ALGONA—Carter Bruckhoff sank a charity shot with two seconds remaining to give the Forest City Indians a 53-52 Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball victory on Tuesday, Jan. 4, over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears.

It was a disappointing loss for Bishop Garrigan, who led almost the entire contest. The black-and-gold led 10-8 at the end of the first period before taking a 26-24 advantage to the locker room at halftime and also led 43-39 heading into the final quarter.

ARMSTRONG—Earning their sixth overall victory of the season, the North Union Warrior boys basketball team won a 53-41 Top of Iowa Conference win over the Eagle Grove Eagles on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

North Union led by four points at the conclusion of the first period before taking a 24-19 advantage to the locker room at intermission. The home team also took a 40-29 lead at the end of the third quarter of play.

ALGONA—Algona was limited to just 12 points in the second half as Garner-Hayfield/Ventura rallied on Saturday, Jan. 8, for a 43-33 non-conference girls basketball victory.

The Bulldogs led 9-8 at the end of the first stanza and held a 21-19 advantage at intermission. The Cardinals rallied to lead 33-30 heading into the final quarter of action.

ALGONA—In a battle of ranked Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball squads on Tuesday, Jan. 4, second-ranked (Class 1A) Bishop Garrigan defeated No. 15 (3A) Forest City 74-53.

The win was the 30^th straight victory for the black-and-gold team over a league foe. All-state junior center Audi Crooks led the way with a 15 of 16 shooting performance to toss in a game-high 31 points and yanked down 16 rebounds.

GARNER—North Union went on the road on Friday, Jan. 7, in Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball play and returned home with a hard-fought 50-32 win over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

The green-black-and-silver defense was outstanding in the first half as they led 14-6 and 30-9 leads at the two quarter breaks. The Warriors also held a 38-21 advantage at the conclusion of three periods of basketball.

FAIRMONT—North Union traveled north across the state line on Saturday, Jan. 8, and dropped a 55-52 non-conference girls basketball contest to the Fairmont Cardinals.

Leading 51-50, the Cardinals sank four foul shots in the final 30 seconds to ice the game. The contest was played with Minnesota rules so the two teams played 20-minute halves as the home team led 24-22 at halftime.

GARNER—The North Union Warriors wrestling squad went 1-2 on the night on Thursday, Jan. 6, in Top of Iowa Conference wrestling matches.

The green-black-and-silver fell to West Hancock by the score of 48-30 but came back to defeat Garner-Hayfield/Ventura by the count of 39-31 before losing to Eagle Grove by the score of 61-12.

Landon Price went 3-0 on the evening to lead the way as Ethan Preston was 2-0 while teammates Talon Grimm and Kacey Hamsmith each went 2-1. 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

POINTS SCORED (GP-PTS-AVG)—Audi Crooks, BG 10, 210, 21.00; Molly Joyce, BG 10, 179, 17.90; Kierstin Montag, WBM 7, 125, 17.85; Abbie Capesius, BG 10, 96, 9.60; Sam Nielsen, NU 7, 64, 9.14; 

REBOUNDS (GP-REBS-AVG)—Montag, WBM 7, 86, 12.28; Crooks, BG 10, 120, 12.00; Capesius, BG, 10, 72, 7.20; A’Lailah Perry, AHS 8, 55, 6.87; Nielsen, NU 7, 47, 6.71; 

January

The top-ranked Bishop Garrigan girls basketball squad defeated No. 6 West Hancock 62-54 in a Top of Iowa Conference victory at Britt.

The Algona girls basketball team notched their second win of the season with a 48-32 North Central Conference victory over the St. Edmond Gaels.

Bishop Garrigan will play eight-man football during the 2021 season.

EAGLE GROVE—West Bend-Mallard notched their third win of the season on Monday, Jan. 3 with a 55-36 non-conference boys’ basketball victory over the Eagle Grove Eagles.

Although the Wolverines led the whole game, they could not put the pesky Eagles away. West Bend-Mallard led 17-13, 34-21 and 42-26 at the quarter breaks in the contest.

EAGLE GROVE—Sophomore Kierstin Montag exploded for a game-high 35 points and yanked down 13 rebounds to lead the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine girls’ basketball squad to a 70-42 non-conference victory over the Eagle Grove Eagles on Monday, Jan. 3.

Montag connected on 12 of 24 overallº field goals on the evening, including one of two behind the three point arc and nailed 10 of 11 foul shots during the non-conference contest.

Academic All-Staters

Jackson Cecil (lower left) of Algona in Class 3A along with West Bend-Mallard’s Joe Mader, Aaron Massner and Collin Montag in eight-man football were named recently to the Academic All-State Team by the Iowa Football Coaches Association.

LAKE MILLS—Lake Mills remained perfect on the season with a 68-38 Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball victory on Tuesday, Dec. 21, over the North Union Warriors.

The home team started fast with a 14-4 lead at the end of the first stanza and took a 32-19 advantage to the locker room at halftime. The Bulldogs blew the game open in the third quarter and led 53-25 heading into the final eight minutes of action.

ALGONA—A late fourth quarter rally came up just short as the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys basketball team dropped a 56-53 Top of Iowa Conference contest on Tuesday, Dec. 21, to the North Iowa Bison.

Trailing by 10 points with 4:10 to play in the game, the black-and-gold fought back to tie the contest up at 53-53 with 30 seconds to play but the rally fell just short as the visitors sank three free throws to earn the win.

STORM LAKE—Storm Lake St. Mary’s outscored West Bend-Mallard 14-9 in the final eight minutes to rally for a 52-48 Twin Lakes Conference boys basketball victory over the purple-and-gold on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

The home team built a 17-12 advantage at the conclusion of the first period and took a narrow 28-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. West Bend-Mallard led 40-38 at the end of the third quarter.