Photo by Matt Kracht
The ALAH Lady Knights celebrated their two seniors Monday night, Elyse Harris (left) and Emily Powell (right). ALAH defeated Decatur LSA 48-23.

February 4, 2015

Harris, Powell get victorious send-off

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond Lady Knights honored Elyse Harris and Emily Powell Monday for senior night, mauling the LSA Lions in a dominant 48-23 performance. Kim Davis scored a game high 20 points and Hannah Wallen added eight points respectively.
The Lady Knights led 12-0 for most of the first quarter before Decatur LSA( Lutheran School Association) scored their first basket with under a minute remaining in the first quarter.
“I thought our defensive rotation and defensive block-outs were better than they had been,” said ALAH head coach Craig Moffett. “So those are two things we need to keep working on, but I was proud of the girls' effort tonight. They did a good job. Also we limited turnovers, and that is the key. If we can limit turnovers, rebound, and shoot with confidence, we can be dangerous.” Read More

February 4, 2015

Arcola gets best of back-and-forth affair

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

It was groundhogs day again in Bethany on Tuesday night for the Timberwolves boys’ basketball team as for the second time in little over a week the team fell in a close game to the Purple Riders.
In both contests, Arcola jumped out to an early lead only to watch Okaw Valley storm back before struggling in the fourth quarter.
“We are familiar with themm and they are familiar with us,” said head coach Tony Sparks. “They threw a 1-3-1 zone at us we had not seen, and we threw a 1-3-1 zone that they had not seen. So we were on the same wavelength.” Read More

Photo by RR Best
Mycaela Miller tries to dribble inside against Okaw Valley’s Jessica Robinson Thursday.

February 4, 2015

Lady T-Wolves avenge opening tournament loss

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

The Lady Timberwolves bounced back from a less than stellar conference tournament performance to beat Arthur-Lovington/Atwood Hammond Thursday night in Bethany 66-49.
Okaw Valley jumped out to a 21-5 lead in the first quarter. and head coach Don Gardener praised his girls’ effort from the first whistle.
“They dominated from the opening tip off,” he said. “This is how I expect us to play every game. When we’re firing on all cylinders, we are tough to beat, and everyone on the team contributed so it was a good team win.”
Paige Harlin opened up the scoring for Okaw Valley knocking down two free throws and adding a step-back 3-pointer putting the score at 5-0 with 6:51 left in the first. Harlin who went 6-of-6 from the foul line would finish with 13 points. Amanda McClain then scored to make it 7-0 before Elyse Harris got the Kinghts on the scoreboard with 3:40 left in opening quarter. Read More

Photo by RR Best
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond’s Payton Wellbaum tries to hold on to the ball Saturday evening. Wellbaum contributed eight points and pulled down several crucial rebounds in the Lady Knights’ third place victory over Tri-County.

January 28, 2015

Lady Knights take third place

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

After falling to tournament champion Arcola 52-38 in the LOVC Northwest championship game, the Lady Knights bounced back to claim third place by defeating the Tri-County Titans 56-43.  Kimberly Davis led all scorers with 15 points going 10-of-11 from the foul line, and Meagan Fifer put forth her best shooting performance of the tourney hitting 3-4 from the field including two crucial 3-pointers. “For three quarters we definitely did a good job bouncing back,” said head coach Craig Moffett. “It showed a lot about a young team that’s got a really good senior leader. Assistant coach Mac Condill used the term resilient, and I think that was spot on.”
The Knights were all over the Titans from the first whistle jumping out to a 6-0 lead with baskets by Davis and Fifer. The Knights extended the margin to 9-3 with 3:30 remaining in the first utilizing crisp passing, but the Titans would claw back to within one at 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Titans actually took a short-lived lead at 11-10 on the first points of the second period, but Mycaela Miller answered right back with a big time three. Hannah Wallen then found Payton Wellbaum under the basket to push Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond’s lead back to four at 15-11 with 6:40 remaining in the half. Read More

January 28, 2015

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

Coming off a tough defeat in the first round of the LOVC conference tourney Okaw Valley’s struggles continued Thursday, falling in what was a back and forth contest. Okaw Valley built up a nine point lead with just two minutes left in the first half but were unable to hold on. Paige Robinson had 11 points to go along with five steals. However, Cerro Gordo was able to hold offensive threat Amanda McClain to just four points.
After the loss head coach Don Gardner was looking forward to playing on their home court for a change. “This was our third trip up here. We had to come up here twice, and we had to play Argenta before the tournament. So we are ready to get back home I think. We get to play Cerro Gordo Monday at our place so that will be a nice rematch.” Read More