Facing their stiffest challenge of the season, Harris-Lake Park maintained their unblemished record with a skinny 42-40 win over West Bend-Mallard in Cornbelt Conference action on Tuesday. In heavy foul trouble for most of the game, the Wolves had to rally from a double-digit deficit in the second half. Brady Nissen played the role of hero, hitting the game-winning shot along the baseline with a dozen seconds left, before blocking the potential game-winning three-pointer by the Wolverines at the buzzer. Eli Ihnen would lead the Wolves in scoring with 18 points. Fifth-ranked Harris-Lake Park boasts a 14-0 record this season and is now 7-0 in conference outings.
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In other Cornbelt matchups, Clay Central-Everly snapped a nine-game skid with a 63-48 defeat of CWL, and North Sentral Kossuth/Armstrong-Ringsted put one in the win column with a 44-38 decision over Ventura.
With slow and steady precision, the LeMars Bulldogs pulled away from Spirit Lake on Tuesday en route to an impressive 59-38 Lakes Conference boys basketball victory. The Indians trailed by only four after the first quarter, but would lose the scoring battle in every quarter. Austin Homan controlled the paint, converting thirteen field goals for a game-high 28 points for LeMars. The Bulldogs, who swept the season series over the Indians, remain perfect in league play at 8-0 and jump to 10-3 overall. Spirit Lake’s top scorer was Sawyer Harms with thirteen points. The snaps a five-game winning streak for the Indians, and puts them at 5-3 in the conference and 9-4 this winter. A trip to Storm Lake is set for Friday on KUOO.
A strong second half propelled Estherville-Lincoln Central to a ten-point conference win over visiting Emmetsburg on Tuesday, 50-40. The Midgets trailed by one at the half before solidifying their second league W. Matt Burrell had a game-high 20 points for ELC, which is 2-6 against league opponents and 6-10 overall. They welcome in Spencer on Friday. Emmetsburg received 14 points from Michael Wolff, but drop below .500 overall at 6-7 and now 2-6 in the conference. The E-hawks host LeMars on Y100 coming up on Friday.
Also in the Lakes Conference, Western Christian secured a season sweep of Storm Lake with a 91-80 victory. Spencer took a 63-45 victory over visiting Cherokee, sending the Tigers to their first win in seven games. Their record improves to 6-7 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
The Siouxland Conference slate included Sibley-Ocheyedan winning a second straight league game with a 53-44 triumph over Sheldon. MOC-Floyd Valley stayed perfect with a 57-49 victory against Central Lyon. Sioux Center held court with a 68-51 final versus West Lyon. And fourth-ranked Boyden-Hull poured it on with a 78-44 trouncing of Rock Valley.
Throughout the rest of the area, South O’Brien dropped a home game to Unity Christian by four, 59-55, in the War Eagle Conference, and Sioux Central picked up a 62-45 defeat of Laurens-Marathon.
North of the border, Martin County West narrowly lost against Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 52-50. Round Lake-Brewster faltered against Hills-Beaver Creek, 73-48, and Southwest Star Concept closely defeated Murray County Central, 71-67.
