High School Sports

Spirit Lake will send one wrestler to the state tournament this week, as fourth-ranked and returning seventh-place finisher Jon Burnette won the 113-pound bracket at the Class 2A District 7 wrestling tournament held Saturday, Feb. 15 in Sheldon. Burnette was one of five Spirit Lake Park wrestlers to compete on the day...

Okoboji/Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn will send one wrestler to the state tournament this week, as senior Blake Abrahamson earned a runner-up finish at the Class 2A District 1 wrestling tournament held Saturday, Feb. 15 in Algona. Abrahamson was one of four Okoboji/HMS wrestlers to compete on the day...

A late free throw by Okoboji's Montana Wilson and a last-second defensive stand gave the seventh-ranked Pioneers the edge they needed to defeat Dickinson County rival Spirit Lake on Saturday, Feb. 15. The Pioneers defeated the Indians 37-36 in the opening round of the Class 3A girls regional basketball tournament in Milford...

The seventh-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team pushed its win total to 20 games with a Siouxland Conference home victory over West Lyon on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Pioneers cruised by the Wildcats 67-39 in regular season finale in Milford. “What a great way to send an amazing group of seniors out," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team wrapped its regular season slate with a Siouxland Conference road loss to sixth-ranked (2A) Boyden-Hull on Friday, Feb. 14. The Pioneers fell to the Comets 81-63 in Hull. "We thought we battled well in the first half but were unable to sustain the little things defensively tonight throughout the entirety of the game," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team wrapped its regular season slate with a narrow Lakes Conference road loss to eighth-ranked (2A) Western Christian. The Indians fell 39-33 to the Wolfpack in Hull. "It was a defensive slugfest," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. ...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team dropped a Lakes Conference road trip to Western Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Indians fell 63-42 to the ninth-ranked (2A) Wolfpack in their regular season finale. Creighton Morisch led Spirit Lake with 18 points, eight rebounds, a block and a steal...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team wrapped up its regular season with a road loss to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Wolves fell to the Hawks 58-11 in Hartley. "After holding HMS to 21 points in the first half, our Lady Wolves fell flat and were unable to retaliate and get any offense going throughout the game," Harris-Lake Park coach Kirsten Noska said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team got out to a hot start and held on late for a War Eagle Conference road win over Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Wolves topped the Hawks 57-52 in Hartley. "I thought, overall, we really defended well the first half holding them to 14 points, which was ultimately the difference in the game," Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. ...

Harris-Lake Park's basketball season came to a close on Thursday, Feb. 13, as the Wolves fell to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in the opening round of the Class 1A Region 1 girls basketball tournament. The Hawks topped the Wolves 54-11 in Hartley. Harris-Lake Park coach Kirsten Noska was pleased that her team reduced its turnovers from a 58-11 loss to the Hawks the previous Tuesday, but the result was the same...

Spirit Lake Park placed third overall and pushed five wrestlers on to districts with a solid performance at the Class 2A Section 14 wrestling tournament held Saturday, Feb. 8 in Spirit Lake. "Very proud of how our guys competed from start to finish on Saturday," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. "I thought the guys did a great job preparing for this tournament with our practices during the week.  We came in that first round and won some big matches that got things rolling for our team.  I'm very happy with the five guys we have moving onto districts. ...

The Okoboji/Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn wrestling team will send a quartet of wrestlers on to districts following a solid performance at the Class 2A Section 2 tournament held Saturday, Feb. 8 in Humboldt. Hunter Abrahamson was the Pioneers' lone champion, as the senior won the 126-pound title. Blake Abrahamson (132), Noah Strantz (138) and Nick Bronstad (285) each placed second on the day...

The Okoboji boys basketball team picked up a Siouxland Conference home win over Central Lyon on Friday, Feb. 7. The Pioneers defeated the Lions 85-74 in Milford. "We were so proud of the way we played tonight," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. "Central Lyon has some really nice guard play and every time they made a run at us we were able to answer tonight by making the right play for a good look offensively. ...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road contest to Unity Christian on Friday, Feb. 7. The Wolves fell to the Knights 82-30 in Orange City. "We faced a great basketball program Friday night," Harris-Lake Park Kirsten Noska said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road contest to Unity Christian on Friday, Feb. 7. The Wolves fell to the Knights 75-45 in Orange City. Unity Christian led just 15-14 after one quarter of play, but the Knights outscored the Wolves 30-12 in the second quarter to take a significant advantage into the second half...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team lost a War Eagle Conference road contest to Trinity Christian on Thursday, Feb. 6. The Wolves fell to the Tigers 53-49 in Hull.

