GIRLS BASKETBALL: Eisbach gets multiple all-state honors

DES MOINES - Postseason honors have continued rolling in for Nodaway Valley junior guard Izzy Eisbach over the last 10 days as three groups named her to their Class 2A All-State teams.

Eisbach, who was already a two-time all-stater, can now call herself a three-time all-stater as a part of her growing list of accolades. She was named first team on two lists this year and is an honorable mention on another.

Eisbach is first team on the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association’s Class 2A all-state list and is the same, as chosen by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association. Eisbach got honorable mention from the Des Moines Register for its All-Iowa all-state team.

Eisbach was third team as a freshman and second team as a sophomore for the IPSWA.

“Sometimes I’m not sure I recognize the accolades for what they truly are. I was happy and thankful to be recognized with all-state honors for sure,” Eisbach said. “I think it would’ve sunk in a little more if we had played in the tournament, but that just fuels my goals for next year.”

Eisbach said that playing in Nodaway Valley’s girls basketball program is special and that she and the program have had a lot of support from the community.

“Playing for Nodaway Valley is special. Packed games are obviously my favorite, but there is just something about playing in front of our small town community that I love,” she said.

Joining Eisbach on the IPSWA first team were Sydney Doeschot from Hinton, Ava Eastlick from Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, Addie McLaughlin and Morgan Miller from Iowa City Regina, Aubrey Metzger from Central Lyon, Hudsyn Ranschau from Rock Valley and Bianka Ronnebaum from Maquoketa Valley.

Joining Eisbach on the IGCA first team were the above names except for McLaughlin and Eastlick. Instead of those two, Shenandoah’s Lynnae Green and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Molly Shafer were named.

Eisbach was the only Des Moines Register’s Class 2A pick on the 20-member honorable mention team among all five classes. There were six 2A selections on the 2A team and Eisbach made seven 2A picks out of the 50 total All-State picks by the newspaper.

Head Coach Brian Eisbach said that he has seen Izzy’s game improve.

“She has become more of a multi-level threat on offense, and defensively she’s become more disciplined. She sees the floor extremely well on both sides of the ball,” he said. “The game has slowed down for her. She expanded her role this year to carrying much of the scoring load and did a great job handling every junk defense imaginable. Her teammates did a great job growing with her this season. I feel she made her teammates better and her teammates did the same for her.”

The joy of getting to coach his daughter isn’t lost on Coach Eisbach.

“We’ve shared laughs and tears in the gym and I’m very proud of the work she continues to put in. Not just in the gym, but in the weight room and with nutrition. As her parents, we’re way more proud of the teammate and person she’s become. The accolades are nice, but someday her hoops career will end, and all her discipline and hard work will carry her onto the next chapter of her life,” he said.

Eisbach led Nodaway Valley in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. Her 734 points led the state in scoring in all classes and she averaged 31.9 points a game.

Eisbach set new school records for field goals made (250), 3-pointers made (88), free throws made (146), points scored (734), steals (122), points scored in a game (51), 3-pointers in a game (9) and tied records for FG made in a game (17) and free throws made in a game (12).

Eisbach moved into third in school history in points scored with 1,534 after collecting career point No. 1,000 early in the season.

Eisbach will have one more season left and is already getting interest in colleges at the next level with four NCAA Division 2 programs showing a lot of interest. This summer, Eisbach will play her second season with the AAU program All-Iowa Attack.

“This is a very big summer ahead and I am pumped to see what it has in store for me,” said Eisbach. “Every day will be a focus of getting mass numbers of shots up, but aside from that, I’m trying to get my ‘touch’ down from around the lane. I also plan to work on driving and finishing off two feet and getting more comfortable with difficult shots. I know our high school team will get a lot of chances to get better as well. I am excited to see what we can accomplish this upcoming season.”

Eisbach was also recently honored as an all-district pick, an unanimous All-Pride of Iowa Conference selection, was academic all-district and POI academic all-conference.