The Audubon Wheelers Boys Basketball team will open their district tournament bracket as the number 2 seed after a successful winning season. Their offense is as balanced as it comes, with four players averaging between 10 and 11 points per game. The Wheelers are anchored by senior Austin Christenson who leads Audubon in scoring, rebounding and steals. This offensive attack allows them to score over 60 points a game, and according to Coach Darran Miller, the Wheelers need to excel at multiple areas if they want to advance in the playoffs.

For Coach Miller, he has seen growth in those skills as the season progressed:

The Wheelers will benefit from getting the ball into hands of multiple scorers and not just depending on one player:

Coach Miller has had a specific message all season for his team:

The Audubon Wheelers will host the Lenox Tigers in the first round of the Boys 1A District Tournament on Monday, February 16th.

The Griswold Tigers Girls basketball team finished their season winning 5 of their last 7 games and are looking to continue this hot stretch into the regional tournament. Led by a balanced scoring attack from juniors Amanda Houser (12.5 ppg) and Carsyn Adams (9.6 ppg), the Tigers hope to spread the ball around well in the playoffs. While their offense is consistent, it is the defense of this team that leads to a lot of success. Averaging almost 16 steals and 5 blocks a game, they make any offense uncomfortable. Turning defense into offense is what Coach Aaron Houser is looking for in the playoffs.

It will take an entire team effort to execute the gameplan on defense:

Coach Houser is looking for the older members on the team to step up in a leadership role:

Now is the time of the season where Coach Houser wants his team to dig deep:

The Griswold Girls open up their regional tournament schedule with a first-round matchup against Diagonal on Thursday, February 12th at 7pm at Griswold High School.

Cuts with UNI coach Tanya Warren

Northern Iowa women’s coach Tanya Warren says the Panthers need more offense as they get ready to host Indiana State on Thursday night. UNI is 7-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference after losses to Bradley and Belmont.

The Panthers are ranked second in the Valley in defense but Warren says the offense needs to help.

Indiana State is 4-9 in the Valley and the Sycamores feature a four guard lineup.

The Atlantic Trojans boys dropped their second to last conference matchup of the season to the Harlan Cyclones 72-58 Tuesday night. The game was all about the Cyclones. Atlantic did not play particularly poor, but Harlan did everything they needed do to. The were extremely efficient offense, rebounded well, and limited Atlantic’s secondary scoring. Although the Trojans had a solid start to the third quarter on top of wonderful individual effort from Gavin McLaren, the Cyclones didn’t let the game get away from as they denied the Trojans as late season win.

Despite the final score, Harlan didn’t come roaring out of the gate. Gavin McLaren hit a pair of field goals and a pair of threes, and Atlantic was right in it. However, over the final four minutes of the first quarter, Harlan went on a 9-2 run to take a 12-point lead.

The Cyclones picked up where they left off to start to second quarter. In the first half of the second, they outscored Atlantic 12-5 to increase their lead to 15. Throughout much of the first half, Harlan was incredibly efficient on offense and rebounded extremely well, particularly on the offensive glass. There were numerous times in which the Cyclones earned second and third chance opportunities that either led to points or free throws. Meanwhile on the opposite end they were able to limit the Trojans’ production and took an 18-point lead into the half.

The third quarter was Atlantic’s best. Although they surrendered an early bucket, the intensity was different. They played faster and more physical which resulted in the Trojans chipping into the 20-point lead. three minutes into the fourth, Atlantic had trimmed the deficit to 11. However, after a well-timed timeout, the Cyclones settled in. Slowing the pace down slightly, they were able to reel-in the momentum the Trojans had built and take it back themselves. By the end of the third, they had reestablished a 20-point led.

The outcome was all but decided by the time the fourth quarter rolled around but there were still some bright spots. Gavin McLaren continued to be a force, as he was throughout the course of the night, scoring 18 points in the second half. Late in the fourth quarter Sawyer Terrell started to connect from downtown as well, hitting two of his three second half threes in the final minutes of regulation. However, a 20-point deficit was too much to overcome as the Cyclones handed Atlantic their 14th loss of the season.

Head Coach Dalton Franken was proud of Gavin Mclaren and his game leading 28-point effort but thought they could’ve gotten the ball down in the paint more in the early going.

Kobe Klaassen was a big factor in Harlan building their first half lead.

