High School Sports

Spirit Lake got out to a hot start and showed tremendous grit bouncing back from a slow second quarter in an interstate girls basketball loss to Worthington (Minnesota) on Tuesday, Nov. 30. The Trojans topped the Indians 49-44 in Spirit Lake. The Indians were without senior leader Brooke Smith, who is recovering from surgery to fix a broken nose — an injury she suffered in the opening game of the season...

Okoboji senior Montana Wilson wasted no time establishing herself as one of the better players in the Siouxland Conference this season, scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in the Pioneers’ season-opening home win over Sheldon on Tuesday, Nov. 23. The Pioneers topped the Orabs 60-45 in Milford...

In an old Cornbelt Conference rivalry matchup to open the girls basketball season on Tuesday, Nov. 23, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire topped Harris-Lake Park 36-27 in Graettinger. The Wolves played well defensively throughout, but struggled to put the ball in the basket against the Titans...

Harris-Lake Park took a lead into the second half but the Wolves’ inexperience showed in a road loss to Trinity Christian to open the boys basketball season on Monday, Nov. 29. The Tigers topped the Wolves 45-38 in Hull. “We got off to a really sluggish start,” Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team came up just short in a War Eagle Conference road contest with Trinity Christian on Monday, Nov. 29. The Tigers topped the Wolves 38-36 in Hull. Trinity Christian led 10-7 after one quarter of play before Harris-Lake Park outscored the hosts 12-7 in the second to take a 19-17 lead into halftime. The Wolves continued to pull away in the second half, as they outscored the Tigers 9-7 in the third quarter to lead 28-24 heading into the fourth...

Entering the 2021 football season, Spirit Lake knew it would face a gauntlet of the best teams in the state, as Class 2A District 2 teams combined to go 39-16 in 2020. Three teams played in the state quarterfinals. One team won a state title. All but one team had a winning record...

Spirit Lake had a solid showing in the 2021 volleyball season. After suffering their first losing season since 2007, the Indians bounced back from 2020 by posting a 24-17 overall mark and a 4-1 record to finish second in the Lakes Conference standings this past year...

Spirit Lake and Spirit Lake Park runners enjoyed success throughout the 2021 cross country season. The Spirit Lake boys placed third in the Lakes Conference and sent a pair of runners through to the Class 2A state meet. The Spirit Lake Park girls placed third in the conference and sent one runner to the Class 3A state meet...

Spirit Lake fought off a first-half run by Sioux Central to start the 2021-22 girls basketball season on the right foot with a 51-44 home win over the Rebels on Monday, Nov. 22. Sioux Central took a lead into the second half, but the Indians put a 16-6 score on the visitors in the third quarter to pull ahead for good...

In the second year under head coach Nick Plueger, the Okoboji football team took another step forward this past season. The Pioneers were one of the most dynamic rushing teams in all of Class 2A, ending the season with 2,554 yards and 22 touchdowns on 403 rushing attempts. ...

It was an up-and-down season for the Okoboji volleyball team in 2021. The Pioneers were able to match their win total from 2020, but were unable to capture a single win in the Siouxland Conference for the first time in at least 15 years, as they went 11-19 overall and 0-9 in conference play...

Okoboji’s cross country teams have always been solid, but the 2021 season proved to be another step toward becoming one of the state’s premier programs. Both boys and girls squads were ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A throughout the season. The boys team went on to place ninth at the state meet and Lexi Duffy became the second runner in school history to become a four-time state qualifier...

This year’s Harris-Lake Park football squad made history by clinching its first district championship since 2016. The Wolves accomplished that feat after bouncing back from an early district loss to Northwood-Kensett and reeling off five straight district victories, including a dominant 29-0 win over then undefeated Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on a sloppy September night in Ruthven...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team struggled throughout the 2021 season, as the Wolves finished the year with an 0-26 overall record and an 0-8 mark in the War Eagle Conference. It was the third straight losing season for a program that hadn’t suffered a single losing season in more than a decade...

Even if West Lyon could have written the script, the seventh-ranked Wildcats could not have drawn it up more perfectly than how Friday night’s playoff contest with fourth-ranked Spirit Lake played out. In front of their home crowd in Inwood, the Wildcats dominated both lines of scrimmage, ran the ball at will, took an early lead and limited the Indians’ usually explosive offense to just 214 yards in a 35-7 victory to advance in the Class 2A postseason...

A trio of Spirit Lake cross country runners capped their 2021 season at the state meet held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29-30 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Katelyn Krieger got the weekend trip started in the Class 3A girls race Friday. Krieger, according to coach Tim Heinitz, improved on her pre-meet ranking by finishing 28th in her personal best time of 20 minutes, 7.86 seconds...

Okoboji’s cross country program has consistently advanced runners to the state meet under the tutelage of coaches Brad Peter and Erin Frerichs, but this year’s Pioneers put on a display of heart and guts rarely seen in previous trips to Fort Dodge. Okoboji’s boys squad battled back from a slow start to place ninth and four-time state meet qualifier Lexi Duffy ran the best race of her career Saturday, Oct. 30 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course...

The Spirit Lake girls basketball team will hold a practice open to the public on Monday, Nov. 15. Girls basketball coach Todd Rogers said the open practice will be a great opportunity for the public to see this year’s team before the open up the season against Sioux Central on Nov. 22...