LAKE MILLS—Fourth-ranked Lake Mills started the game off on fire and never looked back in an 82-41 Class 1A district quarterfinal round victory on Monday, Feb. 14 over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.

The Bulldogs connected on 10 of 11 first quarter field goals and were successful on eight of 15 shots in the second frame to build commanding leads of 27-5 and 45-22 at the first two quarter breaks.

ARMSTRONG—Fourth-ranked Lake Mills completed a perfect 16-0 Top of Iowa Conference schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 8 with a 63-44 victory over a stubborn North Union squad.

The game was tied at the end of the first quarter and remained tight until the middle of the third period before the Bulldogs finally widened out their advantage for the win.

WEST BEND—Storm Lake St. Mary’s took the lead early and went onto a 55-42 Twin Lakes Conference boys’ basketball win over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Two Wolverines hit double digits in Jaxon Zaugg with 13 points and Collin Montag added 12 more. Mitch Stevens chipped in with nine points as Max Fehr tallied six points and Landon Montag rounded out the scoring with two points.

FORT DODGE—Algona outscored St. Edmond 50-36 in the second half to rally for an exciting 74-72 North Central Conference boys’ basketball victory on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

St. Edmond jumped out to a 16-8 lead at the conclusion of the first stanza and led 36-24 at intermission. The Gaels led 51-49 after the third quarter before the Bulldogs outscored the home team 25-21 in the final frame for the win.

WEST BEND—Ninth-ranked Storm Lake St. Mary’s improved to 19-1 overall on the year on Tuesday, Feb. 8 with a 70-45 Twin Lakes Conference girls’ basketball victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.

Kierstin Montag poured in 21 points to lead the purple-and-gold in scoring and Hailey Stalzer just missed double digits with nine points.

ALGONA—The Algona Bulldog girls’ basketball squad finished the regular season with their seventh straight victory on Tuesday, Feb. 8 with a 53-25 North Central Conference win over the St. Edmond Gaels.

The red-and-black ended the regular season with an overall mark of 11-10 and finished conference play with a record of 10-4 to place third in the league standings.

DES MOINES - Iowa anglers who are at least 65 years old can now purchase a lifetime trout fishing license.

The cost of the new lifetime privilege is $65. Revenues from this fee are used exclusively to stock state trout streams and community trout ponds. 

Samples from nearly 5,000 deer have been tested as part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) effort to monitor for chronic wasting disease, resulting in 36 confirmed positives from the 2021-22 hunting season.

CRESCO—Algona made a long road trip east on Tuesday, Feb. 8 to face Clarion-Goldfield/Dows in the Class 2A regional duals and fell to the Cowboys by the score of 37-30.

Each team won seven bouts in the match but six of the Clarion-Goldfield/Dows wins earned bonus points compared to four by the Bulldogs.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

HAMPTON—Heading into the final week of the regular season, the hottest team in the North Central Conference is yes, the Algona Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs won their sixth straight game on Friday, Feb. 5 with an exciting 49-47 victory over second-place Hampton-Dumont.

By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

BUFFALO CENTER—North Iowa out-pointed Bishop Garrigan 22-17 in the final eight minutes to rally for an 80-76 Top of Iowa Conference boys’ basketball win on Monday, Feb. 7.

Both teams shot well in the contest as the Bison made 28 of 63 overall field goals, including eight three-pointers while the black-and-gold sank 28 of 55 shots from the floor and drained 10 triples.

BUFFALO CENTER—The second-rated Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear girls’ basketball completed a perfect Top of Iowa Conference run on Monday, Feb. 7 with a 54-26 victory over the North Iowa Lady Bison.

The black-and-gold jumped out to a 16-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and increased their advantage to 45-8 at intermission. The visitors also held a commanding 52-14 lead before the reserves played the entire fourth period.

ARMSTRONG—In a low scoring Top of Iowa Conference girls’ basketball contest, the North Union Warriors defeated the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals on Friday, Feb. 4 by the score of 42-20.

The green-black-and-silver led 19-10 at the conclusion of the first quarter and led 21-10 at halftime in a stanza that saw only two points scored. The Warriors also led 33-13 at the conclusion of the third period of action.

WEST BEND—Pocahontas Area edged the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine boys’ basketball team on Friday, Feb. 4 in a Twin Lakes Conference contest by the score of 69-68.

West Bend-Mallard held a one-point lead at 15-14 at the conclusion of the first quarter and increased their advantage to 35-32 at halftime while the contest was deadlocked at 49-49 at the end of the third period of action.

ARMSTRONG—A balanced scoring attack that featured four players in double digits by Garner-Hayfield/Ventura was too much for North Union to overcome on Friday, Feb. 4 as the Cardinals defeated the Warriors 74-36 in Top of Iowa Conference boys’ basketball play.

The visitors started fast taking a 20-7 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter and extended that advantage to 36-13 at intermission. The red-and-black also enjoyed a 60-28 lead after three quarters of play.