A top-five battle between unbeaten teams lived up to all the hype Friday as Harris-Lake Park challenged Storm Lake St. Mary’s for the Class 1A District 5 title in Emmetsburg, and in the end the defending state champs survived a 55-52 white-knuckler. The Wolves, champions of the Cornbelt Conference, assumed the early lead and stayed on top through most of the second quarter. The Panthers, champions of the Northwest Conference, outscored HLP by nine in that quarter to take a six point lead at the half. The advantage stretched to 15 in the second half, before Harris-Lake Park rallied in the fourth to pull within a basket. The game hinged on the final possession, however, trailing by three, the Wolves were unable to get up a shot and turned the ball over with two second remaining. Eli Ihnen led all scorers with 22 points, hitting four shots from outside the arc. Tanner Hiveley battled his way to 16 points, and Brady Nissen finished with thirteen points. Fifth-ranked HLP ends one of the best seasons in school history with a 22-1 record. St. Mary’s received a team-high 16 points from Luke Lenhart, to go along with a dozen points by Kennedy Drey and eleven by Andy Drey. The second-ranked Panthers, at 24-0, will take on Guthrie Center in a Class 1A Substate game Saturday in Ft. Dodge at 7pm.
Click here for the postgame interview with HLP coach Jeff Sohn.
Also in Class 1A, Siouxland Conference rivals Boyden-Hull and Central Lyon squared off with a trip to substate on the line. The fourth-ranked Comets earned a 63-43 victory, and will play Saturday at 6:30pm in Sioux City at the Tyson Events Center against Kingsley-Pierson.
The Class 3A District Final in Sioux Center pit the league champions from the Lakes and Siouxland Conferences against one-another. Tenth-ranked LeMars, built an eight point lead at the half, only to have top-ranked MOC-Floyd Valley surge back and win by three, 61-58. The undefeated Dutch move on to Saturday’s Substate at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, where they will take on the home town Tornadoes at 7pm. Storm Lake advanced with a 66-55 triumph over Webster City in Ft. Dodge on Friday.
In other substate games on Saturday, Western Christian and Sioux Center will play for the right to go to state in Class 2A. The Wolfpack and Warriors will tip off at 8pm in Sioux City at the Tyson Events Center.
