STORM LAKE — Picking up the team’s fifth inning, after qualifying for state for the first time last season, Sioux Central’s girls dominated Storm Lake St. Mary’s, 68-12, on the road Tuesday night. The win was their first in Twin Lakes Conference play.

Avery Wilson finished with 20 points, six rebounds and six steals to lead the Rebels in the win. Marley Madsen added six rebounds as well, and five steals.

STORM LAKE — Tuesday, in nightcap of a doubleheader in Storm Lake, the Sioux Central boys left no doubt in the second half as they outscored St. Mary’s 36-10 on their way to a 43-point win, 65-22. The victory put the Rebels above .500 at 3-2.

Junior Jack Christian scored 21 points, including five from the behind the arc, almost outscoring their hosts single handedly. He added a team high nine rebounds and three steals.

ESTHERVILLE — The Iowa Lakes men’s basketball team defeated Northeast 109-70 to move to 9-5 overall and 2-3 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play.

The Lakers were led by Jade West with 29 points. Jermaine Freeman added 24, and Ashton Hermann added 16. Carlos Goicochea led the Lakers in rebounding with 11.

Northeast was led by Xavier Burns with 10 points.

As of Dec. 15, Iowans can buy 2025 resident hunting, fishing and other licenses. Licenses purchased in 2024 expire on Jan. 10.

The menu of license options includes the popular Outdoor Combo annual resident hunting/fishing/habitat combo license for $55; the Angler’s Special three-year fishing license for $62; and the Hunter’s Special three-year hunting license with habitat included for $101.

The recent blast of arctic air is growing ice on lakes and ponds across the northern two-thirds of Iowa. Outdoor ice enthusiasts are ready to get out ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating or fat-tire bike riding.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources recommends a minimum of four inches of clear ice for fishing and at least five inches for snowmobiles and ATVs.

The Biden-Harris administration recently joined the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and public-and private-sector partners in announcing $122.4 million in grants through the America the Beautiful Challenge. The 61 new grants announced on Dec. 2 will support landscape-scale conservation projects across 42 states, 19 tribal nations and three U.S. territories.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and its federal partners have been monitoring for the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Iowa’s wild birds since early 2022. After nearly a year without detections in sick or dead birds, Iowa has seen a sharp jump in affected waterfowl across the state mostly, north of Interstate 80 (northern Iowa) since early December, spurred on by the stress of migration and the severe cold.

Thanksgiving 2024 is behind us and, in many places, there’s a skim of ice on the ponds. It wasn’t that many years ago that we would be confident there would be fishing through the ice the weekend after Thanksgiving. Not so anymore in most traditional ice fishing locations.

Ice fishing is starting later and ending sooner across much of the ice fishing belt. To the surprise of no one who enjoys fishing or outdoor activities, our outdoor world continues to evolve.

For the past 22 years, Special Youth Challenge Ministries of Iowa, with its headquarters near Webb, has been offering youth with special challenges a chance to participate in and enjoy shooting sports in God's great outdoors. SYC provides training and adaptive equipment to help the hunters achieve this goal through guided spring turkey and fall deer hunts at no cost to the hunters or their families.

SIOUX CENTER — “We didn't have our best stuff offensively on the night, but once again our guys found a way to grind out a win,” coach Kory Petzenhauser, said of Tiger’s 9-point win at Sioux Center, Thursday night.

Spencer topped Sioux Center, 52-43. After a close first two quarters, the Tigers opened things up in the second half.

SIOUX CENTER — Spencer struggled, scoring 2 points in the first and third quarters, en route to a 55-22 loss to the No. 3 Sioux Center team’s home floor, Thursday. (Above) Sophomore Brynn Merchant defends Sioux Center’s Mary Franken near the Warrior basket. Addison Olson and Dakoda Lux put in four each to lead the Tigers in scoring. Tuesday night, Spencer’s girls play South Central Calhoun at home.

SPENCER GIRLS BASKETBALL

STORM LAKE — The Spencer Tigers boys wrestling squad opened the team’s Lakes Conference schedule Thursday, going off against the Tornadoes in Storm Lake. The Tigers took the match 52-21 despite having an open class.

“The Tigers looked tough tonight, absolutely wrestling to potential at most weights, varsity and JV alike,” said David Doebel, Spencer head coach. “… Overall, we wrestled to potential tonight. I am very proud of the team.”

MANSON — Sioux Central girls picked up their fourth basketball win of the season, downing host Manson-Northwest Webster, 54-26.

The Rebels limited the Cougars to 2 points in the first half, while scoring 22 in the first quarter and taking a 30-2 advantage into the break.

“Our girls were really ready to play and used their energy to fuel a great first half,” Rebel girls coach Kasey Krager said.

SIOUX RAPIDS — For the second straight meet, Sioux Central swept the competition, earning three wrestling wins in dual victories Thursday night on the comfort on their home mats. The Rebels doubled up West Bend, 48-24; downing Colfax-Mingo, 45-22; and edging Manson-Northwest Webster, 41-33.

“We put on an awesome day together at home,” Rebel boys wrestling coach Chance Rice said. “We were able to come away 3-0 on the day and 6-2 on the year.”

MANSON — Thursday night, Sioux Central’s boys struggled at Manson-Northwest Webster, dropping the hoop meet. The Rebels failed to score 20 points in the loss.

Stephen Tjaden, Sioux Central head coach, admitted, “Was not our best night on a lot of levels, we struggled early on with their pressure and physicality and that really set the tone for the game.

He added, “There are a lot of things we need to fix and get better with, that will be the focus moving forward.”