The Lakes Conference title was up for grabs Tuesday in Estherville, and the second-ranked Midgets were upset by Western Christian by a 56-37 margin. The Wolfpack used a 14-3 second quarter run to pull away and earn a split of the league crown. Allie Sievert had 17 points for ELC, which closes the season at 20-2 overall and 13-1 in the Lakes. Brooke Wolterstorff also scored 17 points for Western Christian. ELC hosts Okoboji in the Class 2A Regionals on Saturday.
Spirit Lake led a low-scoring first half in Spencer on Tuesday, and then opened up a double digit lead in the third quarter to secure a 39-30 Lakes Conference win over the rival Tigers. The Indians received 16 points from KJ Veldman to help sweep the season series. Spencer, which was plagued by foul trouble throughout the game, had three players finished with a team-high six points. The Tigers end the regular season at 10-11 overall and 6-8 in the Lakes. They travel to MOC-Floyd Valley on February 15 for their Class 3A Regional opener, which will be carried on Y100. Spirit Lake, at 9-4 in the league, has one more contest at Storm Lake on Friday to wrap up the conference slate. KUOO will have the coverage.
Click here for the postgame interview with Spirit Lake coach Rick Reinking.
On their home floor, Emmetsburg put together a third quarter rally to assume five point advantage heading into the fourth, however, visiting Cherokee put together a late surge for the 47-44 win over the E-Hawks. Emmetsburg committed 15 more turnovers in a losing effort. Ashton Connelly paced the E-Hawks with 16 points, connecting on four triples. Megan Hummel scored a game-high 17 points for the Braves, who finish the season 4-10 in the conference and 7-13 overall. Emmetsburg drops to 4-9 in league play and hosts LeMars on Thursday, which can be heard on Y100.
Also in the Lakes, LeMars upended winless Storm Lake, 53-14.
A scoreless first quarter put Okoboji in a major hole against Siouxland Conference champion MOC-Floyd Valley, who put the finishing touches on a perfect regular season with a resounding 62-26 defeat over the Pioneers in Milford on Tuesday. The Dutch had three players in double digits with Alexis Conaway atop the list at 20 points. Third-ranked MOC-Floyd Valley ends the season at 22-0 and hosts Spencer in the Class 3A Regional opener. Okoboji’s Skylar Hansen was the top scorer for the Pioneers with ten points, as they end the regular season with a 6-15 overall mark and a 5-12 league record. Okoboji travels to second-ranked Estherville-Lincoln Central on Saturday for the Class 2A Regionals, and KUOO will have the live coverage.
Click here for the postgame interview with coach Abby Goodlaxson.
The rest of the Siouxland slate had Boyden-Hull topping Sibley-Ocheyedan by five, 47-42. Central Lyon defeated George-Little Rock, 65-51. Sioux Center routed Rock Valley, 73-44. And West Lyon escaped with a 39-35 win over Sheldon.
Harris-Lake Park was hoping to end the regular season on a high note against Cornbelt Conference foe Ventura on Tuesday. In the end, the Lady Wolves found themselves on the losing end of a 37-22 ballgame. HLP ends the season at 7-13 overall and 6-6 in league contests. Harris-Lake Park hosts Clay Central-Everly on Thursday in the Class 1A Regional playoffs, and Q102 will have the play-by-play. The Mavericks will be coming off a 51-39 win over rival Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire. CCE improves to 10-11 this winter and 5-7 in conference. The Raiders extend their losing streak to 15 straight and end the regular season at 3-16 overall and 1-11 in the Cornbelt. GT/RA is at North Iowa on Thursday for their playoff opener.
Elsewhere, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn finished off their first winning season in 14 years with a 43-30 triumph over rival South O’Brien in the War Eagle Conference. The Hawks have won four straight to end the year at 11-10 overall and 4-6 in the league. HMS hosts Sheldon on Saturday in Class 2A Regional action on Q102. The Wolverines went 7-14 this year. And Sioux Central suffered just their third loss of the season, falling to Newell-Fonda, 43-30.