Author: Nathan Bloechl

Notre Dame 67, WACO 28 

Reagan Engberg had 15 points, while Quincy University recruit Megan Harrell added 12 as seventh-ranked Notre Dame rolled by WACO 67-28.

The win kept the Nikes perfect at 21-0.

They’ll host Winfield-Mount Union in a Class 1A, Region 6 semifinal on Friday night at Father Minnett Gymnasium.

Notre Dame used a 16-4 first quarter to start hot — then avalanched the Warriors for a 25-7 third quarter to essentially end the game.

Ellah Kissell had 14 to pace WACO, while Grace Coble added six.

WACO closes their year 10-13.

Winfield-Mount Union 54, Holy Trinity 45 

Winfield-Mount Union led by as many as 18 in the first half before Holy Trinity stormed back to within two — but it was a late flurry and good free throw shooting that propelled the Lady Wolves to a 55-48 win over the Crusaders last night.

Bradie Buffington had 20 points to lead all scorers.

Buffington added 10 boards and shot 8-of-14 from the field.

Keely Malone chipped in with 18 points and six rebounds, while hitting 5-of-9 shots from long distance.

Natalie Randolph had 18 points to lead the Crusaders, while Kassi Randolph added 13.

Mary Kent Bendlage chipped in with eight.

Holy Trinity closes their season 11-12.

Mediapolis 58, Pella Christian 48 

Hallie Mohr had 23 points and nine rebounds as Mediapolis did just enough to dispatch Pella Christian yesterday in a Class 2A region quarterfinal.

Hanna Wagenbach added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Bullettes.

Pella Christian cut the deficit to four after three quarters, but a 15-9 fourth quarter kept the season alive.

Payton Bush chipped in with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.

Mediapolis improved to 20-2.

Pella Christian bows out at 4-19.

Louisa-Muscatine 39, Danville 37 

A game-high 19 points from Kaylee Corbin powered Louisa-Muscatine a thrilling, 39-37 win over Danville last night.

The win moved the Falcons to 16-4 and means they’ll scrap with Mediapolis in a Class 2A-Region 6 semifinal on Friday night.

McKenna Hohenadel added 10 for Louisa-Muscatine.

Ava Smith finished with 10 to pace Danville with Kenna Furnald chipping in with eight.

Danville closed their season 12-11.

Louisa-Muscatine improved to 16-4.

Fort Madison — The Mount Pleasant girls’ basketball team will open up their postseason tonight.

The Panthers, who are now 11-10, will scrap with the always tough Fort Madison Bloodhounds in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs at the HoundDome.

Fort Madison swept the season series with the Panthers this year, with both wins by double digits and are 17-4 on the season.

Those four losses have came against Fairfield, twice against No. 12 Keokuk and No. 7 Notre Dame.

All but one of their defeats were by single digits.

Mount Pleasant though, are winners for three straight since dropping to Keokuk and Mediapolis and are playing the best basketball of their season.

Tonight’s game will begin at 7:00 p.m. however, due to the Music Boosters Radiothon, there will be no radio.

KILJ — The Mount Pleasant bowling team will send two individuals to the state bowling meet next Wednesday in Waterloo.

Eden Svoboda from Danville shot a 623 three game series and finished 2nd at the district meet.

Cole Wohlleber — a Mount Pleasant native — rolled a 624 three game series and finished 7th at the district meet.

In team competition the Panther girls’ were 4th while the boys’ finished in 7th.

KILJ — Mia Palumbo and Joanna Vanderwood both picked up tech fall wins as the Iowa Wesleyan women’s wrestling team earned a 23-16 dual win over Missouri Valley College last night.

Zoi Smith and Destiny Campbell were recipients of forfeit wins as well.

The Tigers will take on Central Methodist University next in their final home dual of the season this Friday at Ruble Arena.

The match is set to start at 6:00 p.m.

(PC: John Lovretta / thehawkeye.com)

New London 85, English Valleys 43

New London outscored English Valleys 26-12 in the second quarter, opening up a 21-point lead at halftime, rolling to an 85-43 win over the Bears in a 1A District 10 quarterfinal.

Blaise Porter was electric from the game’s onset, scoring 11 first quarter points, surging to a game-high 25 points.