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team dropped a War Eagle Conference road contest to Trinity Christian on Thursday, Feb. 6. The Wolves fell to the Tigers 51-17 in Hull. "This was a difficult loss for our Lady Wolves," Harris-Lake Park coach Kirsten Noska said. ...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team got out to an early lead but struggled in the middle quarters in a Lakes Conference road loss to Cherokee on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Indians fell to the Braves 68-51 in Cherokee. "First off, hats off to Cherokee," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team dug itself a hole that it could not climb out of in a Lakes Conference road loss to No. 13 (3A) Cherokee on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Indians fell to the Braves 59-47 in Cherokee. "It's tough to go on the road and win. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team picked up a Siouxland Conference road win over George-Little Rock on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Pioneers defeated the Mustangs 59-49 in George. "We were very proud of the complete game these boys put together tonight," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

The ninth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a Siouxland Conference road win over George-Little Rock on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Pioneers topped the Mustangs 70-36 in George. “I loved our energy from the opening tip as we discussed how well George-Little Rock has been playing and we wanted to get off to a quick start," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team lost an interstate showdown with Jackson County Central (Minnesota) on Monday, Feb. 10. The Indians fell to the Huskies 90-74 in Spirit Lake. "I was happy with how our kids played for about 28 of our 32 minutes last night," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team earned a Siouxland Conference home win over West Lyon on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Pioneers defeated the Wildcats 82-67 in Milford. "We were really proud of how we competed tonight," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. "We really committed to battling on the defensive end and worked for some good looks offensively. ...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team jumped out to a commanding lead and held off a 27-point scoring surge by Estherville Lincoln Central to earn a non-conference home victory on Monday, Feb. 3. The Wolves downed the Midgets 59-58 in Lake Park...

Despite finishing with its second-highest point total of the season, the Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team fell to 0-17 on the year following a non-conference home loss to Estherville Lincoln Central on Monday, Feb. 3. The Wolves fell 58-33 to the Midgets in Lake Park...

Spirit Lake Park stepped down and Spencer assumed the Lakes Conference throne Friday, Jan. 31. The Indians — the winners of four consecutive conference championships — finished 74.5 points behind the Tigers to place second overall. "Really proud of this team and the guys that competed in the Lakes Conference Tournament," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. "We had a great week of preparation and had some great individual finishes by our guys. ...

The ninth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team continued to roll through the final weeks of the regular season with a convincing Siouxland Conference home win over Sioux Center on Thursday, Jan. 30. The Pioneers downed the Warriors 59-45 in Milford...

Okoboji battled Sioux Center in a back-and-forth barnburner Thursday night, but the Warriors displayed just a little more firepower than the Pioneers in their conference road win. Sioux Center topped Okoboji 90-84 in Milford. The Pioneers trailed 19-12 after one quarter of play, but fought back to take a 39-38 lead at the half and a 62-60 lead through three quarters. However, the Warriors put up 30 points in the fourth quarter to pull ahead for the win...

Okoboji senior Blake Abrahamson won his first-ever Siouxland Conference title and led his team to a sixth-place finish at the conference tournament held Friday, Jan. 31 in Sioux Center. Abrahamson won the 132-pound title, going 3-0 on the night with a pin and two decision victories...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team extended its season-best win streak to three games with a Lakes Conference road win over Estherville Lincoln Central on Friday, Jan. 31. The Indians topped the Midgets 55-46 in Estherville. "I'm incredibly proud of how our girls competed against a tough Estherville team," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. ...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team picked up a Lakes Conference road win over Estherville Lincoln Central on Friday, Jan. 31. The Indians topped the Midgets 57-38 in Estherville. ELC took an early advantage, leading 15-13 after one quarter and 24-22 at the half. The Indians stormed back in the second half, outscoring the Midgets 19-6 in the third and 16-8 in the fourth to earn the win...

The Okoboji girls basketball team pushed its season win total to 17 games and its win streak to five with a Siouxland Conference road win over Sibley-Ocheyedan on Friday, Jan. 31. The ninth-ranked (3A) Pioneers defeated the Generals 76-53 in Sibley...

The Okoboji boys basketball team earned a Siouxland Conference road win over Sibley-Ocheyedan on Friday, Jan. 31. The Pioneers downed the Generals 59-53 in Sibley. Sibley-Ocheyedan took a 19-11 lead after one quarter of play and maintained a 35-34 lead at the half. The Pioneers outscored the Generals 12-10 to take a one-point lead into the final stanza, where they salted away the win with a 13-8 score...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team fell in a War Eagle Conference road trip to Akron-Westfield on Friday, Jan. 31. The Wolves fell 54-19 to the Westerners in their second meeting of the season. "Even without (Natalie) Nielson playing Friday night, Akron still jumped all over us," Harris-Lake Park coach Kirsten Noska said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team earned a 70-30 road win over Akron-Westfield on Friday, Jan. 31. The Wolves led 19-3 after one quarter of play and held a 42-13 lead at the half. They continued to add to their advantage with a 20-10 score in the third quarter before salting away the win in the final stanza...

Coming off of back-to-back conference home wins, the Okoboji boys basketball team suffered a 20-point loss at the hands of seventh-ranked (3A) MOC-Floyd Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The Pioneers fell 76-56 to the Dutch in Milford. "We thought our guys really worked hard throughout the game to compete, but Alex Van Kalsbeek was too much for us tonight," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team suffered a Lakes Conference road loss to Storm Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The Indians fell 63-59 to the Tornadoes. Storm Lake jumped out to a 22-19 lead after one quarter of play and held the Indians to just five second-quarter points to push their advantage to 11 points at the half...

