By Greg Grabianowski, Sports Editor

ARMSTRONG—Bishop Garrigan pulled away late in the game to earn a 54-42 Top of Iowa Conference boys basketball victory on Friday, Jan. 31 over the North Union Warriors in a defensive dominated game to stay tied atop the league standings.

ALGONA—Eighth-ranked Algona remained undefeated in North Central Conference play on Friday, Jan. 31 with a hard-fought 61-53 girls basketball victory over a young, scrappy Webster City Lynx squad as they led the whole way, but couldn’t put the Lynx away.

The home team led 15-12 at the end of the first stanza, 30-25 at the halftime break and took a 46-41 advantage into the fourth quarter of action.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard outscored Emmetsburg 15-7 in the final eight minutes to squeeze out a key 35-31 Twin Lakes Conference girls basketball victory on Friday, Jan. 31.

Emmetsburg jumped out to a 9-2 lead at the end of the first period and took a 17-8 advantage to the locker room at intermission. The E-Hawks led 24-20 after the third quarter before the purple-and-gold rallied for the league win.

POCAHONTAS—A trio of West Bend-Mallard Wolverines wrestlers ended up in the top six at the Lynn Moody Invitational held here on Saturday, Jan. 31.

Kadin Knapp at 132 pounds, Colton Forsythe at 157 and Thaide Landolt at 190 pounds all ended up in sixth place overall for the purple-and-gold on Saturday.

ALGONA—The top-ranked Algona Bulldog boys wrestling team improved to 13-0 on the year in dual meets with a 65-12 non-conference victory over the West Hancock Eagles on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Brooks Morgan at 120 pounds and Isaac Wilson at 126 registered falls in the win while teammates C.J. McGregor (138) and Gavin Goche (215) both won by technical falls and Thomas Zabka had an 8-4 victory at 113 pounds.

GARNER—The North Union Warriors’ wrestling team went 2-1 in three Top of Iowa Conference quadrangular matches on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

The green-black-and-silver defeated Northwood-Kensett and West Fork by identical scores of 48-24, but fell to Garner-Hayfield/Ventura by the final score of 47-35.

WEST BEND—Emmetsburg built a big lead early and never looked back in a 75-35 Twin Lakes Conference boys basketball victory on Friday, Jan. 31 over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.

The E-Hawks started fast by taking a 24-12 lead at the conclusion of the first period and extended their advantage to 47-18 at halftime. The visitors took a commanding 61-25 into the fourth quarter of play.

ALGONA—Mason City built a double digit lead and then had to hold off a great late run by the Algona Bulldog boys basketball team as they held on for a 65-62 non-conference victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 1.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard played host to three other Twin Lakes Conference squads on Tuesday, Jan, 28 in league quadrangular meet. The host school dropped all three matches during the evening.

The purple-and-gold fell to East Sac County 36-24 before losing to South Central Calhoun 59-15 and was defeated by Sioux Central by the final score of 53-11.

ALGONA—Fourth-ranked Bishop Garrigan improved their overall season record to 16-2 on the year after a 70-34 Top of Iowa Conference girls basketball victory on Tuesday, Jan. 28 over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

Graclyn Eastman poured in a game-high 22 points to lead the black-and-gold in scoring as Sacha Alesch added 17 and Emmi Bartolo had 10 points reaching double digits.

ARMSTRONG—A good all-around floor game by senior point guard Khael Jones propelled the North Union Warrior boys basketball team to a 59-52 Top of Iowa Conference win on Tuesday, Jan. 28 over the Belmond-Klemme Broncos.

Jones poured in a game-high 22 points, yanked down six rebounds, handed out six assists and pocketed seven steals as the green-black-and-silver won for the sixth time since the calendar turned to 2025 after just one in 2024.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard splashed 12 three-pointers in a 71-48 non-conference girls basketball victory over the Harris-Lake Park Wolves on Monday, Feb. 3.

The win improved the purple-and-gold’s overall record to 14-5 and are currently 5-4 in Twin Lakes Conference games as Harris-Lake Park fell to 15-4 overall.

MASON CITY—One could say the 2024-2025 edition, eighth-ranked Algona Bulldog girls basketball squad like to keep their fans interested until the final buzzer.

For the sixth straight game, the cardiac red-and-black team won by single digits as their latest victory was on Monday, Feb. 3 with a thrilling 46-45 non-conference triumph over the Mason City Riverhawks.

FORT DODGE—West Bend-Mallard let a big first half lead get away, but held off a late rally to defeat the St. Edmond Gaels 54-50 on Thursday, Jan. 30 in a non-conference girls basketball contest to earn their 12^th victory of the season.

The purple-and-gold jumped out to a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, led 31-23 at the halftime break and took a 41-29 advantage into the final eight minutes.