Estherville-Lincoln Central defeated a cold-shooting Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball squad by the score of 42-33 in the season opener for both teams played at Estherville on Monday, Nov. 27.
The red-and-black had a good first quarter but struggled after that as the squad hit just 13-of-41 overall field goals for 31.7 percent, made 3-of-18 attempts behind the three-point arc and connected on 4-of-10 free throws for 40 percent.

Estherville-Lincoln Central defeated a cold-shooting Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball squad by the score of 42-33 in the season opener for both teams played at Estherville on Monday, Nov. 27.
The red-and-black had a good first quarter but struggled after that as the squad hit just 13-of-41 overall field goals for 31.7 percent, made 3-of-18 attempts behind the three-point arc and connected on 4-of-10 free throws for 40 percent.

Molly McCauley made a lay-up from the left side of the lane just before the final buzzer to give the Algona Bulldog girls’ basketball team a thrilling 66-64 victory over the West Hancock Eagles.
The contest featured a pair of teams that were ranked in the initial rankings that came out on Friday as West Hancock started the year ranked number six in Class 1A while the Bulldogs started the 2016-2017 campaign as the 14th ranked team in Class 3A.

Algona erupted for 26 points in the fourth quarter to rally from a five-point deficit heading into the frame as the Bulldogs topped West Hancock 67-59.
The Iowa Hall of Pride Challenge Scrimmage took place on Friday, Nov. 17 at Algona.  As part of the Pride Challenge, all participating schools have identified a community service project that is meaningful for their school and community.

For the second straight year, North Union’s Riley Bauer is the Class 1A state cross-country champion as the Warrior senior placed first at the state meet held on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Lakeside Golf Course just north of Fort Dodge.
With temperatures in low 40’s and slight 10 mile per hour wind, Riley covered the 3.2 mile course with his clocking of 16:14.2, which was three seconds faster than runner-up Sean McDermott of Madrid as a total of 149 runners competed in the race.

Trey Engen of Algona finished in 24th place overall at the Class 3A state cross-country meet held at the Lakeside Golf Course just north of Fort Dodge on Saturday, Oct. 28.
The Bulldog junior was timed in a career-best clocking of 16:48.6 to improve in his third time competing in the state meet.  Trey ended up in 68th place as a freshman in 2015 in 17:37.3 and was 79th last year in 17:35.6 for the red-and-black.

West Hancock used the big play in all four of its scores in a 26-12 Class A opening round football playoff win over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears in a contest played at Conway Field on Friday, Oct. 27.
The red-and-white hit the home team with five plays that totaled 272 yards as the Eagles rushed the football 45 times for 396 yards on the night to advance to quarter-final round against second-ranked West Sioux.

For the third consecutive season, the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears football squad completed the regular season with an unblemished 9-0 record.
The latest campaign was finished on Friday, Oct. 20 at Conway Field as the fourth-ranked black-and-gold defeated the St. Edmond Gaels by the final score of 41-7.

What a way to end the season on Senior Night!  The Algona Bulldog football team defeated the Spencer Tigers 31-24 in double overtime at Bulldog Stadium on Friday, Oct. 20.
The loss crushed the playoff hopes of the Tigers as they were in driver’s seat coming into the contest for the runner-up spot in the district but a gutty, hard-fighting red-and-black squad would have none of that in earning their biggest victory of the year.

North Union’s Riley Bauer won a battle of a pair of top-ranked runners as the Warrior senior captured the Top of Iowa Conference’s individual title at the league’s boys’ cross country meet held in Mason City on Thursday, Oct. 12.
Bauer, the top ranked runner in Class 1A, was clocked in 16:27.5 to defeat Reece Smith of Garner-Hayfield/Ventura, who was the defending conference champion and is the top rated runner in Class 2A, as he was timed in 16:48.0.

The West Bend-Mallard Wolverine girls’ cross-country squad placed sixth and the boys were eighth at the Twin Lakes Conference meet held at the Sioux Rapids Country Club on Saturday, Oct. 14.
The Wolverine girls ended up with a team score of 138 points as Alta-Aurelia won the girls’ team title with 39 while the purple-and-gold boys had a team total of 178 points as Sioux Central edged South Central Calhoun for the boys’ team title with 66 team points.

Bishop Garrigan finished in fourth place as a team at the Top of Iowa Conference girls’ cross-country meet at Mason City on Thursday, Oct. 12 with a team total of 87 points as Eagle Grove was the league champion with a team score of 30 points.

Trey Engen ended up in fourth place overall individually and the Algona Bulldog boys’ cross-country team finished in fifth place with 126 points at the North Central Conference meet.
The event was held on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at the River Road Golf Club just north of Algona as Clear Lake edged Humboldt by two points for the team title as Sam Pedelty of Clear Lake won individual title in 16:56.11.

Hailey Schmidt finished in 10th place overall in the North Central Conference cross-country meet and the Algona Bulldog girls’ squad ended up in fourth place overall with 110 points.
The conference meet took place in Algona on Tuesday, Oct. 10 as Humboldt won the team title with 24 points and the Wildcats’ Bryce Gidel won the individual title in 19:19.57.

Ridge View scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes of the game to force overtime but Bishop Garrigan regrouped in the extra session to pull out a 26-20 overtime win over the Raptors.
The Class A district battle was played on Saturday, Oct. 6, 24 hours later than scheduled for due to the rain that moved through the Algona area on Friday evening, although the turf at Conway Field was slick and the footing was not the best.