Harris-Lake Park girls and boys basketball teams split a War Eagle Conference home doubleheader with Trinity Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The girls fell to 0-15 on the year with a 52-28 loss to the Tigers, while the boys improved to 6-8 overall with a 59-53 win in Lake Park...

In front of a raucous crowd inside the Sami Bedell Center for the Performing Arts, Spencer secured a Lakes Conference dual meet crown with a win over Spirit Lake Park on Thursday, Jan. 23. The Tigers topped the Indians 48-27 in Spirit Lake. "This was an awesome environment being able to hold this in the SAMI Center," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. "Having the support from our administration and also Gary Heady (Executive Producer of SAMI) to do something like this on senior night was really special and a lot of fun. ...

The ninth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team got out to a hot start before cruising to a 26-point Siouxland Conference home victory over Rock Valley on Friday, Jan. 24. The Pioneers topped the Rockets 75-59 in Milford. "I have loved our energy and attention to detail this entire week," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

Okoboji opened up to a commanding lead but a third-quarter run by Rock Valley put a Pioneers victory in jeopardy Friday night. The Pioneers withstood the onslaught, however, and earned a five-point win over the Rockets on Jan. 24. Okoboji topped Rock Valley 66-61 in Milford...

After suffering its first loss of the season — a one-point home loss to Boyden-Hull — the ninth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team bounced back in a big way with a 29-point dismantling of Siouxland Conference foe Sheldon on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The Pioneers defeated the Orabs 73-44 in Milford...

Okoboji got out to a tremendous start in a 10-point Siouxland Conference home win over Sheldon on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The Pioneers topped the Orabs 76-66 in Milford. Okoboji led 24-9 after one quarter of play and maintained a 39-27 lead at the half. The Pioneers pushed their lead to 16 with a 20-16 score in the third quarter before holding off a late Orabs run to salt away the 10-point victory...

Spirit Lake evened the season series with Lakes Conference rival Spencer on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The Indians topped the Tigers 59-52 in Spirit Lake to avenge a 51-45 road loss in early December. The Indians got out to a slow start Tuesday, as they trailed Spencer 10-5 after one quarter of play. The Tigers extended their advantage to 28-20 at the half...

Spirit Lake Park's Jon Burnette – the fifth-ranked 113-pounder in Class 2A – was the lone Dickinson County wrestler to earn a first-place finish at the Herb Irgens Invitational Tournament held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24-25 in Ida Grove. Burnette's Indians placed ninth overall. Okoboji/HMS placed 16th...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team dropped a non-conference road trip to Unity Christian on Friday, Nov. 24. The Indians fell 49-42 to the Knights in Orange City. “Despite the outcome, I’m proud of how our girls competed tonight," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. ...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team dropped a non-conference road trip to Unity Christian on Friday, Nov. 24. The Indians fell 68-65 to the Knights in Orange City. Spirit Lake trailed 17-12 after one quarter and 25-21 at the half. The Knights added to their lead with a 23-15 score in the third quarter. The Indians stormed back in the final stanza, outscoring their hosts 29-20, but came up three points short in their comeback attempt...

The Okoboji/HMS wrestling team picked up a pair of Siouxland Conference wins at a home triangular held Thursday, Jan. 23. The Pioneers topped Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 51-27 and MOC-Floyd Valley 42-40 in Milford. "Both duals were very competitive and for the most part came down to the last few matches of the dual," Okoboji/HMS coach Nate Dau said. ...

Harris-Lake Park girls and boys basketball teams dropped a varsity doubleheader to Sioux Central on Thursday, Jan. 23. The girls fell 85-21 and the boys fell 70-67 in double overtime. The Harris-Lake Park girls trailed 20-5 after one quarter and 52-10 at the half. Sioux Central pulled ahead 74-18 after three before salting away the 64-point win in the final stanza...

The Spirit Lake Park wrestling team took part in a quadrangular hosted by Rock Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The Indians went 0-3 on the day, falling to West Lyon, Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. "With the weather we had over the weekend, we ended up losing our tournament in Osage," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. ...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team came away victorious in an interstate battle with Dakota Valley of Sioux City, South Dakota. The Indians downed the Panthers 51-42 in Spirit Lake. "I'm happy for our girls to get this win against a scrappy Dakota Valley team," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. "Dakota Valley really challenged us on both ends of the court. I thought our girls responded well and played our style of basketball. ...

The ninth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team extended its most recent win streak to three games Tuesday, Jan. 28 with a 53-35 Siouxland Conference home win over MOC-Floyd Valley. "We came out a little anxious on offense but we were really focused on the defensive end of the court and that helped us get a small lead until our offense got going in the second quarter," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team picked up a Lakes Conference road win over Storm Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The Indians topped the Tornadoes 54-34 less than 24 hours after earning a non-conference home win over Dakota Valley. "It can be tough sometimes to play on back-to-back nights but I am proud of how our girls came and competed," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. ...