GARNER—Garner-Hayfield/Ventura stayed alone in second place in the Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball standings with a 55-37 victory over the North Union Warriors on Friday, Jan. 7.

The home team got out to a 14-5 lead at the end of the first stanza and increased their advantage to 29-10 at intermission. The Cardinals led 46-18 at the conclusion of the third quarter of play.

SIOUX RAPIDS—Sioux Central handed West Bend-Mallard a 54-29 Twin Lakes Conference boys basketball loss on Friday, Jan. 7.

The home team took a 14-10 lead at the conclusion of the first eight minutes of play. The Rebels held a 20-16 advantage at the halftime break and broke the contest open in the third period by taking a 40-19 lead into the fourth quarter.

ALGONA—Algona built a big first half lead and never looked back in a 60-24 North Central Conference girls basketball victory on Friday, Jan. 7, over the St. Edmond Gaels.

The red-and-black led 14-8 at the conclusion of the first period and increased their advantage to 34-18 at intermission. The home team took a commanding 51-24 lead into the final eight minutes of action.

ARMSTRONG—North Union built a big lead early and never looked back on Tuesday, Jan. 4, in a 61-16 Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball blowout victory over the Eagle Grove Eagles.

The green-black-and-silver led 14-4 at the end of the game’s first eight minutes of play. The home team took a commanding 37-8 advantage at halftime and led 54-10 at the conclusion of the third quarter.

GRAETTINGER—North Union placed eighth and West Bend-Mallard finished 11^th on Saturday, Jan. 8, at the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire wrestling tournament.

The Warriors amassed a total of 91 points during the day to finish in eighth place in the 11-team field while the Wolverines scored 45 points to place 11^th.

CLARION—Clarion-Goldfield/Dows won the final three matches of the evening to steal a 35-33 North Central Conference dual wrestling victory from the Algona Bulldogs on Thursday, Jan. 6.

The Bulldogs got falls on the night from Jacob Zabka at 113 pounds, Tate Slagle at 120 pounds and Chase Roof at 195 pounds.

SIOUX RAPIDS—West Bend-Mallard went on the road on Friday, Jan. 7, and dropped a Twin Lakes Conference girls basketball decision to the Sioux Central Rebels by the score of 68-40.

The home team started fast, racing out to a 25-6 lead. The Rebels increased that advantage to 44-19 at intermission and led 56-30 at the conclusion of the third quarter.

ALGONA—Algona stepped out of North Central Conference boys basketball play on Saturday, Jan. 8, but dropped a 53-44 decision to the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

Tyler Manske led the Bulldogs in scoring with 13 points while teammate Garrett Goche also reached double digits with 12 points.

Caden Weber chipped in with seven points as Alex Manske contributed five points closely followed by Ben Helmers with four points and Tristin Larsen scored three points.

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.