High School Basketball
The WACO girls basketball team clobbered Highland 49-20 last night holding the Huskies to just one point in the third quarter. The boys team handled Highland 78-17 with five players scoring in double digits. Hunter Hughes led the team with 19 points. The Warriors will be back in action at home Friday, December 16th, to play against Hillcrest Academy with the girls playing at 6 pm.
The Danville boys basketball team came out on top last night with the Bears defeating Van Buren County 61-47.
The New London girls basketball team got crushed by Mediapolis last night 77-31 with the Bulldogs jumping out to a 29-6 lead after the first quarter. The Tigers will be on the road to face off against West Burlington Friday with the girls going at 6 pm followed by the boys.
Holy Trinity Catholic dropped both of their games to Burlington Notre Dame with the girls falling 61-20 and the boys losing 83-34. Gabby Deery led the scoring for the Nikes with 17 points. Holy Trinity Catholic will travel to play Van Buren County Friday with the girls starting at 6 pm.
The Central Lee boys basketball team fell to West Burlington 74-36 last night. The Hawks will host Danville Friday at 6 pm.
Mt. Pleasant will face off against Washington on Friday with a chance at first place in the conference as the girls will be on the road and the boys will be at home with both games scheduled to start at 7:30 pm. KILJ will be covering the girls game with pregame at 7:15 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will have to wait until Friday when they host Columbus with the girls game starting at 6 pm.
High School Wrestling
The Mt. Pleasant boys wrestling team will be back in action at home against Fort Madison and Mid-Prairie tomorrow, December 15th.
The girls team will wrestle December 17th at the Wilton Tournament.
High School Bowling
The Mt. Pleasant Panthers girls and boys teams next competition will be January 5th against Washington at the Iris Bowling Center.
Iowa Wesleyan Athletics
Former Iowa Wesleyan Assistant Football Coach, Mike Leach, passed away yesterday at the age of 61 from a heart attack. Coach Leach was an assistant coach at Iowa Wesleyan for three seasons under Hal Mumme where the two constructed a high volume passing offense called the “Air Raid Offense” that transformed the Tigers into a playoff team in just their third season. This offense broke almost all of the passing records at Iowa Wesleyan with many of them still standing. Mike Hampton, the Assistant Athletic Director of Internal Operations and Special Projects and the Head Softball Coach, was just a part-time softball coach at the time and he remarked how humorous Leach was. Leach was in his third season as Head Coach at Mississippi State where they finished 8-4 and will be playing the University of Illinois for a bowl game.
The women’s basketball team captured Coach Williamson’s 274th career win at Iowa Wesleyan, which ties Olan Ruble for most all-time for the Tigers. It was another close contest for the Tigers as the game was locked at 32 heading into halftime, but the trio of Isabell West (19 points), Kyla Moore (12 points), and Breanna Wendland (12 points) each put up double digit points to come out with the victory 60-54. Coach Williamson will look to break the record Thursday, December 29th, on the road against Bellevue University for the Bellevue Classic at 12:30 pm.
The men’s basketball team extended their winning streak to 11 games in a close game to St. Ambrose University last night winning 70-64. The Bees were only down three with less than eight minutes to go, but the Tigers were able to fend off the swarm. Allante Pickens led the team with 15 points while Hakeem Odunsi came off the bench adding 13 to the effort. They will be at home Saturday, December 17th, to face off against Williams Baptist University at 1 pm. KILJ will be on the call.
The women’s wrestling team is in action December 16th at the Eagle Duals at Avila University, while the men’s team will have to wait until next year to wrestle at Central Methodist University on January 10th.
The Tiger’s next indoor meet will be the Dutch Athletics Classic on January 14th.
This Day in Sports History
1901 – First table tennis tournament is held at the London Royal Aquarium.
2019 – 85th Heisman Trophy Award: Joe Burrow, Louisiana State University (QB); highest percentage of first place votes ever with 90.7%.
2021 – Steph Curry makes his 2,974th three-point shot to pass Ray Allen as the NBA’s greatest career 3-point shooter during Golden State Warriors’ 105-96 win over NY Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
