COUNCIL BLUFFS (June 2) -- The Harlan Community girls soccer team can take heart in the fact that their season was ended by one of the top programs in Iowa’s Class 2A. Lewis Central, which won three consecutive 2A state championships from 2016-2018, looks poised for another possible title run in 2021. The 2nd-ranked Titans beat HCHS 8-0 in a Region 2 semifinal last Wednesday, breaking open a close game as Haley Bach scored four goals during a

 AMES -- IKM-Manning sophomore Kylie Powers shot two solid rounds in last week’s Class 1A Girls State Golf Tournament, placing 11th out of 77 competitors at the Ames Golf and Country Club. Powers carded a 90 on Tuesday, June 1, and was 13th at the halfway point of the state meet.

 HARLAN (June 1) -- The Harlan Community baseball team won its first two games of the season Tuesday night at Jim Goeser Field, sweeping Creston in a Hawkeye Ten Conference doubleheader by scores of 10-6 and 8-0. Six two-out runs in the fourth inning, followed by a three-spot in the fifth, allowed the Cyclones to take control of game one as Stephen Leinen earned the pitching win in relief and Joey Moser locked down the save. Game two was all a

 HARLAN (June 1) -- Senior Emily Brouse pitched a three-hitter and finished game two with a walk-off RBI single Tuesday night as the Harlan Community softball team salvaged a split of its Hawkeye Ten doubleheader with Creston. In a matchup of state-ranked, Class 4A foes, the No. 12 Panthers took game one by a 6-3 final score while the No.

 WINTERSET (May 29) -- Harlan Community finished with a 2-1 record at last Saturday’s Winterset Softball Tournament, winning by scores of 8-2 over Interstate 35 and 11-0 over Nodaway Valley before losing a nine-inning pitchers duel, 2-1, vs.

 FORT DODGE -- IKM-Manning senior Tyler Brandt shot rounds of 85 and 90 at the Class 2A Boys State Golf Tournament held May 27-28 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge. Brandt tied for 43rd place with his 36-hole total of 175 strokes, finishing 31 over par. There were 62 golfers in the 2A field. Beckman Catholic sophomore Nathan Offerman was the Class 2A state champion, shooting rounds of 79 and 70 for a first-place 149.

 HARLAN (May 28) -- Second-half goals by juniors Raegen Wicks and Kaia Bieker enabled Harlan Community to rally past Denison-Schleswig 2-1 Friday night in a Class 2A girls soccer regional quarterfinal at Merrill Field. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, HCHS scored goals in the 47th and 58th minutes, taking the lead with 22:25 remaining and holding off a strong challenge from the Monarchs, who also lost in Harlan 5-2 on May 4. Denison closed the season

 HARLAN (May 28) -- Searching for any kind of good fortune to keep the seventh inning alive here Friday night, Harlan Community instead had its potential rally extinguished by an unfavorable call on the field. The final result was a 5-1 loss to Sioux City Bishop Heelan and an 0-2 start to the baseball season. HCHS managed just five hits in the game while committing four errors and five balks, issuing five walks and also hitting four batters. H

 WATERLOO (May 28) -- Harlan Community senior Brock Bruns finished with a 1-2 match record and came within a tiebreaker of earning a medal at the Class 1A Boys State Tennis Tournament this past weekend at the Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo. Bruns, the Cyclones’ first state singles qualifier since 2012, played all three of his matches on Friday and all three were held inside due to the weather. Bruns lost to Keokuk’s Abbot Haner 0-6, 1-6

 KIMBALLTON (May 28) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth to break a 4-4 tie and held off Coon Rapids-Bayard 7-4 in Rolling Valley Conference softball action here Friday. The 12th-ranked (Class 1A) Spartans capped a 5-0 opening week of the season, including two wins inside the RVC, while the Crusaders dropped to 1-2. Exira-EHK fell behind 2-1 in the top of the third and 4-3 in the fourth but was able to ans

 IRWIN (May 27) -- The IKM-Manning softball team was defeated by Tri-Center 12-7 in a Western Iowa Conference game here Thursday night. The Wolves rallied back to tie the score at 3-3 in the first inning and 4-4 in the second, but were unable to recover after T-C plated four runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the fifth. IKM-Manning totaled just four hits on the night but was able to draw 14 walks, including four by Zoey Melton.

 HARLAN (May 26) -- Jordan Heese’s fourth-inning double supplied the only RBI of the game Wednesday night as the Harlan Community softball team topped AHSTW 2-0 in a pitchers’ duel at H.

 DENISON -- The Harlan Community girls golf team finished the season with a seventh-place performance out of 12 schools at the Class 3A, Region 1 Tournament held May 24 at Majestic Hills Golf Course in Denison. State-qualifying teams were first-place Gilbert with an impressive score of 357 and second-place Nevada with a 400.

 CARROLL (May 24) -- Try as he might, Heath Stein won’t soon forget his first game as Harlan Community’s head baseball coach. Stein’s Cyclones showcased their promise in the first three and a half innings of Monday’s season opener at Kuemper Catholic, playing large amounts of small ball to build an 8-1 lead by the top of the fourth. The Cyclones showcased their youth from that point on, committing five errors in the last three innings and allo

 CARROLL -- The Harlan Community softball team opened the season last Monday night (May 24) with a 13-1 Hawkeye Ten Conference win at Kuemper Catholic, using a three-run second inning, a four-run fourth and a five-run seventh to turn the game into a rout. HCHS outhit the Knights 15-1 and also took advantage of seven Kuemper errors.