He also added five assists and five rebounds, while hitting 5-of-8 three point attempts.

Devon Swanson finished with 22 points and nine boards for New London, while Kade Benjamin added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Kaden Hall paced English Valleys with 18 points and seven boards.

New London, now 19-2, will play Thursday night at home against Iowa Valley, who took down Sigourney 45-42 last night.

That game will be begin at 7:00 p.m.

WACO 63, Keota 43 

A balanced scoring attack paced by Colton Leichty led WACO to a 20-point, 63-43 win over Keota yesterday.

Leichty led the Warriors with 13 points, while Simeon Reichenbach had 11.

Keota tied the game in the second quarter, before WACO used a large third quarter run to open the margin up.

WACO is now 18-4.

The Warriors will move to the semifinals on Thursday when they face 18-4 Montezuma.

The Braves dispatched Pekin last night 63-46.

They’ll tip at 7:00 p.m. in Wayland Thursday night.

Winfield-Mount Union 53, Highland 33 

It wasn’t pretty at times, but Winfield-Mount Union did enough to earn a 53-33 win over Highland yesterday.

The Wolves win was their 20th of the season — they now will play Hillcrest Academy in a Thursday night semifinal.

The Ravens bested Holy Trinity 61-36.

Cam Buffington had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead Winfield-Mount Union.

Abram Edwards finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Jake Edwards chipped in with nine.

Danville 62, Lone Tree 42

Caiden Gourley had 18 points as Danville picked up a 62-42 win over Lone Tree yesterday.

The win moves Danville to the semifinals of District 9, where they’ll get Burlington Notre Dame.

Drake Johnson added 16 points, while Sawyer Nelson had 12.

Lone Tree closes their year 7-17.

Mediapolis 55, Van Buren County 34

Ben Egan finished 7-of-10 of the field for 19 points while Cole Lipper chipped in with 16 as Mediapolis rode their two stars to a 55-34 win over Van Buren County.

The loss for the Warriors closed their first season under Mount Pleasant alum Trey Magnani.

Jackson Manning had 10 points to lead Van Buren County.

Mediapolis, now 16-6, will play Mid-Prairie in a 2A-District 10 semifinal on Thursday night.

Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.

Winfield — The Winfield-Mount Union girls’ basketball team are two games away from their ultimate goal.

They got off to a good start last week in a 32-point win over Hillcrest Academy and tonight, they’ll look to advance again when they host Holy Trinity a Class 1A Region 6 quarterfinal.

The Crusaders are fresh off a 74-47 first round win and enter 11-11 under head coach Tony Johnson.

Winfield-Mount Union will turn to their usual cast of characters tonight — usually a balanced approach — led by Bradie Buffington’s 15.1 points per game.

Keetyn Townsley adds just south of 10 points, while Jobey Malone is just north of nine.

Mary Kate Bendlage leads Holy Trinity with 14.6 points per game, she’s been steadily climbing the scoring ranks in her sophomore season.

Natalie Randolph adds 12.1 as the two double figure scorers for the Crusaders.

The winner of tonight’s game will get either Burlington Notre Dame or WACO in Friday’s regional semifinal.

Both games will tip at 7:00 p.m. tonight.

You can listen to Winfield-Mount Union – Holy Trinity on FM 105.5.

The KILJ Tournament Trail Pregame Show will start at 6:40 p.m.

Nathan Bloechl will have the call alongside Kent Bennett.

Other matchups tonight:

• Pella Christian at Mediapolis
• Louisa-Muscatine at Danville
• Van Buren County at Regina
• WACO at Notre Dame
• Mount Pleasant at Pella (boys’)

Mount Pleasant — Iowa Wesleyan freshman Joey Brown has been named the Continental Athletic Conference Player of the Week, the league announced yesterday.

The guard averaged 27.3 points per game last week and was nearly unstoppable in a road conference game against Lincoln Christian University (Illinois) last Tuesday with a 36-point performance.

Brown followed that up with 20 points against St. Ambrose, before dropping 26 against Clarke on Sunday.

The Miami, Florida native shot 62% from the field across those three games while canning five three-pointers.

Iowa Wesleyan closed their regular season 11-18, they’ll host the CAC men’s basketball tournament, scheduled to be played February 25th-27th in Mount Pleasant.