HARLAN -- It’s tough to beat any good team three times in one season.

 CARROLL -- Kuemper Catholic hit five 3-pointers during a pivotal 19-4 second-quarter run and got 22 points from senior standout Matt Dentlinger in beating IKM-Manning 76-53 in Tuesday night’s Class 2-A, District 15 final at Carroll High. The 2nd-ranked Knights (21-2) advanced to Saturday night’s Substate 8 final vs. Alta/Aurelia (21-1) at Denison. IKM-Manning finished the season at 16-7.

ELK HORN -- Finishing the first half on a mini-run, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton picked up right where it left off in the third quarter Tuesday night and beat Coon Rapids-Bayard, 58-51, in a Class 1-A boys district semifinal. The game was a rubber match between the Rolling Valley Conference rivals, who both won on the opponent’s home floor by seven points during the regular season. Tuesday’s seven-point win improved the Spartans to 18-5 overall a

    ATLANTIC -- A season of ups and downs ended abruptly for the Harlan Community boys basketball team Monday night as the Cyclones were bounced from tournament play by Adel-De Soto-Minburn.    The Tigers went on a 12-2 run in the second quarter and pulled away with a 16-3 second-half spurt to beat the Cyclones 65-51 in a Class 3-A, District 15 semifinal game at Atlantic. ADM (12-10) advanced to Thursday’s district final round against Atlantic

    DES MOINES – Harlan Community High School junior Keaton Jones placed in a tie for 27th out of 52 total bowlers at the Class 1-A Boys State Bowling Tournament held at Plaza Lanes in Des Moines on Monday.    Jones rolled individual games of 190 and 184 for a total score of 374.    Jones became just the second state qualifier in the history of the Cyclone boys bowling program after rolling a career-best 461 series at the Class 1-A State Quali

 DES MOINES -- The last time Harlan Community had a top-four medalist at the State Wrestling Tournament, current senior Jacob Wingert was in second grade. Wingert personally ended the drought Saturday with a fourth-place finish at 170 pounds in Class 2-A.

 DES MOINES -- A severe hamstring injury ended Gabe Pauley’s freshman season just shy of sectionals last winter, bringing an abrupt close to an otherwise successful 43-5 campaign. One year later, Pauley has certainly made up for lost time. AHSTW’s sophomore 160-pounder capped a sensational 49-2 season this past weekend by winning five out of six matches and placing third in the Class 1-A State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Pauley,

 ELK HORN -- Sophia Peppers dominated in the paint to the tune of 37 points and 13 rebounds Friday night, leading the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls past Boyer Valley 72-39 in a Class 1-A regional semifinal played at Elk Horn. Leading by just two points (24-22) at the midway mark of the second quarter, the third-ranked Spartans finished the first half on a 12-0 run, outscored the Bulldogs 29-11 in the third quarter and went ahead by 35 points

 AREA -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton, AHSTW and IKM-Manning all prevailed in boys basketball district action Thursday and will continue on the postseason trail Tuesday. The Spartans won 70-49 over Charter Oak-Ute in a Class 1-A district quarterfinal and will host Coon Rapids-Bayard on Tuesday night.

 HUXLEY -- The Harlan Community girls basketball team saw its season come to end here Saturday night, falling behind 26-4 in the second quarter and losing at 12th-ranked Ballard, 53-34, in a Class 4-A regional semifinal.

 DES MOINES -- Just like several other area athletes at the 2017 State Wrestling Tournament, it didn’t take long for Cole Bruns to run into a state title contender in his 170-pound, Class 1-A bracket. Making his first-ever state meet appearance, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior drew 2nd-ranked Taylan Entriken in Thursday’s first round and was pinned in 1:03.

 ADEL -- At halftime of Wednesday night’s Class 4-A regional quarterfinal, the outlook wasn’t exactly glowing for the Harlan Community girls basketball team. Struggling offensively without injured point guard Lexi Larsen, the Cyclones were turning the ball over too often, shooting 2-of-10 at the free throw line and trailing Adel-DeSoto-Minburn 24-17 on the scoreboard. But all of that was about to change in quarter number three. Sparked by the

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community boys basketball team moved into a tie for third place in the final Hawkeye 10 standings on Tuesday night, outlasting Creston 70-66 in a wild overtime home finale. It was the second time this season that the Cyclones and Panthers needed O.T. to reach a decision. On December 13, Creston prevailed 61-60 on Kylan Smallwood’s last-second 3-pointer.

 ATLANTIC -- Parity is the name of the game this season in the Class 3-A, Substate 8 boys basketball bracket. While top seeds Atlantic and Glenwood both stood at 15-5 going into Thursday night’s final games of the regular season, four other squads - Harlan Community, A-D-M, Carroll and Creston - all had identical win totals of 11. Postseason tournament play begins Monday night as the substate is split into two district sites.

 LOGAN -- In a game that looked and felt much more like a regional final than the quarterfinal round that it was, IKM-Manning and Logan-Magnolia needed four extra minutes to decide Tuesday’s win-or-go-home rubber match between Western Iowa Conference rivals. In the end - following six ties, three lead changes and a wild finish to regulation - Lo-Ma scored first and led throughout overtime despite the lack of a made field goal, hitting 9-of-15