AVOCA (Feb.

 REGIONAL (Feb. 13) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton and IKM-Manning girls basketball teams will open regional play with home games Tuesday night as they begin their quests to secure a state tournament berth. Exira-EHK (20-1), ranked 2nd in Class 1A, will host Riverside (4-18) in a Region 7 quarterfinal at 7:00 p.m.

 HARLAN (Feb. 10) -- The Harlan Community girls finished the regular season with a lopsided defeat Saturday night as 2nd-ranked Lewis Central pulled away behind a 17-0 first-half run and beat the Cyclones 69-33. The score was 9-7 when LC rattled off 17 unanswered points en route to a 39-14 halftime lead.

 ELK HORN (Feb.

 DES MOINES (Feb. 15) -- There’s no such thing as an easy draw at the State Wrestling Tournament, and that’s particularly true for this year’s eight area qualifiers. Among the two state qualifiers from Harlan Community and six from AHSTW, seven will face a first-round opponent ranked in the top 10 of their weight class by The Predicament when competition begins Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.

 MISSOURI VALLEY (Feb.

 REGIONAL (Feb. 10) -- Fifteen area wrestlers will take their shots at earning a state tournament ticket Saturday when district meets are held across Iowa starting at noon. AHSTW leads the area with 10 district qualifiers and will compete in the Class 1A, District 5 Tournament at Oakland.

 HARLAN (Feb. 6) -- Knocking down 13-of-16 free throws during the fourth quarter and overtime, the Harlan Community boys basketball team survived 36 hard-fought minutes to outlast St. Albert 69-68 Tuesday night and avoid a third straight home loss. HCHS also beat the Falcons 64-61 on January 5. The rematch featured 10 lead changes and three ties in the fourth quarter alone, capped by Matt Fagan’s game-tying put-back for St.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Feb. 6) -- The Harlan Community girls basketball team never recovered from a slow start in Tuesday night’s 67-45 loss at St. Albert. HCHS fell behind 21-10 in the first quarter and was later outscored 20-10 in the fourth as the Saintes avenged a 20-point loss in Harlan earlier this season. The Cyclones were also scheduled to play at Sioux City East Monday night, but the game was cancelled due to inclement weather. St.

 WOODBINE (Feb. 6) -- Sophia Peppers approached a triple-double with 32 points, nine rebounds and nine steals on Tuesday night as the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls capped a 20-1 regular season with an 80-35 rout of the Woodbine Tigers. Kealey Nelson added 13 points for the Spartans, followed by Leslie Caniglia with 11, Kamryn Waymire nine and Jacey Anthofer six.

 WOODBINE (Feb. 6) -- Cole Burmeister (24) and Dakota Rold (23) combined for 47 points Tuesday night as the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys basketball team wrapped up Rolling Valley Conference play with a 71-54 road win over Woodbine. The Spartans finished 10-6 in the RVC and will take a 13-7 overall record into Friday’s final regular season game vs.

 MANNING (Feb. 6) -- The IKM-Manning girls and boys basketball teams finished the regular season with decisive wins over Griswold Tuesday night, the girls rolling to an 85-16 romp and the boys winning 68-27.
GIRLS BASKETBALLIKM-M 85, Griswold 16IKM-Manning Scoring Leaders: Alexa Ahrenholtz 15, Shauna Reitan 14, Kia Rasmussen 13, Payton Sporrer 12, Gabby Cadwell 8.

 HARLAN (Feb. 1) -- Led by Jayden Gessert’s two-game set of 336, the Harlan Community girls bowling team outscored OA-BCIG by 87 pins (2,193-2,106) at Cyclone Lanes last Thursday to pick up its second dual win of the season. The Cyclones (2-6 overall) avenged a 147-pin loss to the Falcons in Ida Grove two weeks earlier. The results also reversed in the boys half of the meet as OA-BCIG defeated HCHS by 44 pins (2,654 to 2,610).

 HARLAN (Feb.

 HARLAN (Feb.