Back to Des Moines: Maquoketa’s Senior Core Leads Another State Tournament Run

The road to Des Moines is becoming a familiar one for Maquoketa girls basketball.

For the second straight season, the Cardinals are headed back to the state tournament — and this time, they’re bringing experience, confidence, and unfinished business with them.

Leading the charge is the senior “Big Five” — Aubrey Kroymann, Cora Widel, Maelyn Kluever, Justice Armbruster, and Kendall Kuhlman — a battle-tested core that has grown together and now returns to the biggest stage in Iowa high school basketball.

After last year’s run to state, the group didn’t just want to get back. They wanted more.

“We can definitely use it as a motivator,” Widel said. “We didn’t get to where we wanted to be last year. We’re going to push more this year to get further.”

That experience — walking into the arena, feeling the nerves, adjusting to the spotlight — is no longer unknown territory. It’s fuel.

“We have the experience of being there last year,” Widel said. “We’ll be more comfortable and confident. I think good things will happen.”

Comfort and confidence are powerful tools in March, especially in Des Moines, where bright lights and packed arenas can overwhelm even talented teams. But this Maquoketa squad believes last season prepared them for exactly this moment.

“We’ll be way more prepared and know what to expect. We’re ready to kick people’s butts up in Des Moines,” Kroymann said.

There’s an edge to this team — a maturity that didn’t happen overnight. It was built intentionally.

Coaches scheduled a challenging non-conference slate this season, designed not just to test skill, but to sharpen toughness and resilience.

“They felt like this was something we wanted to build off of from last year,” head coach Chad Specht said. “Not just rest on our laurels and say we’re good. We have bigger and bolder goals.”

Those goals extend beyond simply returning to state. The seniors understand this opportunity won’t come again — and they’re determined to leave their mark.

The hard schedule, the close games, the lessons learned in last year’s tournament — it’s all been part of the process.

And now, as Maquoketa heads back to Des Moines, that growth is beginning to show.

For the Cardinals, this isn’t just another trip.

It’s a chance to finish what they started.

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