins at L-M with 353 combined series score and a game high of 203. The boys will finish the regular season with one more match at Mount Pleasant, and then the team will be hosting a 1A state qualifying meet on February 16th starting at 10:00am.

Aubree Bunnell finished her season out placing 4th in her region, falling short of making it to state wrestling. She finishes with multiple 1st and 2nd place finishes throughout the season, ending at 31-10. On the boys side, all four of our wrestlers are wrestling at the varsity level and have helped Coach Chiri tremendously throughout the season. Peter Seyb went from JV starter to earning 2nd place at the Conference Tournament last week. James Fuller, Baylor Ferreira, and Jack Benner all took home the gold in their weight class and are now Conference Champs!

Schedules can be found on our Bound website.

Impulse Dance Team

State Site: ISDTA

Impulse Night- Feb 13

All-Iowa Dance Performance- Mar 5-7

Boys Bowling- 1A

State Site: IHSAA Bowling

State Qualifying Meet @ Arrowhead Bowling- Feb 16

State Bowling Meet- Feb 23-25

Girls Basketball- 3A

State Site: IGHSAU Basketball

Regionals Round 1 @ Mediapolis- Feb 14

Regionals Round 2 @ TBD- Feb 18

Regionals Final @ TBD- Feb 21

Girls State Tournament- Mar 1-6

Boys Basketball- 2A

State Site: IHSAA Basketball

FR/JV/Varsity @ Davis County- Feb 12

MS Basketball @ Notre Dame- Feb 12

1st Round of Districts @ TBD- Feb 16

MS Basketball vs Danville- Feb 17

2nd Round of Districts- Feb 19

MS Basketball @ New London- Feb 19

3rd Round of Districts- Feb 24

Substate (District Finals)- Feb 28

Girls and Boys Wrestling (Shared with Fort Madison)- 2A

State Sites: IHSAA and IGHSAU

District Wrestling- Feb 14

State Wrestling- Feb 18-21

Science Fair

@ Culver-Stockton College- Feb 21

@ Heartland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Ames, IA- Feb 24

@ Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair- Mar 21

@ State Science and Engineering Fair- Mar 26-27

Show Choir

@ Keokuk- Feb 14

@ Pella- Feb 21

Central Connections- Feb 28

@ Fort Madison- Mar 7

Track and Field

State Sites: IGHSAU and IHSAA

1st Practice- Feb 23

Boys @ Central College Indoor Meet- Mar 19

Soccer

State Sites: IGHSAU and IHSAA

1st Practice- Mar 16

Girls @ West Branch- Mar 30

Golf

State Sites: IGHSAU and IHSAA

1st Practice- Mar 16

@ Nike Golf Invitational- Mar 31

*NEW* Spring Sports Registration and Sign-Ups

Spring is almost upon us! All students who are interested in participating in a spring sport need to make sure they have a current physical and proof of insurance, with the physical also uploaded to Bound. Students also need to register for the sport on Bound. If a student or parent has already done this process for the sport earlier in the year, they do not need to do it again. Contact the AD for support.

*NEW* Sports Boosters Baseball/Softball Initiative- Progress!

Tearing down of the baseball dugouts in preparation of moving them has been completed. Waiting on weather to cooperate to construct the dugouts in the new positions and to continue to remove the old fencing and replace the new. The Sports Boosters, Facilities Staff, and administration are working hard to complete this Baseball/Softball Renovation. We are in the final push to reach our fundraising goal, so any business or individuals that are interested in providing financial support is greatly appreciated!

Central Lee Sponsorship Opportunities

Want your business logo to be displayed on the scorers table at all of the 35+ events hosted in our Performance gym? Want your business to have a spot in the new sports events programs? Maybe you want your business to have a logo on the football field? If you or someone you know want a chance to advertise your business at Central Lee, then take a look at the Sponsorship Catalog for this year.

Below are the current coaching vacancies in our district. If you are interested, please contact Tyler Bryant and apply online at TeachIowa. Applicants must have a current Iowa Coaching License/Endorsement. Looking for positive, reliable, and determined individuals for these positions.

Varsity Assistant Football Coach

Middle School Baseball Coach

Middle School Baseball Coach

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."- Bruce Lee