High School Basketball

WACO will tangle with Sigourney tonight at 6 pm.

Central Lee will continue their five-game road trip tonight against Winfield-Mt. Union with game one at 6 pm.

Mt. Pleasant will travel to Fort Madison tomorrow, January 23rd, with tip-off at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm. Panther boys’ head coach Eric Rawson will be trying to get his team mentally prepared after an emotional win Tuesday night,

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve got to stay focused and dialed in and certainly enjoy this one. But we’ve got to be ready to go. And, you know, playing Fort Madison down there is always tough. So, these guys understand that and looking forward to the challenge come Friday.”

Danville will make the trip to Van Buren County tomorrow with game one at 6 pm.

West Burlington will host Central Lee tomorrow with the night starting at 6 pm.

Burlington Notre Dame will make the trip to Holy Trinity Catholic tomorrow with tip-off at 6 pm.

Mediapolis will face off against New London tomorrow on the road with the girls’ playing first at 6 pm.

Wapello will play Highland tomorrow with game one at 6 pm.

Fairfield will get back to conference play with a road matchup against Washington tomorrow at 6 pm.

Columbus will tangle with Winfield-Mt. Union tomorrow at home with the girls’ teams playing at 6 pm.

High School Girls’ Basketball Rankings

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released the seventh edition of the girls’ rankings and Mediapolis climbed up one spot in the Class 3A rankings from #10 to #9 after racking up wins of 51 and 55 in their last two matchups.

The Bulldogs have simply dominated, even more than they did last year as they are averaging three more points per game and allowing four less points per game. Their average win difference of 41 points currently ranks 2nd in the entire state amongst all five classes along with their 19.6 steals per game.

The Bulldogs love the three-point shot, averaging 11 made three-pointers per game, which ranks 1st in the state, on 35.4% shooting, which ranks 6th in the state. Grace Holsteen leads the way with 17 points per game, but four of the team’s five starters are averaging double figures.

High School Wrestling

Mt. Pleasant will travel to Fairfield tonight.

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will head to Louisa-Muscatine tonight for a triangular.

The Burlington Notre Dame boys’ team will duel Wapello on the road tonight.

Van Buren County will host a triangular tonight with WACO making the trip.

New London will welcome Mediapolis tonight for a triangular.

The WACO, Fairfield, Wapello, and Mediapolis girls’ teams will compete at the Louisa-Muscatine Invite on Saturday, January 24th.

High School Bowling

Mt. Pleasant will host Fairfield today.

Southeastern Community College

The women’s basketball team fell to Iowa Central Community College last night 69-45. The Blackhawks will host Central Community College on Saturday, January 24th, at 1 pm.

The men’s basketball team will head back home on Saturday to take on Marshalltown Community College at 7 pm.

The women’s wrestling team will compete at the Warrior Open tomorrow, January 23rd.

The men’s wrestling team will participate in the Stormin’ Norman Tournament on Saturday.

College Basketball

It took a historic effort from Jada Williams, but the Iowa State women’s team finally snapped their five-game losing streak last night by thumping Cincinnati, 93-68. Williams cashed in for a career-high 44 points, the highest total by a Cyclone in a conference game. Iowa State will host Arizona on Saturday, January 24th, with tip-off at 3 pm.

The #10 Iowa women’s team will travel to Maryland tonight at 5 pm.

The Iowa men’s team will take on USC on Wednesday, January 28th, at 6 pm at home.

The #9 Iowa State men’s team will hit the road for a Saturday meetup with Oklahoma State at 3 pm.

This Day in Sports History

1983 – Houston is the first NBA team to be held scoreless in an overtime period as the Portland Trail Blazers outscore them 17-0 and win 113-96. 

2006 – Kobe Bryant scores 81 points in a 122-104 Lakers victory over the Toronto Raptors; second-highest game total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game (1962). 

2018 – New Orleans Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins finished with 44 points, 24 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 132-128 double-OT win over the Chicago Bulls; first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) with 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Oskaloosa, IA- Mt. Pleasant entered last night with just three wins on the season and wavering after a double-digit loss to Burlington last Friday, while #10 Oskaloosa was not only ranked but also took down Keokuk the night before, 63-61. Yet, in their biggest win in over two years, the Panthers pulled off the road upset in a 48-45 final.

It’s no secret that the strength of this Mt. Pleasant team centers around their height with the average height of their eight main players sitting at 6’3.5” tall, but it has been a task evolving this team from a three-point slinging squad to a pound-the-paint physical team.

The plan for Panther head coach Eric Rawson was simple, yet effective,

“…We executed our game plan as far as getting the ball inside and into the post. Noah [Lange] did a lot of work there in the first half and Isaiah [Lange] certainly came alive…”

The game did not start out in Mt. Pleasant’s favor as Tyler Edgar and Heavon Knox buried a couple of threes for Oskaloosa, streaking to an 8 to 1 lead before coach Rawson called a timeout to settle his team down. A Ryan Helling three-pointer and stiffer defense kept it close after a frame but with Oskaloosa hoarding a 12 to 7 lead.

