High School Basketball
With our local teams getting a short breather with Winter Break, we will take a look at our conference standings after the season’s early showdowns, moving on to the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division.
Looking at the girls’ teams, Highland is off to a fast start, going 6-0 against the North and 8-1 overall. The Huskies had high expectations last year but fell in crucial games; this year, Kamryn Fink has completely taken over, averaging a 17 point and nearly 12 rebound per game double-double.
Louisa-Muscatine and Lone Tree come in a #2 and #3 in the conference with the Lions having gotten the better of the Falcons before winter break 48-41. Lone Tree’s Finley Jacque leads the conference in scoring with 19.6 points per game. Wapello, Pekin, and last year’s division champion, Columbus, are bottle-necked having played seven games and hovering around 0.500. The Arrows just recently broke a four-game winning streak held by Columbus in a 48-40 fourth quarter comeback. Transfer Jakayla Nelson has been a nice complement for Wapello, averaging 10 points per game.
Hillcrest Academy and WACO have both won a conference game, while an injury-riddled Winfield-Mt. Union club is still searching for their first victory against a north opponent. Madisen Kellogg, who herself is now dealing with an injury, talked highly of the team’s mental fortitude.
“I think our team’s coming together actually really well, better than a lot of us were expecting. I mean, we had a lot of new kids come out, which is great. I mean, we wanted a team and injuries have gotten us a little bit so far. We are going to try and focus over Christmas break on things that need work on and then come back after Christmas break and be better than we were before.”
On the boys’ side, Hillcrest Academy had to share the title last year, but this year they are looking for the sole claim. The Ravens are streaking, having won all seven of their games, including six conference matchups. They boast a 2-0 record against Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO, who sit at #2 and #3 in the conference standings, with both wins by double-digits.
It will be a fun showdown on January 3rd when the Wolves and Warriors clash at WACO with both teams sitting at just one loss in the North. WACO’s defense has lagged behind the offense, allowing over 50 points per game for the first time since 2020. Nevertheless, their three-point percentage is the highest during the same span of time.
Winfield-Mt. Union boasts a lot of size and that is apparent through their 13.5 offensive rebounds per game and their 14.7 steals per game with their wingspan covering large swaths of area. The problem for the Wolves has been their offense, averaging 39.5 points in their two losses.
Columbus is at 0.500 in the North right now, followed by Wapello with two wins and Highland and Lone Tree with one-apiece, while Louisa-Muscatine is still searching for their first win against a North opponent.
High School Wrestling
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team has been battling to start off the season with Quintrie Lee and Courtney Smith each gathering at least one-second place finish at a tournament, while Zenlynn Lee, who is looking to get back to the state tournament, won her weight division at the Willard Howell Invitational in early December. Head coach Abby Blint is excited about the continued popularity behind wrestling,
“Yeah, we doubled our numbers from last year, we are at 10 this year, and hoping they all stay out. They have been working really hard and it is a really great team that we got in the room. So far, so good.”
The Panthers will compete in the Keokuk Invite on January 3rd.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant and West Burlington will get back to action with the Louisa-Muscatine Invite on January 3rd.
Southeastern Community College
The women’s basketball team will travel to Iowa Lakes Community College on January 3rd, at 1 pm.
College Football
#23 Iowa will take on #14 Vanderbilt on December 31st at 11 am for the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida.
College Basketball
The #10 Iowa State women’s team will get back to action on December 31st against Houston on the road at 1 pm.
The #14 Iowa women’s team will take on Penn State for their Big Ten Home Opener on Sunday, December 28th, at 3 pm.
The #25 Iowa men’s team will host UMass Lowell on December 29th at 4 pm.
The #3 Iowa State men’s team will face off against Houston Christian on December 29th at 7 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1921 – Ottawa’s Harry Broadbent scores in 10-0 Senators blowout of the Montreal Canadiens; first in 16-game NHL record goal-scoring streak; Charlie Simmer’s 13 game streak (1979) is considered a modern-day record.
1967 – Joe Namath (New York Jets) became the first pro football quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards.
2000 – 36 minutes after the end of a game, both the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins were called back to the playing field. The teams had to play the final 3 seconds of the game which the Dolphins had won 27-24. The end result did not change.