The Three pointers were falling in Guthrie Center as the ACGC Chargers beat the CAM Cougars 65-46 Monday night to advance in the district 15 tournament. Both teams combined for 19 threes, but it was the Chargers that used them to help establish and maintain their lead. Outside of the perimeter shooting, ACGC did everything that they needed to do. They had success on the inside, rebounded well and maybe most importantly, executed their defense extremely well. Although Cam looked formidable at points, they were unable to keep up with the Charger offense.

Charger head coach Lance Kading praised the performance of his defense.

He was also proud at the way his players stepped up and contributed to the secondary scoring.

Coon Rapids-Bayard awaits the Chargers and Kading Knows it’s going to be a tough test.

CAM head coach Ian Hunt was proud of the way his team developed throughout the course of the season.

However, when dissecting the game, he thought the turnovers played a key role.

The Cougars will lose three seniors in Gunnar Hogueison, Colin Bower and Owen McKnight and coach Hunt praised their hard work and dedication.

Moving forward the Cougars will continue to build.

The Cam Cougars finish the season with a record of 9-14. Meanwhile, the Chargers will prepare for the Crusaders with that game scheduled for Thursday with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

Iowa State closed the game on a 17-4 run, Monday, and rallied to beat second ranked Houston 70-67 in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones erased a 10 point second half deficit to beat a second top ten team in three days.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger who says the fans were a big part of their rally.

Otzelberger says a key to the game was limiting mistakes.

Joshua Jefferson led a balanced effort with 12 points as eight different Cyclones scored six or more points.

The Cyclones improve to 10-3 in the Big 12 and are now just a game out of first.

The Audubon Wheelers dominated the Lenox Tigers on Monday night by a score of 69-33. It was a wire to wire victory for Audubon, who will host the next round of the District Tournament on Thursday. It was apparent early in the first half that this game would be a blowout, as the Wheelers got out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. That lead built as the game went on, with Audubon leading 42-19 at the half. Three Wheelers finished in double digits and rode that 1st half lead to a double digit victory to move on in the playoffs.

The first half was really where Audubon established their dominance. They played through contact early and had multiple And-1 opportunities just within the first quarter. Jorgen Nowatzke really stood out in the first half. Nowatzke, who averaged 10 ppg in the regular season, had 10 with 6 minutes left in the first half. The Wheelers worked the offense through him and got other shooters open when he couldn’t get a shot. Audubon scored 21 in each of the first two quarters and held a controlling 42-19 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, it was the Wheeler’s defense that really stepped up. They allowed just 6 points in the whole quarter. They did a nice job all game to trap the ball handlers in positions where they couldn’t move the ball. Austin Christensen ran a lot of fast breaks off steals and multiple times found Aiden Kjergaard on the other end for wide open buckets. The Wheelers scored 14 in the third and led 56-25 with 8 minutes to go.

The 4th quarter was mostly filled with running the clock and playing smart basketball as to not let the Tigers gain any momentum. All it took was a few three pointers from Brody Schultes to put the game away officially. Audubon was able to put in the reserves with a few minutes to go, putting the exclamation mark on a dominant start to the District Tournament for Audubon. Coach Darren Miller couldn’t be happier about the result of Monday’s game.

The Wheelers’ balanced offensive attack led to their success:

This win was about playing to their strengths:

Audubon is excited about another chance to play IKM-Manning on Thursday:

The Audubon Wheelers’ next matchup will be against IKM-Manning for a chance to go to the District 15 Championship Game. That will be held in Audubon on Thursday, February 19th. Tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm

Northern Iowa football coach Todd Stepsis says the Panther program is devastated by the death of freshman Parker Sutherland. The native of Iowa City died on Saturday, two days after collapsing during an off season workout.

Stepsis says Sutherland collapsed following a warmup session prior to Thursday’s workout.

Stepsis says they will look at ways to honor Sutherland during the upcoming season.

The Riverside Bulldogs Girls basketball team had a great regular season, finishing 18-3. They head into the regional tournament winning 6 of their last 7 games. The Bulldogs are led by JR Sydney Somers who leads Riverside in points, rebounds and blocks. As a team, defense is their calling card. Riverside only allows 29 ppg, which places them as the fourth best defense in all of Class 2A. Coach Mark Jeppesen knows that the lockdown defense that his team plays can lead them to a lot of playoff victories.

While other teams know that Sydney Somers is a threat on offense, Coach Jeppesen wants his whole team to be involved:

There are a couple girls who have stood out as leaders throughout the season:

Coach Jeppesen wants his team to have a day-by-day mindset:

The Riverside Bulldogs’ Class 2A first round regional matchup is against Missouri Valley on Tuesday, February 17th. Tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm.

The Exira-EHK Spartans Girls Basketball finished the season with an outstanding record of 19-1. With that record, they earned the right to the number 1 seed in region 7 of the Class 1A Regional Tournament. They enter the tournament on a 19-game winning streak with their only loss of the season dating back to December 1st. The Spartans are led by a pair of 15+ ppg scorers in Tarynn and Jaelynn Petersen. For Coach Tom Petersen, it is his team’s defense that leads to great offensive production.

