The ACGC girls basketball team stayed undefeated Monday night, picking up a convincing 51-19 win over the AHSTW Lady Vikes. The Charger defense was suffocating, stopping AHSTW at nearly every turn. Despite a slow start offensively, Camdyn Richter would explode, as ACGC used its size, ball movement, and depth to stay perfect and move to 5-0.

The first quarter felt like a feeling-out process as both teams saw a relatively slow start to the game offensively. AHSTW scored the game’s first points on an inside basket from Addison Carroll (who led the game in scoring for AHSTW) a minute and a half in. However, Karli Koutzky responded with a 3-pointer that would put the Chargers ahead. Both teams struggled to find the basket as they combined for just ten more points in the first quarter. Both defenses played well, and ACGC was able to sneak out a 10-5 lead after the opening frame.

In the second quarter, the Chargers’ offense broke through. Although ACGC went just 6-for-28 from long range, the Chargers hit four of those six in the second quarter. This included two from Meranda Gruber and one from Camdyn Richter. The second quarter was ACGC’s most productive offensively as they outscored AHSTW 21-6. Clara Pace and Carroll picked up field goals for AHSTW but Richter led the way with 10 points in the quarter as the Chargers opened up a 31-11 lead at the half.

Defensively, ACGC’s press caused trouble for the Lady Vikes. ACGC was able to force numerous turnovers throughout the game. Although the Lady Vikes battled all night long, they struggled to deal with the pressure and speed of the Chargers’ defense. As the game wore on, it eventually led to fouls that would send AGCG to the line. Richter was the main benefactor, scoring seven of her nine second half points from the charity stripe. Stella Largent, Shay Lemke, and Gruber added field goals in the third. Even though Lemke only finished with five points, she was an excellent distributor of the ball and helped ACGC pull away.

The fourth quarter saw both teams go to their bench. Maeleigh Rold, Etta Partlow, and Kadence Coolidge contributed for the Lady Vikes, while Olivia Mahaffey chimed in for ACGC. Lemke also knocked down the lone 3-pointer of the quarter as the Chargers were the more experienced team from start to finish and rode a strong performance to move to 5-0 on the year.

Head Coach Brad Balder was impressed with the way his defense limited AHSTW’s opportunities.

He was also impressed with Richter’s performance, especially in the paint.

Although happy with the win, Baudler understands there is always room for improvement.

ACGC will be back in action Friday when they host Panorama while AHSTW will take on Riverside in Oakland on Tuesday.

GIRLS

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Shenandoah – 54 vs Clarinda – 46

Non-Conference

ACGC – 51 vs AHSTW – 19

Riverside – 59 vs Stanton – 50

Tri-Center – 51 vs Paton-Churdan – 25 

St. Albert – 67 vs Underwood – 54

Bedford – 43 vs Southwest Valley – 40 

Wayne – 62 vs Seymour – 26 

Ar-We-Va – 38 vs Storm Lake St. Mary’s – 22 

Heartland Christian – 46 vs Parkview Christian – 29 

BOYS

Hawkeye Ten Conference 

Clarinda – 61 vs Shenandoah – 44 

Non-Conference

ACGC – 82 vs AHSTW – 48 

Kuemper Catholic – 76 vs Van Meter – 61

Underwood – 52 vs St. Albert – 50 

Red Oak – 51 vs West Central Valley – 38

Bedford – 52 vs Southwest Valley – 40

Murray – 54 vs Essex – 36

Wayne – 51 vs Seymour – 49 

Parkview Christian – 84 vs Heartland Christian – 51

The ACGC Chargers basketball team found themselves in a physical matchup Monday night, but came away with a big 82-48 victory over the AHSTW Vikings. Out of the gate the Chargers went up tempo focusing on driving into the paint and embracing any contact on the way. The lightning fast pace helped put ACGC up 5-0 early. Luke Sternberg did rally his team cutting his way inside and making multiple jumpers to end the run, but it would not be enough as Payton Policky ignited a Chargers offense that led 20-11 by the end of the first. Going into the second, ACGC continually applied pressure while switching into zone defenses to confuse AHSTW and that created a 39-26 Chargers lead at halftime.

Going into the third quarter the Vikings lost all steam and consistently turned the ball over. Jathan South also helped the Chargers set the tone in the third quarter making four baskets alone. When the third quarter ended, ACGC was up 53-34. In the fourth quarter not much changed for both squads besides the offensive output from Mason Wahl. Wahl score 8 points in the last frame. In the end, AHSTW did not have enough double digit scoring to overcome ACGC. The win keeps the Chargers undefeated on the season with a record of 4-0.

ACGC was led in scoring by Jathan South with 25 points and Noah Kading with 16. AHSTW top scorers were Luke Sternberg with 16 and Camden Soukup scoring 12.

When looking back at Monday’s win, Chargers head coach Lance Kading credited his stifling defense limiting the Vikings offense to only 22 second half points.

Part of that tenacious defense was the effort’s of Policky. Coach Kading acknowledged the difference his tough mindset made on both sides of the score and scoring 15 points on his own.

The Chargers next game will be at home on Friday against a familiar rival in Panorama.

AHSTW stays winless on the year at 0-3 with their loss.

The Iowa State women play fourth ranked UConn Tuesday night in the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase. The Cyclones are 9-3 and dropped out of the AP Poll after last week’s loss at Iowa. UConn is 9-1 and suffered its first loss of the season last week to Notre Dame.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly who says UConn coach Geno Auriema (R-E-em-uh) reached out in the off-season about the Cyclones taking part in the event.

