POCAHONTAS—Senior guard Preston Guerdet went five of five behind the three-point line and poured in a career-high 25 points to help lead eighth-ranked North Union to 54-51 win over the St. Edmond Gaels.

The hard-fought victory over the green-and-white came on Tuesday, Feb, 20 and the win gave the Warriors the District No. 1 title.

GARNER—Bishop Garrigan led the first 12:40 of the game but once fourth-ranked Lake Mills took the lead they never gave it back and went onto a 61-52 victory over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears.

The Class 1A, District No. 3 final took place on Tuesday, Feb. 20 and was the second game of the night behind an exciting Class 2A 54-52 overtime win by Estherville-Lincoln Central over Forest City.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

ALGONA—Bishop Garrigan led most of the way but could not put away a stubborn Northwood-Kensett squad until late in the second half on Thursday, Feb. 15 in a 65-57 win over the Vikings to advance the district final.

A balanced scoring attack led the way for the black-and-gold in the victory as Carter Schwab led the way with 17 points, one more than teammate’s Michael Joyce’s total of 16 points.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

DES MOINES—Second-ranked Des Moines Christian built an eight-point lead on three different occasions only to see No.11 Algona roar back within one point with 21 seconds left but held on for a 45-41 victory. The 3A Region No. 2 final took place on Saturday, Feb. 17.

By Greg Grabianowski

Sports Editor

DES MOINES—Three different Algona Bulldog boys’ wrestlers earned medals in their weight class by finishing in the top eight at the Class 2A state wrestling tournament on Feb. 14-17 at Wells-Fargo Arena.

Tate Slagle (150) placed fifth while red-and-black teammate Taevyn Zinnel (157) took seventh and Barrett Morgan (138) ended up in eighth place.

ALGONA—A 10-0 run to start the game got fifth-ranked Bishop Garrigan off to a great start and they were never challenged in a 64-41 regional semi-final victory on Friday, Feb. 16 over the Saint Ansgar Saints.

Emmi Bartolo drained three triples in the opening eight minutes as teammate Graclyn Eastman added eight points as the home team led 22-9 at the conclusion of the first period.

REMSEN—Although West Bend-Mallard put up a good fight for 32 minutes, third-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s remained undefeated with a 67-47 win over the purple-and-gold on Friday, Feb. 16 in the Region No. 3 semifinals.

The Hawks simply had too much firepower for the purple-and-gold as they started fast with the first 13 points and led 20-7 at the conclusion of the first period.

ALGONA—For the second time this season, 32 minutes was not enough time to determine a winner between the Algona Bulldogs and Garner-Hayfield/Ventura Cardinals girls’ basketball squads.

On Wednesday, Feb. 14, the Bulldogs outscored the Cardinals 11-4 in the extra session to earn a 70-63 victory and advance to the Class 3A, Region No. 2 regional final against second ranked Des Moines Christian.

ARMSTRONG—A strong long distance shooting performance by Pocahontas Area Indians help lead the red-and-white to surprise 12^th ranked North Union 58-40 on Friday, Feb. 16 in the Class 2A regional semi-finals.

The Indians drained eight of 20 attempts behind the three-point arc and connected on 20 of 49 overall field goals for the evening for 40.8 percent.

ARMSTRONG—Senior guard Naomi Jones scored 21 points, ripped down 14 rebounds, dished out six assists and registered six steals to guide No. 12 North Union to a 60-38 Class 2A, Region No. 5 girls basketball victory on Tuesday, Feb. 13 over the Belmond-Klemme Broncos.

The home team led 10-5 at the end of the regional quarterfinal round contest’s first stanza and also led 19-16 at halftime.

ALGONA—North Iowa used some hot shooting to stay in the game but No. 5 ranked Bishop Garrigan found a way to win the Class 1A, Region No. 6 quarterfinal girls’ basketball round victory over the Lady Bison by the final score of 56-47.

Bishop Garrigan led 18-9 but the blue-and-white made all seven of their field goal attempts in the second frame and trailed by just four points, 32-28 at intermission.

WEST BEND—West Bend-Mallard handed Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire a 43-33 loss in a Class Region No. 4 quarterfinal round girls’ basketball contest held on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The game was the third meeting for the two squads as the Wolverines won 58-51 at West Bend on Nov. 28 and Titans won 52-48 in the contest played at Graettinger on Jan. 19.

DES MOINES—A trio of area wrestlers competed in the Class 1A state wrestling tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 14 and Thursday, Feb. 15 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Gavyn Morphew of North Union competed at 144 pounds while West Bend-Mallard teammates Mason Knapp at 113 pounds and Logan Grimm at 165 pounds also were on the mat in Des Moines.

ARMSTRONG—North Union moved one step closer to a first-ever school appearance in the state basketball tournament with a 58-39 victory over Alta-Aurelia on Thursday, Feb. 15 to advance to the Class 1A district final.

The home team got out to a good start and led 14-10 at the end of the first period and took a 30-21 advantage to the locker room at intermission. The Warriors also led 46-31 at the conclusion of the third quarter.

ALGONA—Last season, the Algona Bulldog boys’ basketball team had a magical post-season run to qualify for the 2023 Class 3A state tournament in Des Moines.

But this winter was a different story as North Polk connected on eight of nine field goals in the pivotal third quarter and drained 12 of 14 charity shots in the final eight minutes to hand the Bulldogs a 60-50 season-ending loss on Monday, Feb. 19 in the Class 3A sub-state opener.