Boys’ District Basketball
The first round of the Class 1A and Class 2A District brackets tipped-off last night and there was one upset amongst our local teams.
#4 Burlington Notre Dame, the top seed of the district, clobbered New London last night, 81-45. The Tigers finished the season with a 7-17 record.
In the #4-#5 seed contest, defense was on full display between Winfield-Mt. Union and Danville and it was the Bears who executed on the road, beating the Wolves 40-34. Isaac Egli led the team with 13 points in the loss. Winfield-Mt. Union ended the season with a 13-8 record.
Burlington Notre Dame will host Danville on Thursday, February 19th, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Down in Fort Madison, WACO outhustled Holy Trinity Catholic in the first half of play but the shots just were not falling for the Warriors, while the Crusaders hit five of an eventual ten three-pointers to exit with a 66-50 victory. Kellen Shelman finished the night with 15 points for WACO, as the Warriors collected an 11-11 record for the season.
Holy Trinity Catholic’s Layne Rung scored only eight points, but his spotlight allowed for Jack Ragar to finish the night with a game high 21 points. Crusader head coach John Hellige was pleased to see everyone else stepping up,
“Yeah, they were really keen on [Layne] Rung tonight. I thought he had a good game, even though he didn’t have his normal 20 points. He affected the game in a lot of other ways, and also allowed his teammates to get open. And [Jack]Ragar and the gang, they all stepped up and did a great job, filling that scoring void.”
Holy Trinity Catholic will travel to Pekin on Thursday for tip-off at 7 pm.
Over in Substate 5 District 10, Wapello fell to Hillcrest Academy last night, 58-47. Wapello finished the season with a 5-17 record.
In Class 2A Substate 5 District 9, West Burlington handled Cardinal last night, 63-43. The Falcons will fly to Central Lee on Thursday at 7 pm.
On the top half of the bracket, Van Buren County lost to Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in a narrow 58-56 finish. The Warriors claimed a 6-17 record for the year.
In Substate 5 District 10, Columbus could not keep up with Durant last night, losing 63-42. The Wildcats turned in a 9-13 record for the season.
Lastly, Mediapolis throttled Louisa-Muscatine to the tune of an 85-57 final. The Bulldogs will search for their first victory over Mid-Prairie since 2011 on Thursday at 7 pm on the road.
The Class 3A and Class 4A brackets were released yesterday.
In Class 3A Substate 4, #5 Mt. Pleasant will venture to #4 Davenport Assumption for their first round matchup on Monday, February 23rd, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Substate 5 houses the rest of our local teams with #8 Fairfield traveling to #1 Pella. #4 Burlington will host #5 Washington, while #3 Keokuk will take on #6 Fort Madison at home for a pair of Southeast Conference clashes.
High School Basketball
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will travel to Pella tonight at 7 pm.
The Fairfield boys’ team will make the trip to Clear Creek Amana tonight at 7:30 pm.
Girls’ Regional Basketball
In Class 1A Region 4, Wapello will make the trip to Lone Tree tonight at 7 pm.
In Class 2A Region 8, Van Buren County will traverse to Regina Catholic tonight at 7 pm.
Danville will take on West Burlington at home tonight at 7 pm.
For Class 3A Region 5, Washington will face off against Tipton tomorrow, February 18th, at 7 pm on the road.
In Region 6, #8 Mediapolis will tangle with Davis County tomorrow at home at 7 pm.
For Class 4A Region 4, Mt. Pleasant will be looking to avenge an early season loss when they travel to Oskaloosa tomorrow. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Burlington will make the trip to North Scott tomorrow.
In Region 6, Fort Madison will host Keokuk in a Southeast Conference rivalry matchup tomorrow.
High School Bowling
The Iowa High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) 2026 state qualifying meets were held yesterday and for Class 1A the top team and four individuals qualified for state, while Class 2A qualified the top eight scores and best two team scores from each district.
In Central Lee, Louisa-Muscatine claimed the top team spot, while West Burlington and the hosts finished in 4th and 5th place, respectively. The Falcons were led by DJ Davis as he produced 565 total pins, which tied for 10th place, while Central Lee’s Chad Barnhardt bowled for 559 pins.
Fairfield traveled to Monticello and claimed 4th place with 2,747 pins. The hosts qualified as a team.
In Class 2A, Clinton played host to Keokuk, Burlington, and Mt. Pleasant and the Chiefs led the charge for our local schools, taking 4th place with 3,022 pins, followed by Mt. Pleasant in 6th place and Burlington in 7th place.
Keokuk’s Chase Hemann was the lone state qualifier from the region, as his score of 659 pins was good enough for 5th place. Mt. Pleasant was led by Talon DeHart’s 552 total pins. Burlington’s Brady Britt finished with 514 total pins.
The Class 2A individual state tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25th.
High School Wrestling
The 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association’s State Tournament is scheduled to start tomorrow, February 18th, and KILJ will be providing updates for all 32 of our local wrestlers.
For a full breakdown of the district championships, follow this link: 2026 District Results
Southeastern Community College
The women’s basketball team will play Marshalltown Community College tomorrow, February 18th, at 5:30 pm on the road.
The men’s basketball team will travel to Highland Community College tomorrow at 7 pm.
College Basketball
The Iowa State women’s team will take on Arizona State at home tomorrow, February 18th, at 6:30 pm.
The #13 Iowa women’s team took down Nebraska yesterday, 80-67. Ava Heiden went off for a double-double, scoring 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Hawkeyes will stay on the road to play Purdue on Thursday, February 19th, at 6 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will host #9 Nebraska tonight at 8 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team had some more Hilton Magic up their sleeve as they knocked off #2 Houston last night, 70-67, as they outscored the Cougars 17 to 4 in the final seven minutes of play. Justin Jefferson led the team with 12 points. The Cyclones will travel to BYU on Saturday, February 21st, at 9:30 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the call.
This Day in Sports History
1974 – 16th Daytona 500: Richard Petty becomes the first driver to win back-to-back titles at Daytona; his 5th Great American race.
1998 – The USA Women’s Ice Hockey Team beats Canada and wins the first Olympic Gold medal.
2012 – Approximately 70 ancient Olympic artifacts are stolen from the Archaeological Museum of Greece.