Stories from Thursday, December 12, 2013

A hot start gave Spirit Lake the cushion it needed to hold off Storm Lake for a 70-64, season-opening win Tuesday in Storm Lake. The Indians put up 20 points in each of the first two quarters to take what looked like a commanding 40-29 halftime lead. The Tornados responded with a flurry three pointers in the final quarter to put the outcome in doubt...

The Class 3A No. 15 Spirit Lake girls rode a relentless defensive effort to pick up a 53-15 win on a snowy Tuesday night in Storm Lake. The result included a 17-0 first quarter shutout for the Indians. Spirit Lake clamped down on the Tornados with a three-quarter court press at the start of the game...

West Lyon boys basketball got off to a quick start in its game with Okoboji Friday, Dec. 6 in Milford. The Wildcats lead 21-5 after the first quarter and never relinquished the lead, winning 79-50 over the Pioneers. Kacey Myrlie, of West Lyon, was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, pouring in 20 points and shooting 3-of-8 from 3-point range. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out six assists in the winning effort...

Okoboji and 14th-ranked (Class 1A) Harris-Lake Park hooked up in an instant classic that went down to the wire Thursday, Dec. 5 in Lake Park. Even though both team's offenses were both firing at a high level, defense turned the tide when Megan Peschong swiped back-to-back steals and dished to Abby Taylor for a pair of easy baskets that sparked a key surge that lifted the Pioneers to a 57-52 win...

Okoboji and Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire had a few strong individual performances but proved to be no match for Spencer in a non-conference double dual to open up the 2013 wrestling season Thursday, Dec. 5 at the Spencer Field House. The Tigers allowed David Schaefer, who now has 328 career wins, to capture his 299th and 300th match victories as Spencer head coach after taking down the Titans 57-18 to open up the dual and then defeating the Pioneers 64-15 to cap off the night. ...

The Spirit Lake Park wrestling team got two pins apiece from three of its senior leaders to propel themselves to a pair of dual victories over Central Lyon/George-Little Rock and Sheldon/South O'Brien to jump-start the 2013 season Thursday, Dec. 5 in Hartley...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team clamped down defensively and had a strong shooting effort on the way to storming past Storm Lake 61-23 in a non-conference affair Saturday, Dec. 7 in Lake Park. "It was good to see our girls bounce back on Saturday after a rough Friday night," Harris-Lake Park co-head coach Eric Clouse said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team gave South O'Brien way to many second-chance opportunities at the offensive end of the court in a 61-25 non-conference setback Friday, Dec. 6 in Paullina. "They were able to run on us and get a lot of easy baskets," said Harris-Lake Park co-head coach Eric Clouse. "They are a very athletic team that likes to get out and run and they were able to do that. I think we had some tired legs with that being the fourth game in five days for us as well."...

Harris-Lake Park put together a strong effort on the road but a slow start and some 3-point shooting woes proved to be too much to overcome in a 61-50 loss to South O'Brien Friday, Dec. 6 in non-conference boys basketball action in Paullina. "We really didn't know much about South O'Brien going into the game except that we knew that (Bret Puhrmann) was their only returning player basically," said Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn. ...

Okoboji had to dig deep to put away a scrappy West Lyon team, starting the season 4-0 after collecting a 49-33 victory Friday, Dec. 6 in Siouxland Conference girls basketball play. The Pioneers improved to 3-0 in the Siouxland after outpacing the Wildcats 14-7 in the fourth quarter. ...

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire boys basketball pulled out a hard-fought win over River Valley Friday, Dec. 6 in Graettinger. Connor Sturgill lead the Titans with 17 points in their 72-63 victory over the Wolverines. The junior also pulled in eight rebounds...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire girls basketball team sprinted to a 3-1 start to the season with impressive wins over River Valley and Estherville Lincoln Central on back-to-back nights this past weekend. The Titans led from start to finish en route to a 49-32 victory over Estherville Lincoln Central one night after pulling away from River Valley early on for a 48-30 win Dec. 6 in Ruthven...