Then the defense for Mt. Pleasant responded by holding Oskaloosa to just seven points in the second quarter, while Isaiah and Noah Lange combined for 13 points to give the Panthers a 25 to 19 lead at the halftime break. Oskaloosa was only being kept afloat by Knox, who had scored 12 of the team’s 19 points.

Even their leading scorer for the season, Tommy North, was held to just two points in the first half and four points in the game. Oskaloosa was constantly swarmed when driving the lane, resulting in five blocked shots.

“Yeah, we were great defensively” said coach Rawson. “You know, to hold that team to 19 points in the first half. Yeah, I just can’t. I’m just kind of at a loss for words right now. Just emotional game. Guys were locked in defensively and offensively… Yeah, just defensively, we were really locked in. It was great to see.”

Isaiah Lange took over for Mt. Pleasant in the third quarter, ushering in eight of the team’s 13 points for the quarter, while a pair of threes from Edgar and Knox kept Oskaloosa in the game, but down 38 to 31 entering the fourth quarter.

Neither team could find the bottom of the basket in the fourth quarter and the Panthers’ woes from the free throw line continued as they hit just 6 of 13 from the charity stripe for the night, putting them at 38 for 87 since coming back from winter break.

Nevertheless, Aiden Humble hit a key three early in the quarter when Oskaloosa tried to rally back, but the game appeared over when Helling knocked in his own triple with a little over 100 seconds remaining in the contest to give Mt. Pleasant an 11-point lead, 46 to 35.

The Panthers had been in similar situations the last two years and watched late leads slip away, while Oskaloosa had accumulated a 3-1 record on the season in games decided by three points or less. The game was far from over to say the least.

The run started with Edgar following his miss and slamming home a dunk to cut the lead nine, 46 to 37. Then the turnovers started. An overthrow on the inbounds pass led to a Landon Romas and-one to cut the lead to six, 46 to 40.

Cue Ethan Stek for Oskaloosa, as he ripped the ball away from Brody Clark and an Edgar three cut the once double-digit lead for Mt. Pleasant into a shaky possession advantage, 46 to 43, and only thirty seconds had evaporated from the clock.

A full timeout by coach Rawson gave his team a chance to catch their breaths and figure out how to best the Oskaloosa press. Unfortunately, for the third straight possession, the Panthers threw the ball away, Oskaloosa ball.

A second-chance bucket was given to North after a goaltending call against the over-zealous crew of shot blockers for the Panthers. Just like that it was a one-point game, 46-45 with less than a minute remaining.

In desperate need of senior leadership, Noah Lange stepped up and snuck away from his defender on the inbounds pass, found a streaking Grayson Lowery, who was fouled on the lay-up attempt. 33.5 seconds remaining in the game and Lowery goes splits his free throw attempts to give Mt. Pleasant the 47 to 45 lead.

No shot clock needed anymore and Oskaloosa, who has not had a winning season since 2018-19 when the won the state championship, was going to filibuster for the last shot. With a chance to win, North was given the ball at the top of the key with less than ten seconds left on the clock and much like the rest of the night it clanked off the rim. No good.

Isaiah Lange ripped down the board and converted one of his two free throws to give us the final score and a marquee win for Mt. Pleasant that was in desperate need of some confidence in close games.

“Yeah, I mean, it speaks volumes from where we started the year with a couple injuries and just guys new to the varsity level” mention coach Rawson after the game. “You know, getting adjusted to the speed of the game. You know, certainly our physicality tonight wore them out.”

Isaiah Lange led the way in scoring for the Panthers with 19 points followed by Noah Lange and Humble with eight points. Helling notched seven points with Keegan Heaton adding three points and a couple of blocks, while Lowery finished with two points.

Oskaloosa’s Knox had a career night with 19 points on his own.

The win moves Mt. Pleasant to 4-7 on the year, while Oskaloosa falls to 9-4 and having a difficult slate of games in front of them in the Little Hawkeye Conference.

The Panthers get ready for a show down in Fort Madison against the one-win Bloodhounds, who nearly defeated Fairfield to start the season and Burlington right before winter break. Coach Rawson knows that the Bloodhounds will be tougher than their record suggests,

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve got to stay focused and dialed in and certainly enjoy this one. But we’ve got to be ready to go. And, you know, playing Fort Madison down there is always tough. So, these guys understand that and looking forward to the challenge come Friday.”

KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call for the Southeast Conference doubleheader on Friday, January 23^rd, with the pregame show at 5:45 pm and game one tipping-off at 6 pm.