High School Basketball
Mt. Pleasant hit the road last night for a non-conference showdown against Benton. For the girls’ game, the #5 Bobcats’ press defense ushered Benton out to a 31 to 4 first quarter lead and Mckenna Kramer’s seven three-pointers helped seal a 71-20 win for Benton. Abby Carthey led the way for the Panthers, scoring 7 points and grabbing four rebounds.
The boys’ game flipped the script with the Panthers sprinting out to a 40 to 19 lead at halftime due to tough defense and transition offense with the eventual final being 83-39. Head Coach Eric Rawson talked about his team’s complete effort. Three Panthers finished in double figures with Christian Stacy cashing in for a game high 25 points, Payton Hagans scoring 21 points, and Nate Stroud getting 10 points. Coach Rawson talked about Stacy’s performance after the game.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Washington for a conference matchup on Friday, December 15th, with the girls’ game scheduled to start at 6 pm.
The Mediapolis girls’ team was led by Haley Steffener’s 24 points in their 86-31 victory over Louisa-Muscatine last night. The boys followed suit for the Bulldogs with an 80-53 win over the Falcons.
New London will host Mediapolis tonight with the girls starting the night at 6 pm.
WACO will host Highland tonight with the girls playing at 6 pm and the boys’ game to follow.
Van Buren County will take on Danville tonight with the girls going at 6 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will take on Columbus on Friday with the girls playing at 6 pm.
Central Lee will face off against West Burlington tonight with the girls starting the night at 6 pm.
Holy Trinity Catholic will take on Burlington Notre Dame tonight with the girls playing at 6 pm.
High School Wrestling
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team will compete on Saturday, December 16th, at Cedar Rapids-Prairie.
The WACO will compete on Saturday at Chariton.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to Fort Madison on Thursday, December 14th, to compete in a dual.
The New London boys’ team will compete at Pekin on Thursday in a dual.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will travel to Van Buren County on Thursday for a triangular.
The WACO boys’ team will head to Mediapolis on Thursday to compete in a triangular.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant will take on Burlington on Friday, December 15th.
Iowa High School Athletic Association
The IHSAA announced a partnership with RefReps yesterday to help provide officiating education content with a focus on school recruitment and training. RefReps offers online training for officials and courses for college and high school students aiming to become officials. Students in Iowa may be able to receive credits for taking RefReps courses through their schools. The courses for sports being offered are baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.
The IHSAA will have 100 complimentary RefReps course seats for interested students this school year. To find out more about RefReps, follow this link: RefReps.
College Football
Iowa State University will take on Memphis in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis on December 29th at 2:30 pm. The Cyclones defeated Memphis in the 2017 AutoZone Liberty Bowl 21-20.
#20 Iowa will face off against #25 Tennessee in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on January 1st at noon.
The Hawkeyes had four players named Associated Press (AP) All-American. Cooper DeJean notched two interceptions and five pass breakups. Sebastian Castro notched 61 tackles, one sack, and a team-high three interceptions. Tory Taylor, the 2023 Ray Guy Punter of the Year, averaged 47.9 yards per punt. Lastly, Jay Higgins led the Big Ten in tackles with 155.
T.J. Tampa earned AP All-American after totaling 44 tackles, two interceptions, and seven pass breakups.
College Basketball
The #4 Iowa women’s team will compete against Cleveland State on Saturday, December 16th, at 6 pm.
The Iowa State women’s team will host Troy on Sunday, December 17th, at 12 pm.
The Iowa State men’s team will take on Florida A&M on Sunday at 5 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will look to get back in the win column on Saturday at 3:30 pm against Florida A&M.
This Day in Sports History
1930 – Baseball Rules Committee greatly revises the rule book, a ball bouncing into stands is no longer a home run, now a double.
1965 – Chicago halfback Gale Sayers tied the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game with six in a 61–20 victory over San Francisco 49ers at Wrigley Field.
1987 – Mookie Blaylock sets an NCAA record of 13 steals in a game.