Coach Petersen praises Senior Kadence Sporrer’s growth from season to season:

Having a balanced attack and playing as a team is the Spartans’ biggest key to victory:

The playoffs are more than just normal matchups, and Coach Petersen knows that preparation is the most important part:

The Exira-EHK Spartans Girls begin their road to state with a matchup at home against Griswold on Tuesday, February 17th. Tipoff scheduled for 7pm.

Iowa coach Ben McCollum may juggle the starting lineup on Tuesday night when the Hawkeyes host ninth ranked Nebraska. Poor starts have been common in the past few weeks and were a factor in losses last week to Maryland and Purdue.

McCollum says the play of senior guard Sam Hoiberg has elevated the Huskers into championship contention, as has the return of senior center Rienk Mast, who missed last season with a knee injury.

Former Iowa guard Pryce Sandfort leads the Huskers in scoring at better than 17 points per game.

Iowa has several players struggling from three point range and McCollum says they need to keep it simple as the try to regain their touch. The Hawkeyes are 13-of-50 from three point range in their last two games.

The Hawkeyes are 8-6 in the Big Ten and 18-7 overall. The Huskers are 11-3 in the Big Ten and 22-3 overall.

It was a matinee blowout for the Iowa Hawkeye women at Nebraska. The 13th ranked Hawkeyes led by as many as 27 points in the fourth quarter in an 80-67 win over the Huskers. The Hawkeyes shot better than 60 percent to move to 11-3 in the Big Ten and 20-3 overall. Iowa coach Jan Jensen says early defense was a key.

Sophomore center Ava Heiden equaled a career-high with 27 points and added 11 rebounds.

Heiden made 12-of-15 shots as the Hawkeyes led nearly the entire game.

It marks the 10th consecutive season and Hawkeyes have won 20 games or more.

The Atlantic Trojans girls’ basketball team fell in the opening round of the 3A Region 2 tournament 64-51 at the hands of the Van Meter Bulldogs on Saturday night. In a way, it was a microcosm of their season. Things didn’t start well, shots weren’t falling, and there was plenty of adversity. As they have showcased all season, the Trojans showed no quit. As the game moved along, Atlantic started to figure things out and had a very strong fourth. However, the deficit was too large to overcome as the Trojans’ season came to an end in the opening round of the postseason.

Van Meter owned the opening two quarters. Although the Trojans kept the game close early, the Bulldogs started to pull away. It seemed as if everything fell for Van Meter in the opening 16 minutes. Ella Rosic and Avery Banks were money from downtown, which in turn opened up the paint for Lydia Thummel as the Bulldogs outscored Atlantic 23-9 in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Trojans couldn’t find a rhythm on offense. Although they did have some opportunities, they struggled to consistently put up points. Katrina Williams and Makenna Schroeder both had strong performances in the first half but unfortunately for the Trojans it wasn’t enough to start cutting into the deficit as Atlantic headed to the locker room down 38-16.

The second half was much better for the Trojans. In comparison to the first half, they were faster, defended better, and pressured Van Meter forcing them into mistakes they didn’t make in the first half. However, they still struggled to completely flip the momentum. It seemed like every time the Trojans seemed poised to go on a run, Van meter found some kind of response. All seemed lost as the final minutes approached, but showing no quit, the Trojans finally flipped the momentum. Over the final minutes the Trojans shaved the deficit to single digits. Zoey Kirchoff found her scoring while Schroeder added a pair of three pointers in the fourth to bring her total to five for the game. However, with Van Meter in the double bonus, all they needed to do was be proficient at the foul line; and they were. The Bulldogs hit just enough from the foul line to keep Atlantic at arm’s length while the clock ran out. Despite a valiant effort at a comeback, it was too little too late as the Trojans’ girls’ basketball season came to an end.

Despite the loss, head coach Dan Vargason was proud of how his team pushed back late in the game.

He also thanked his seniors for their contributions to the program.

Looking back at the season, he though the way his group came together was admirable.

This Trojan team will look different again next season. However, the expectation of winning will not.

The AHSTW Lady Vikes Girls Basketball team is ready for the postseason. They have won 4 of their last 5 games as they head into the postseason and hope to carry that momentum to wins in the regional tournament. The Lady Vikes finished 4th in the Western Iowa Conference this season and are led by a balanced scoring attack which showcases four girls that average over 7 points a game. As a team they have good numbers in a lot of statistical categories, and that well rounded skillset is something that Head Coach Jason McCall sees as a strong point.

It will take an entire group effort if the Lady Vikes want to win in the playoffs:

Coach McCall is impressed by how every girl became a leader as the season went on:

This team feels like they are ready for the stress of the playoffs:

AHSTW will go to Underwood High School for the first round of the Class 2A Region 7 tournament on Tuesday, February 17th. Tipoff scheduled for 7pm.