HARLAN -- It seems like ancient history now, but only two years ago the Harlan Community girls basketball team had just finished off a rare 5-17 season. Four of this year’s seniors were major contributors on that 2018-19 squad, and three current juniors also saw varsity time as freshmen. Those seven girls now form the nucleus of the ninth-ranked team in Class 4A as the Cyclones prepare to open regional play with a 15-5 overall record. HCHS wi

 ADEL -- The Harlan Community boys basketball team will open Class 3A tournament play Monday (Feb. 22) with a 7:00 p.m.

 REGIONAL (Feb. 13) -- IKM-Manning senior Alexa Ahrenholtz surpassed 1,000 career points in her final game last Saturday while AHSTW senior Kailey Jones recently set the Lady Vikes’ school record for career rebounds. Ahrenholtz reached the 1,000-point mark in the first quarter of IKM-Manning’s Class 2A regional tournament game against East Sac County.

 SIOUX CITY (Feb.

 UNDERWOOD (Feb. 13) -- AHSTW junior Garrison Gettler put in 18 minutes of hard work Saturday afternoon to punch his first ticket to the State Wrestling Tournament. Gettler competed in three one-point matches during the Class 1A, District 7 meet in Underwood, winning two of them to place second at 160 pounds and qualify for this week’s state meet in Des Moines (Feb.

 MANNING (Feb.

 CRESTON (Feb.

 DUNLAP (Feb.

 DES MOINES -- Three Harlan Community qualifiers and one from AHSTW have all been seeded between 10th and 14th and will face tough first-round draws at the 2021 State Wrestling Tournament this week at Wells Fargo Arena. First round and first round consolation matches will kick off the state meet on Thursday. AHSTW’s Garrison Gettler will compete between 9:00 a.m.

 HARLAN (Feb.

 HARLAN (Feb. 9) -- Slowly but surely, Harlan Community is trending back in the right direction following a five-game January slide on the hardwood. Last Friday, HCHS turned the ball over five times in a rocky fourth quarter but was able to secure a three-point win over Lewis Central. Tuesday’s final stanza against Atlantic was a much smoother ride.

 UNDERWOOD (Feb.

 UNDERWOOD (Feb. 9) -- The IKM-Manning boys nearly pulled off a season sweep of Underwood Tuesday night, falling three points short, 53-50, in its final Western Iowa Conference game of the season. The Eagles (9-9 overall, 7-8 WIC) led 28-22 at the half and took their largest lead of eight points in the third quarter, but IKM-M would not go away.

    DUNLAP (Feb. 8) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys finished conference play with a bang Monday night, roaring back from a 21-6 first-quarter deficit at Boyer Valley and winning 55-54 on Trey Petersen’s three-point shot with six seconds left. Petersen, in fact, drilled three trifectas in the final minute as the Spartans completed their big comeback.

 HARLAN (Feb.