MANNING (Dec.

 RED OAK (Dec. 18) -- Friday’s Harlan Community at Red Oak girls and boys basketball games have been postponed and will now be played in Harlan on Thursday, January 7. Red Oak will visit HCHS January 7 for a girl-boy varsity doubleheader at 6:00 p.m. Junior varsity and freshmen games will also be played, starting at 4:30.

 HARLAN (Dec. 11) -- In a game matching two top-10 Class 4A girls basketball teams, Denison-Schleswig’s 12-0 fourth-quarter run proved to be the difference Friday night as the ninth-ranked Monarchs handed No.

 HARLAN (Dec.

 AVOCA (Dec. 11) -- The AHSTW boys won each quarter on Friday night and gradually pulled away from IKM-Manning for a 59-44 Western Iowa Conference victory. The Vikings improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the WIC while the Wolves dropped to 0-5 and 0-4, respectively. AHSTW shot 55 percent from the field, including 11-of-24 from three-point range.

 AVOCA (Dec.

 OAKLAND (Dec. 12) -- The Harlan Community wrestlers placed sixth out of 17 teams and AHSTW finished 12th at Saturday’s competitive Riverside Invitational. Logan-Magnolia, ranked third in Class 1A, won the tournament with 230 points, followed by Aurora (No. 3 in Nebraska Class B) with 170.5 and Creston/O-M with 164.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Dec. 8) -- The Harlan Community wrestling team opened the dual season with a 2-1 record last Tuesday night, scoring big wins over Southwest Iowa (75-6) and St. Albert (63-9) before losing a close 40-37 decision vs. Glenwood. The Rams also beat SWI 75-6 and St.

 HARLAN -- For as much as the Harlan Community girls basketball team put on a clinic in offense Tuesday night, the first thing head coach Zach Klaassen wanted to talk about after the game was his team’s solid man-to-man defense. “We were pretty good in the half court [offensively], but I think our half court defense really won that game for us,” he said.

 HARLAN (Dec. 8) -- It would certainly be understandable if the Harlan Community boys basketball players let their minds drift elsewhere at times during Tuesday night’s 59-45 home win over Kuemper Catholic. Barely 24 hours earlier, the Cyclones were dealt some major misfortune when starting senior point guard Michael Erlemeier suffered a broken fibula during Monday’s practice.

 ELK HORN (Dec. 8) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls basketball team is off to a 3-0 start on the season following Rolling Valley Conference wins over Glidden-Ralston, Coon Rapids-Bayard and Paton-Churdan. The seventh-ranked (1A) Spartans opened up with a 64-26 win at Glidden-Ralston on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Scoring leaders for E-EHK included Quinn Grubbs with 18 points, Macy Emgarten 14, Tatum Grubbs 13 and Mollie Rasmussen 12.

 ELK HORN (Dec. 8) -- Easton Nelson led the way with 24 points as Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton defeated Paton-Churdan 59-42 here Tuesday night in a Rolling Valley Conference boys basketball game. The Spartans improved to 2-1 on the season.
   Exira-EHK Points: Easton Nelson 24 (9-13 FGs), Jackson Radcliff 15 (7-10 FGs), Trey Petersen 9, Hunter Andersen 5, Tyler Petersen 4, Aiden Potts 2.

 HARLAN -- When Abi Albertsen ultimately decided that college athletics was part of her future, the Harlan Community senior did not mess around. About a month after capping a successful high school cross country career at the state meet in Fort Dodge, Albertsen signed a national letter of intent last Wednesday, Dec.

 HARLAN (Dec. 7) -- The Harlan Community girls bowling team is off to a 2-0 start on the season while the boys are 1-1 following home duals against Tri-Center and Shenandoah at Cyclone Lanes. The Cyclone girls defeated Tri-Center 2,402 to 1,836 last Thursday (Dec. 3) and easily defeated Shenandoah 2,419 to 1,683 on Monday. Lily Hegarty led the team with a two-game series of 396 vs. the Trojans, including a 218 in the first game of the year.

 HARLAN (Dec. 5) -- Claiming three champions and a pair of runners-up, the Harlan Community wrestlers opened the season by placing fourth out of eight teams in Saturday’s Dan Hill Cyclone Invitational in Harlan. Senior Jesse Schwery (195 pounds) and juniors Luke Freund (113) and Jeremiah Davis (220) all placed first for HCHS while junior Luke Musich (126) and sophomore Zane Bendorf (170) both took second in their weight class.