North Union gave a valiant effort, but the green, black and silver dropped a hard-fought 52-43 Class 2A regional semifinal decision to the fifth-ranked Osage Green Devils on Feb. 21 in Osage, putting an end to the Warriors' season.
The teams battled back and forth in the tight first period, and the home team led 14-13 at the quarter break.
Read more in the Feb. 27 Kossuth County Advance.

Fourth-ranked Bishop Garrigan blew open a seven-point game with a huge second quarter and cruised to an 83-37 Class 1A district opening victory over the Storm Lake St. Mary's Panthers Feb. 20 at home.
The contest was tight througout the first stanza until a late, 5-0 run by Cade Winkel broke open the 11-10 game. The home team led 18-11 at the conclusion of the first period.
Read more about it in the Feb. 27 Advance.

North Union drained nine 3-pointers, but it was not enough, as the Sioux Central Rebels defeated the green, black and silver 69-51 in the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A boys district basketball Tournament Feb. 18 in Sioux Rapids.
The home team scored the first six points before Robert Ortman drilled a triple, getting the Warriors on the scoreboard. The red and white reponded with 10 points, building a 16-3 advantage.

All year long, the final three weights in the Algona Bulldogs wrestling lineup have been the hammers. In the Class 2A district tournament Feb. 15, all three Bulldogs pounded out a trip to the state tournament in Wells Fargo Arena.
Senior Cole Lewis at 195 pounds and Andrew Hamilton at 220 pounds placed first, and classmate Gavin Meints at 285 pounds placed second for the red and black.
Read all about it in the Feb. 20 Advance.

Algona built a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter only to see Estherville-Lincoln Central close the gap to four points late. But the Bulldogs nailed six straight free throws in the final 37 seconds in a 58-51 Class 3A regional quarterfinal win over the Midgettes Feb. 15 in Estherville.
The victory advanced the red and black to Wednesday's game at Okoboji with a season record of 13-9.
Get all the action in the Feb. 20 Kossuth County Advance.

Both Donovan Hanson and Connor Fehr of West Bend-Mallard qualified for the Class 1A state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines this weekend by finishing second in their respective weight classes at the district meet in Algona Feb. 15.
The two Wolverines took different routes to Des Moines. Hanson (28-3), ranked fifth at 106 pounds, opened the day with an 8-1 decision over Carson Seuntjens of Kingsley-Pierson.

The post-season pairings were released last week for the four area boys basketball teams as they hope to punch their ticket to the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
North Union (3-18) opened tournament play on Feb. 18, traveling to Sioux Rapids against Sioux Central (12-9). The winner of that game plays at Emmetsburg Thursday, Feb. 20 against the E-Hawks (12-8).
Get all the details in the Feb. 20 Kossuth County Advance.

Algona controlled the paint by blocking 13 shots in a 60-37 North Central Conference boys basketball victory over the Webster City Lynx Feb. 14 in Algona.
The Bulldogs were successful on 21 of 39 overall field goals for 53.8 percent, hit five of 10 triples for 50 percent and drained 13 of 18 free throws for 72.2 percent.
Read the complete story in the Feb. 20 Advance.

Robert Ortman scored 15 points and nabbed 15 rebounds to lead the North Union Warriors boys basketball squad to a 53-40 nonconference victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines Feb. 14 in Armstrong.
Ortman opened the game's scoring with a triple that was matched quickly by one from Mason Link. Nolan Ford scored a basket for the visitors before Noah Morphew nailed back to back treys to give the green, black and silver a 9-5 advantage.

Three players scored at least 23 points, the Bishop Garrigan Bears offense was in high gear, and the squad wrapped up the Top of Iowa Conference title with a 102-64 victory over the North Iowa Bison in Buffalo Center.
The black and gold shot well all night, connecting on 39 of 55 overall field goals for 70.9 percent. The Golden Bears hit five of nine attemps behind the three-point arc for 55.5 percent and nailed 19 of 24 foul shots for 79.1 percent.

Four players scored in double figures to lead the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines boys basketball team to its third victory of the season, a 64-50 decision over Storm Lake St. Mary's Feb. 11 in West Bend.
Thomas Fehr poured in 22 points to lead the way. Mason Link added 16 more. Both Jared Schmidt and Collin Montag tossed in 10 points.
Read more in the Feb. 20 Kossuth County Advance.

Algona went on the road and came home with a narrow, 57-54, nonconference girls basketball victory over the Pocahontas Area Indians in Pocahontas Feb. 13.
The Bulldogs trailed 17-10 at the end of the first period before rallying to hold a 31-29 advantage at halftime. The visitors led 48-39 heading into the fourth quarter before holding off a late Indians comeback for the win.
Get all the action in the Feb. 20 Advance.

Madison Hough sank a free throw with 10 seconds remaining to spoil a great comeback effort by the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines, and the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans edged the Wolverines 45-44 in the opening round of the Class 1A regional girls basketball tournament Feb. 13 in West Bend.

Freshman center Audi Crooks poured in 35 points to lead fourth-ranked (Class 1A) Bishop Garrigan to an exciting, 55-54 Top of Iowa Conference victory over the second-rated (2A) West Hancock in Britt in Feb. 7.
The loss was the Eagles first in the league since Jan. 19, 2018, when red and white fell to North Union 72-54 at Britt.
Read more in the Feb. 13 Kossuth County Advance.

Algona stayed in the North Central Conference boys basketball race with a huge, 56-50 road victory on Feb. 7 over the Hampton-Dumont Bulldogs.
Algona improved to 13-3 overall and sit at 9-2 in North Central Conference games. Hampton-Dumont fell to 3-14 overall and are 1-11 in the league.
Get all the action in the Feb. 13 Advance.