The Trojans have two regular season games remaining on the schedule, the first of which will be senior night against Lenox.

Friday’s night game in Atlantic will tipoff at 7:30 pm.

TCU outscored fifth ranked Iowa State 12-0 to close the game and stunned the Cyclones 62-55 in Fort Worth. The Cyclones had raced back from an eight point deficit to lead by five with just over two minutes remaining.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger. The Cyclones had their five game winning streak snapped as they fall to 8-3 in the Big 12.

The Iowa State women were outscored 26-10 in the third quarter, Tuesday night, and lost at BYU 83-69, snapping their five game winning streak.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. The Cyclones were out-rebounded 39-31 and were outscored in the paint 38-24.

The Cyclones fall to 7-6 in the Big 12.

Hawkeye Ten Conference

St. Albert – 64 vs Kuemper Catholic – 17

Atlantic – 49 vs Harlan – 38

Clarinda – 66 vs Creston – 28

Lewis Central – 54 vs Glenwood – 49

Western Iowa Conference

Treynor – 58 vs Riverside – 18

Missouri Valley – 69 vs Tri-Center – 30

Rolling Valley Conference

Westwood – 63 vs Woodbine – 36

West Central Activities Conference

West Central Valley – 37 vs Woodward-Granger – 33

ACGC – 65 vs Madrid – 30

PCM – 59 vs Van Meter – 42

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Kuemper Catholic – 93 vs St. Albert – 64

Harlan – 72 vs vs Atlantic – 58

Western Iowa Conference

Audubon – 70 vs AHSTW – 58

Tri-Center – 73 vs Missouri Valley – 37

Underwood –  71 vs Logan-Magnolia – 47

West Central Activities Conference

Madrid – 80 vs ACGC – 59

Pleasantville – 62 vs Interstate 35 – 51

Woodward-Granger – 49 vs West Central Valley – 44

Non Conference

Griswold – 44 vs Diagonal – 30

Westwood – 50 vs Woodbine – 48

Central Decatur – 70 vs Clarke Community – 66

A back and forth game turned into a double digit victory for Atlantic thanks to a great 4th quarter effort. Harlan held a 34-28 lead after three quarters, but a 21-4 4th quarter propelled the Trojans to an 11 point win against their rival Harlan. Peyton McLaren led the Trojans in scoring with 13 and Makenna Schroeder had 9. Atlantic moved the ball around well all night and spread the offense around and paired that with a great defensive effort in the 2nd half.

In the first half, both sides were pretty even, with neither side pulling away. The Trojans were very impressive in their ball movement, with Madison McLaren getting it inside to Katrina Williams and Brynn Lamp for easy buckets. Atlantic played strong defense as well, only allowing 21 points in the first half and held a lead going into the second half. It would be the ball movement that set Atlantic apart in the first half and easy shot attempts that would propel them the rest of the game.

The third quarter was really the only part of the game that didn’t go Atlantic’s way. They got outscored 13-4 and and were put in a 6 point deficit by quarter’s end. The shots that were there in the first half didn’t exist in the third quarter, with a lot of easy looks being passed up. Atlantic struggled with turnovers and Harlan couldn’t miss. Atlantic led in all other quarters beside the third. It was the best Harlan quarter of the game, but Atlantic would have an answer in the 4th.

The 4th quarter was exactly what the Trojans were looking for as a response to the 3rd. They went on a 21-4 run to end the game, making everything look easy. Both Peyton and Madison McLaren led the offense with scoring and ball movement. They involved Williams and Lamp to open up the perimeter. It felt like a whole team effort to end the game and gave Atlantic a 49-38 win over their Harlan. Coach Varagson is impressed with how his squad can come away with a victory.

One player stood out above the rest to Coach Vargason tonight:

The 4th Quarter push is what Coach Vargason was impressed with the most:

The Atlantic Trojans Girls team starts their playoff journey when they host Van Meter on Saturday, February 14th in the first round of the 3A Regional Tournament.

The 15th ranked Iowa Hawkeye women look to snap a three game losing skid on Wednesday night when they host 25th ranked Washington. After starting 9-0 in the Big Ten the Hawkeyes are 9-3.

That’s Iowa coach Jan Jensen, who says the Hawkeyes need to be more consistent.

Washington is 18-6 overall and 8-5 in the Big Ten.