LAKE MILLS—Lake Mills continued their dominance over Top of Iowa Conference opponents with their 53^rd consecutive league victory, the latest coming on Tuesday, Dec. 5 with a 70-50 win over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears.

Balanced scoring was a key component in the victory as Aiden Stensrud tossed in 19 points closely followed by Eli Menke with 17 and Lane Helming contributed 16  more points.

FOREST CITY—A cold night of shooting from the floor and the three-point line doomed the North Union Warrior girls’ basketball squad in a 61-29 Top of Iowa Conference loss on Tuesday, Dec. 5 to No. 9 ranked Forest City.

The green-black-and-silver connected on just 11 of 49 overall field goal attempts for 22.4 percent and missed all eight of their three-pointers in the contest.

EAGLE GROVE—A pair of West Bend-Mallard girls’ wrestlers finished in third place on Tuesday, Dec, 5 in the Lady Eagle Invitational to highlight the performances of the Wolverines’ squad in the tournament.

Arielle Peterson took third place at 135 pounds by going 2-1 on the night, recording a pair of falls in 26 and 50 seconds.

Teammate Kasey Douglas also placed third at 145 pounds as she went 2-1 with a pair of pins, one in 1:12 and the other one in 22 seconds.

ALGONA—Freshman Graclyn Eastman posted career highs of 25 points and 14 rebounds to help lead the 10^th ranked Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear girls’ basketball squad to a 60-33 Top of Iowa Conference victory over the Lake Mills Bulldogs on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

OGDEN—Algona won all five matches to place first at the Odgen Duals on Saturday, Dec. 9. The red-and-black opened the day with a 48-21 win over Woodward-Granger before beating East Sac County 71-6.

The Bulldogs then topped Iowa City Regina 51-9 before defeating Greene County by the score of 71-12 and finished the day with a 43-27 triumph over Carroll.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

INDEPENDENCE—Junior Ashton Moreno was the place winner with a fourth place showing to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog boys’ wrestling team at the 33-team Cliff Kenne Invitational on Friday Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2.

The red-and-black finished in 11^th place overall in the team standings with a team score of 179 points during the two-day event.

By Greg Grabinaowski

Sports Editor

ALGONA—Senior leadership is a key on any successful athletic team. Point guard Landon Welp provided that for the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball team in a 56-52 overtime victory on Saturday, Dec. 2 over the Charles City Comets.

HULL—Freshman Graclyn Eastman poured in a career-high 23 points to lead 10^th ranked Bishop Garrigan to a 67-62 non-conference girls’ basketball win on Saturday, Dec. 4 over the Hull Western Christian Wolfpack.

The black-and-gold took an 18-14 advantage at the conclusion of the first frame. The Golden Bears extended the lead to 37-24 at halftime and led 56-42 heading into the fourth quarter of play.

ALGONA—A total of 11 different players dented the scoring column in a 66-21 non-conference girls’ basketball victory on Saturday, Dec. 2 by the Algona Bulldogs over the Charles City Comets.

The home team scored the first 11 points and held the Comets scoreless for the first 5:40 of the game to lead 13-3 at the end of the first period.

WEST BEND—Overcoming a big first quarter deficit, the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine girls’ basketball team rallied for a 58-51 win over Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The visitors came out on fire, making six of their first eight shots, including 3 of 3 behind the three-point arc and led 20-8 at the end of the first period.

West Bend-Mallard closed out the first half strong on a 13-2 run to take a 29-25 lead to the locker room at halftime. 

ARMSTRONG—North Iowa put up a great battle but the North Union Warriors fought off the stubborn Lady Bison girls’ basketball squad 41-36 in an early season Top of Iowa Conference contest on Friday, Dec. 1.

The game was scoreless for the first three minutes before Libby Stevens turned a steal into a breakaway layup for the first two points of the game with 4:55 left in the opening frame.

ARMSTRONG—North Union survived a slow start and ran past the North Iowa Bison 87-51 on Friday, Dec. 1 in a Top of Iowa Conference boys’ basketball contest.

North Iowa scored the first eight points of the game but the home team responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead and led 18-16 at the end of the first stanza.

With the game dead-locked at 21-21, the green-black-and-silver went on a 9-0 run to take control of the contest and held a 44-31 advantage at intermission.

ALGONA—A balanced scoring attack that featured five players in double figures led the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys’ basketball team to an 85-51 Top of Iowa Conference victory over the Belmond-Klemme Broncos on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The home team started fast and never looked back, building a 20-4 advantage at the end of the first frame. Bishop Garrigan led 42-27 at halftime and took a commanding 67-40 advantage into the fourth period.

WEST BEND—A tough second quarter proved to be the difference as the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Titans defeated the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine boys’ basketball team by the score of 40-34 on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The home team led 10-8 after the first eight minutes of play before being outscored 16-3 in the second frame as the Titans led 24-13 at intermission.

MANSON—A pair of West Bend-Mallard boys’ wrestlers were the runner-ups on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Doug Wood Invitational to highlight the performances of the purple-and-gold.

Mason Knapp at 113 pounds and Cortlyn Schupbach at 215 pounds both finished second for the Wolverines, who placed ninth in the final team standings with a team score of 76 points.