ARMSTRONG—North Union battled hard against a solid West Hancock boys’ basketball team but a 13-point first period lead was too much to overcome in a 58-52 Top of Iowa Conference loss on Thursday, Jan. 12 to the Eagles.

For the second straight evening for the green-black-and-silver, the contest was probably decided at the charity stripe as the visitors sank 11 of 13 foul shots while the home team connected on just six of 14 free throw attempts in the six-point loss.

ALGONA—Overcoming a sluggish first half, the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bear boys’ basketball team picked up a 66-27 Top of Iowa Conference victory on Tuesday, Jan. 10 over the Belmond-Klemme Broncos.

Both squads had tough evening at the charity stripe in the league contest as the home team sank just 11 of 33 foul shots while the Broncos made just one of seven free throw attempts.

GRAETTINGER—Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire built a double digit lead in the first half and held off a big second half run by North Union but handed the Warriors a 57-53 non-conference boys’ basketball win on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

The contest was probably decided at the charity stripe as the Titan splashed seven of eight free throws while the green-black-and-silver made just two of nine foul shots during the evening.

NEWELL—Newell-Fonda used their fast paced style to run past the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine boys’ basketball team 82-50 on Friday, Jan. 13 in Twin Lakes Conference action.

Sam Fehr led the purple-and-gold in scoring with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Max Fehr with 15 points. Both Landon Montag and Noah Gerber tossed in six points with Jaxon Zaugg rounding out the scoring with five points.

ALGONA— balanced scoring with four players in double figures led the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball team to a 60-50 non-conference victory over the Spencer Tigers on Saturday, Jan. 14.

The win improved the red-and-black’s overall season record to 7-3 and the Bulldogs are 2-2 in North Central Conference contest while the purple-and-gold fell to 3-4 overall on the season.

MASON CITY—The North Union Warriors wrestling squad earned a Top of Iowa Conference dual meet win on Thursday, Jan. 12 with a 60-18 victory over the Mason City Newman Knights.

Gavyn Morphew, Draven Keeler, Kacey Hamsmith, Brennen Bollinger and Kolton Walter all won by falls while teammates Kade Madden, Dalton Tobin, Kaleb Lufkin, Ethan Preston and Koen Zotz each won by forfeit.

MILFORD—Algona improved to 15-2 overall on the year in overall dual matches on Tuesday, Jan. 10 with a trio of non-conference victories.

The red-and-black defeated Okoboji/Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 50-24 before topping Blue Earth Area 58-18 and ended the evening with a 60-12 win over Estherville-Lincoln Central.

GOWRIE—The West Bend-Mallard Wolverines wrestling squad earned a pair of Twin Lakes Conference dual matches victories on Thursday, Jan. 12.

The purple-and-gold started off the evening with a 48-21 triumph over the Sioux Central Rebels and finished the night with a 46-36 win over the Southeast Valley Jaguars.

HUMBOLDT—In a key North Central Conference dual match, the Humboldt Wildcats won a 40-21 win over the Algona Bulldogs on Thursday, Jan. 12.

Barrett Morgan, Taevyn Zinnel, Tate Slagle, Ashton Moreno and Gavin Goche all won by decisions for the red-and-black while teammate Cohen Reffer earned six points via a win by forfeit.

EMMETSBURG—MaKayla Erpelding placed first at 110 pounds to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestling squad at the E-Hawk Lady Invitational held on Monday, Jan. 16.

Erpelding showed Joley Schmahl of Spirit Lake Park the lights in 4:31 in the semi-finals and pinned Angelina Anguiano of Okoboji in the finals in 3:52.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

GARNER—Senior Caden Weber drilled a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball team an thrilling 50-49 non-conference victory over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura on Saturday, Jan. 7.

NEVADA—Four Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestlers finished in first place in their weight division at the Nevada girls’ wrestling round robin held on Thursday, Jan. 5. No team scores were kept in the tournament.

Harley Tobin went 4-0 at 100A pounds with all four wins coming via a fall while teammate Reece Taylor was 3-0 at 105B pounds with a trio of falls during the night.

ARMSTRONG—Sophomore Grady Madden scored a driving lay-up with nine seconds left in overtime to give the North Union Warrior boys’ basketball team a huge 51-49 Top of Iowa Conference victory over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

The visitors scored twice in the final minute of regulation to rally and force an extra period. Both squads are now 7-3 overall and each team has two losses in the conference, two games behind league leader Lake Mills.

ARMSTRONG—North Union built an early advantage and never looked back in a 53-30 Top of Iowa Conference girls’ basketball victory on Friday, Jan. 6 over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

Olivia Merrill started the home team’s engine by scoring the contest’s first five points before the red-and-black dented the scoreboard with a three-pointer. The Warriors then went on an 11-0 run to finish the first stanza with a 16-3 lead.

GRAETTINGER—Ethan Zaugg of West Bend-Mallard along with Brennen Bollinger and Landon Price of North Union all won individual titles at the G-T/R-A Invitational held on Saturday, Jan. 7.

North Union ended up in third place in the team standings with 150 points while West Bend-Mallard placed 11^th with 64 points as Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley topped the 12-team field with a team score of 225 points.