HARLAN – The annual Christmas Adoption program is coming to a close, but there are more than 50 families still needing to be adopted this holiday season.    Dena Matthews with West Central Community Action, said it’s hoped many of the remaining families will be adopted for Christmas later this week.  “But for those who do not get adopted, we are still requesting monetary donations so that we may provide the “unadopted” families with gift c

    PORTSMOUTH -- Gerald L. Waltz, 84, Portsmouth, died December 20 at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan.    Services will be held Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary Our Lady of Fatima Church in Portsmouth with burial in the St. Mary’s Cemetery at Portsmouth.  A wake service will be held Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.

 DENISON -- The offense was still sporadic at times, but Harlan Community coach Zach Klaassen is doing his best not to complain about 28-point victories. On Friday night at Denison-Schleswig, defense remained a constant for the third-ranked (4-A) Cyclone girls, who swiped 18 steals using a mix of 1-3-1 and 2-3 zones and defeated the Lady Monarchs 50-22 in a Hawkeye Ten game that did not count toward the conference standings. Seniors Taylor Fre

 DENISON -- For the Harlan Community boys basketball team, the bridge between high potential and high performance is a little bit of patience. The Cyclones aren’t hitting on all cylinders just yet, but the tools are in place for a big season. On Friday night, HCHS finished the first half on a 13-2 run and continued to pull away after the break, posting a 65-44 conference win at Denison-Schleswig to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Hawkeye

 RED OAK -- AHSTW, Harlan Community and Kuemper Catholic all finished with 2-1 records while host Red Oak was 0-3 in a quad wrestling meet held Thursday. Most of the duals came down to the final match, including AHSTW’s 37-34 win over HCHS in round one. The Vikings started and finished the dual with technical fall wins by Tim Barr at 170 pounds and Gabe Pauley at 160, winning seven of 12 matches overall.

 MANNING -- Kyle Wagner led IKM-Manning with 25 points, 12 rebounds and four steals as the Wolves improved to 4-0 Friday night with a 72-43 win over Tri-Center. Ben Wegner also had a big night for the Wolves with 18 points and eight rebounds, Jared Vollstedt added 10 points, 10 assists and three steals, Jon Brandt chipped in nine points and Austin Dahlgren had six points and 10 rebounds. 

AVOCA -- The AHSTW boys struggled for offense Friday night in a 42-35 home loss to Missouri Valley. The Vikings made just 13-of-58 field goal attempts (22.4 percent), including 1-of-9 from three-point range. Dawson Martin led the team with nine points, followed by Rhett Welsh and Preslyn Grobe with eight each and R.J. Harris with four. Welsh added 12 rebounds and Grobe blocked three shots. 

 SHENANDOAH -- The Harlan Community bowling teams were both defeated by Shenandoah in Monday’s first dual meet of the season. The Cyclone boys lost by 130 total pins (2,662-2,532) while the girls lost by 310 pins (2,532-2,222). The boys dual was tightly-contested following individual bowling - HCHS led by two pins - but the Mustangs gained a clear advantage during the Baker Games’ team round by outscoring the Cyclones 905-773.

 HARLAN -- Showcasing the improvement you would expect between games one and two, Harlan Community put away a young Blair squad by halftime Tuesday night and cruised to 2-0 overall with a 65-35 win over the Bears. HCHS senior Kyle Juhl scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter, and the Cyclones went to their bench early and often in building a 43-17 halftime lead. The second half was more of a defensive struggle, but HCHS coach