MANNING -- Sophomore Kia Rasmussen led the IKM-Manning girls with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five steals last Friday night at the Wolves outlasted Tri-Center, 57-55, in Western Iowa Conference play. The Wolves trailed 44-38 after three quarters before outscoring the Trojans 19-11 the rest of the way. Rasmussen knocked down 9-of-13 free throws for IKM-Manning, which finished 27-of-43 as a team from the charity stripe.

 HARLAN -- On the heels of a successful turnaround season on the gridiron, the Harlan Community boys basketball team is seeking similar levels of improvement on the hardwood this winter. Not that last season was a dud by any means.

 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

 AVOCA -- Defending state champion Treynor pulled away in the second half to win 66-47 at AHSTW last Friday in the Vikings’ season opener. AHSTW kept the Cardinals within striking distance for a half - trailing 29-21 - but couldn’t make up any ground in the final two quarters. Sophomore R.J. Harris scored 16 points to lead the Vikings, Dawson Martin had nine and Jake Martin added eight. 

 AUDUBON -- Kyle Wagner continued a torrid early-season scoring pace as IKM-Manning improved to 3-0 Tuesday night with a 63-46 win at Audubon. Wagner, who passed 1,000 career points vs. Panorama last Saturday, led the Wolves with 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots against the Wheelers and has now scored 74 in the first three games of his senior campaign.

 AUDUBON -- The host Audubon Wheelers outscored IKM-Manning 19-15 in the fourth quarter to win Tuesday night’s tightly-contested girls basketball matchup, 56-52, in Western Iowa Conference play. The Wolves, who dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the WIC, shot just 35 percent from the floor and were outrebounded by 10. Audubon (3-1, 2-0 WIC) overcame 17 turnovers and outscored the visitors 16-9 at the free throw line.

 HARLAN -- With less than two minutes left in the third quarter Friday night, a contingent of Shenandoah fans rose raucously to their feet as the Mustangs trimmed a once 16-point deficit to 34-28 against the Harlan Community boys basketball team. The Cyclones responded with six straight points and eventually won the game 56-37, but this was not quite the season-opening performance that coach Mitch Osborn had in mind. HCHS shot 3-of-17 from the

HARLAN -- On a night when the offense was flat, Harlan Community still played solid defense to easily handle Shenandoah, 52-20, in Friday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference girls basketball opener. Three nights after having their run of 52 straight wins come to an end vs.

 AVOCA -- The AHSTW girls basketball team lost its Western Iowa Conference opener vs. Treynor on Friday night by the score of 67-27. Madelyn Deitchler led the victorious Cardinals with 16 points and Abby Tiarks added 12 points and 10 rebounds.