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Maquoketa girls’ basketball: A veteran team with an ambitious schedule
Senior-laden squad faces a series of 5A and 4A heavyweights in its non-conference slate
Nov. 20, 2025 7:17 am, Updated: Nov. 20, 2025 8:44 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — The Maquoketa Cardinals are ducking nobody.
“We play up to our competition,” senior Aubrey Kroymann said, regarding a girls’ basketball non-conference schedule that can be described as ambitious, to put it mildly. “It will be fun.”
Fun?
“My attitude is, I don’t care if we win 20 games,” Coach Chad Specht said. “The kids asked in the offseason, ‘Coach, who are we going to play this year?’
“They said, ‘Let’s ramp it up.’”
The preseason Class 3A top-ranked team by The Gazette, Maquoketa is tied to a 14-game River Valley Conference North Division slate. That leaves seven dates to fill.
They are filled, to the brim. Digest all of this:
* Tuesday, Nov. 25 — Iowa City High (5A No. 10 by The Gazette), home.
* Monday, Dec. 1 — at Iowa City Liberty (5A No. 4).
* Thursday, Dec. 4 — Olathe (Kan.) West (a Kansas 6A state quarterfinalist last year), home.
* Saturday, Dec. 6 — vs. Cedar Rapids Prairie (5A No. 5), at Rivalry Saturday, Anamosa High School.
* Saturday, Dec. 20 — vs. Norwalk (4A No. 2), at Johnston High School.
* Thursday, Feb. 5 — at Central DeWitt (4A No. 7).
* Thursday, Feb. 12 — Johnston (5A No. 1), home.
That’s a gauntlet, and then some.
“I’m excited about it all,” said Cora Widel, a 6-foot-1 senior guard. “It’s going to get us prepared for the postseason.”
So even if the Cardinals lose three or four of these games (or five, or six), they figure to be a state-championship contender at Casey’s Center in March.
The ability, the experience ... those are in place.
Six seniors have been instrumental in the program’s climb, led by Widel (14.5 points per game last year, Upper Iowa University signee, 4A second-team all-state) and Kroymann (13.0 ppg, 6.3 rebounds per game third-team all-state), a strong post who is considering several Division-III offers.
The other perimeter pieces are quality complements. You’ve got Maelyn Kluever (8.1 ppg), Kendall Kuhlman (6.8) and Justice Armbruster (6.1) in the starting lineup, Hadley Ihrig (5.5) off the bench.
Seniors, one and all.
“They play hard,” Specht said. “Every night, you’re going to get great effort from them. Sometimes, they’re not in the right spots, but they’re very competitive. It doesn’t matter if it’s checkers or basketball, they want to win.”
Widel spent the summer playing club ball. Don’t let her height fool you; she’s a state-caliber 100- and 200-meter flyer on the track.
“My freshman year, I wasn’t the most coordinated or athletic kid,” she said. “I started doing some speed workouts, and it made a big difference.”
Kroymann did most of her workouts solo, or with her father.
“I put in the work,” she said. “I’m ready. I wanted to work on my shooting range.”
Maquoketa played an Achieve Scrimmage at Cedar Rapids Kennedy — yet another 5A team, of course — Tuesday night, pulling away late for a 53-41 win that does not count on its record.
The Cardinals made their state-tournament debut last year, dropping a Class 4A first-round game to Dallas Center-Grimes, 49-44.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union hasn’t come out with its official 2025-26 classifications, According to the BEDS Documents, Maquoketa ought to be the largest school in 3A.
Whether 3A or 4A, the Cardinals will be a handful come March.
For now?
“We want to get 1 percent better every day,” Widel said. “We want to win the day, every day.”
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
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