By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

ALGONA—Rebounding from a conference loss less than 24 hours earlier, the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball team defeated the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals by the final score of 56-42 on Saturday, Jan. 6.

The home team built a 20-point advantage after the first three quarters of play as they improved to 5-4 overall while the Cardinals fell to 3-8 on the year.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

FOREST CITY—All summer long the other eight girls’ basketball teams in the Top of Iowa Conference Western Division were looking forward to playing Bishop Garrigan without a pair of four-time first-team staters that led their squad to four straight state title game appearances, including back-to-back titles the past two years.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

OGDEN—Reese Taylor won three matches to claim the individual title at 105 pounds on Saturday, Jan. 6 at the Ogden Invitational to highlight the performances of the Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestling squad.

GARNER—Going on the road on Friday, Jan. 5, the North Union Warrior girls’ basketball squad earned a hard-fought 55-47 Top of Iowa Conference girls’ basketball win over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals.

The green-black-and-silver held a narrow 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter before extending that advantage to 27-20 at halftime. The visitors also led 46-33 heading into the fourth period of action.

ALGONA—Bishop Garrigan built a huge lead and then had to hold off a furious fourth period rally by West Hancock to hand the Eagles a 56-52 loss on Friday, Jan. 6 in Top of Iowa Conference boys’ basketball play.

The black-and-gold built a 25-13 lead after the first quarter and increased their advantage to 36-21 at halftime. The home team led 50-32 at the end of third period and held off the late rally by the visitors.

GARNER—The North Union Warrior boys’ basketball team improved to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in Top of Iowa Conference games with a 73-45 league victory on Friday, Jan. 5 over the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals in boys’ basketball action.

The green-black-and-silver jumped out to a 14-9 lead at the end of the first stanza and increased their advantage to 33-19 at intermission. The Warriors took a commanding 57-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.

FORT DODGE—Algona remained perfect in North Central Conference boys’ wrestling matches this season as the red-and-black picked up a pair of league wins on Thursday, Jan. 4.

The Bulldogs opened the evening with a 44-32 victory over the Webster City Lynx and had a much easier time with a 66-9 win over the St. Edmond Gaels.

ANKENY—Hitting the road to open the 2024 campaign, the Algona Bulldog girls’ wrestling squad went 1-2 on Thursday, Jan. 4.

The red-and-black fell to Ankeny by the score of 57-15 before defeating Winterset 57-15 and lost to West Marshall by the score of 54-27.

Gretchen Gorham (190) was the only Bulldog wrestler to go 3-0 on the night as Allison Trunkhill (145) went 2-0 for her team.

EAGLE GROVE—The North Union Warrior wrestling squad went 1-2 in a Top of Iowa Conference quadrangular meet held on Thursday,  Jan. 4.

The green-black-and-silver lost 45-30 in their opening match before bouncing back with a narrow 42-36 victory over the Garner-Haywfield/Ventura Cardinals but fell to the West Hancock Eagles by the score of 50-24.

GRAETTINGER—North Union junior Brennan Bollinger claimed the title at 215 pounds to highlight the performances of the North Union and West Bend-Mallard boys’ wrestling squads at the Graettinger Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 6.

The green-black-and-silver tied for sixth place in the 13-team field with 124 points as the Wolverines finished in 13^th place with 61 team points.

SIOUX RAPIDS—Fifth-ranked (Class 2A) Sioux Central handed the West Bend-Mallard Wolverine girls’ basketball squad their first Twin Lakes Conference loss on Friday, Jan. 5 by the final score of 74-32.

The Rebels raced out to a 20-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and increased their advantage to 44-21 at intermission. The home team also led 65-27 after three quarters of basketball.

ALGONA—Algona remained undefeated and sit in sole possession of first place in the North Central Conference with a 70-37 victory over the St. Edmond Gaels on Friday, Jan. 5.

The red-and-black connected on 27 of 57 overall field goals for 47.3 percent, splashed seven of 17 three-pointers for 41.1 percent and nailed nine of 12 charity tosses for 75 percent.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard outscored the Emmetsburg E-Hawks 14-2 in the second quarter and squeezed out a 44-42 Twin Lakes Conference victory over the black-and-gold on Monday, Jan. 8 in girls’ basketball play.

Emmetsburg took a narrow 9-8 lead at the conclusion of the first period before the home team used the big second stanza to hold a 22-11 advantage at halftime. The purple-and-gold also led 28-23 at the end of the third period.

ALGONA—A balanced scoring attack that featured four players in double digits helped lead eighth-ranked Bishop Garrigan to a 67-31 Top of Iowa Conference girls’ basketball victory over the West Hancock Eagles on Friday, Jan. 5.

Both Abbie Capesius and Graclyn Eastman scored 16 points as Emmi Bartolo tossed in 13 points and Zoe Montag added 12 more.

Alyssa Haugland came off the bench to scored eight points and Sacha Alesch rounded out the scoring with two points.

ALGONA—It took an extra four minutes to decide a winner on Saturday, Jan. 6 between the Algona Bulldogs and the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals in a non-conference girls’ basketball contest.

The home team outscored the Cardinals 10-6 in the extra period to improve their overall season record to 8-3 as the 11^th ranked squad in Class 3A is 6-0 in the conference while Garner-Hayfield/Ventura fell to 5-6 on the year.