The Cyclones have already played second ranked South Carolina and sophomore forward Addy Brown feels that was good preparation for this game.

That will be the second half of the doubleheader. In the opener fifth ranked LSU will play Seton Hall.

The Drake women raced out to a 40-14 lead at halftime and crushed South Carolina Upstate 84-34 today in the Knapp Center. The game was played in front of a large number of elementary school kids. The Bulldogs were 14 of 38 from three point range and coach Allison Pohlman says the Bulldogs need more quality shots from behind the arc.

Pohlman believes the perimeter shooting will improve.

The Bulldogs improve to 5-5.

Northern Iowa football coach Todd Stepsis announced a 10-member coaching staff that includes three members of former Panther coach Mark Farley’s staff and seven who coached for Stepsis at Drake.

Stepsis says the new coaching staff will fan out across the state of Iowa beginning Tuesday to visit high schools in hopes of rebuilding in-state recruiting.

Stepsis says the goal is to visit every high school in the state of Iowa this week.

DES MOINES, IOWA – As the excited shrieks from thousands of youngsters resonated through the Knapp Center, the Drake women’s basketball team kept them entertained with a decisive victory. Eight players scored between seven and 11 points and Drake won for the third straight time, beating USC Upstate 84-34 on Monday in the annual Character Counts! Day game, which drew students from 47 schools around the state.

Drake squared its record at 5-5 for the season after a 2-5 start despite an uneven day offensively. The Bulldogs compensated by throttling their opponent from the Big South Conference on the defensive end, holding the Spartans (2-10) to 20.4 percent shooting, coming up with 17 steals and forcing 27 turnovers in all. The Spartans’ 34 points were the fewest allowed by the Bulldogs since Iowa Wesleyan scored 25 during the 2017-18 season.

The steals were a season high, and the turnovers were the most by a Drake opponent this season. The shooting percentage was a season low for an opponent. Brooklin Dailey led the scoring with 11 points, which matched her career high. Ava Hawthorne added 10 points, while Katie Dinnebier, Anna Miller and Grace Knutson each scored nine. Freshman Maggie Taylor grabbed 11 rebounds to go with seven points, both career highs. Abbie Aalsma and Shannon Fornshell also scored seven points each.

Dinnebier moved from seventh to third on Drake’s season list for steals with three in the game’s first 6 minutes and finished with six to match her career best. She has 90 for the season, second behind Linda Sayavongchanh’s 105 in the 2003-04 season. Miller’s nine points lifted her into 30th place on Drake’s career scoring list with 1,216. She also grabbed eight rebounds and matched her season highs with four assists and two steals.

Drake finished with a 48-29 rebounding edge, the eighth time in 10 games the Bulldogs outrebounded their opponent, and had a 29-9 bulge in points off turnovers. During the middle two quarters, Drake held Upstate to five field goals and 11 points.

Drake will hit the road for its next two games, playing at St. Thomas on Dec. 29 and opening Missouri Valley Conference play at Evansville on Jan. 2. The Bulldogs’ next home game is Jan. 2 against UIC at 6 p.m.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State women’s basketball sophomore Audi Crooks has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week. It is the first weekly award for Crooks this season and her third league player of the week award of her career.

The 6-3 center averaged over 30 points in Iowa State’s two games this week. Crooks poured in 31 points at No. 21 Iowa on Wednesday night, shooting 14-of-22 from the field before following up with 30 points Sunday night against Eastern Illinois. It was the first time an Iowa State player has posted back-to-back 30-plus point games since Ashley Joens finished with 33 and 36 against Texas and UT Arlington, respectively, in March 2022.

The Algona, Iowa native leads Iowa State this season with 21.6 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. In 45 career games, she has scored in double figures 44 consecutive times and totaled 894 points.

Iowa State will face off with No. 4 UConn on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on FS1.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins was named a Third-Team All-American by The Associated Press on Monday morning.

Higgins, already a Second-Team All-American by The Athletic and an All-Big 12 selection, has hauled in 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns in 13 games. Those totals all rank second on ISU’s single-season charts.

His 1,183 receiving yards are the fourth-most nationally this season.

The South Miami, Florida native has caught a touchdown pass in nine of 13 games and is averaging 6.7 receptions per game, a top-15 mark nationally. Higgins has five 100-yard receiving games this season.

He ranks second among all FBS receivers with a 90.2 offensive ranking on PFF, while his 90.5 receiving grade is also second nationally. Both are tops nationally among wide receivers with at least 100 receiving snaps.

No. 18 Iowa State is back in action against No. 15 Miami Dec. 28 at the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior linebacker Jay Higgins and junior running back Kaleb Johnson were recognized as AP All-Americans, the announcement was made on Monday by the Associated Press.

Higgins is a first team selection, while Johnson was a second team honoree. Iowa has had at least one AP first or second team All-American 11 straight seasons (2014-24). The AP is one of five outlets recognized by the NCAA to determine consensus All-Americans (Walter Camp, American Football Coaches Association, Sporting News, Football Writers Association of America).

Higgins is nearing consensus All-American status, having earned first-team All-America distinction by Walter Camp, AP and AFCA. Higgins (6-foot-2, 232 pounds) was also honored as the Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten. He is the only player in the nation with 100+ tackles and four interceptions. His four picks are tied for the most amongst linebackers from a Power 4 conference. Higgins, who was a semifinalist for the Lombardi, Lott IMPACT and Butkus awards, has racked up 118 tackles — second most in the Big Ten, 13th-most nationally. The Indianapolis native has been a leader on an Iowa defense that is ninth nationally, allowing 17.1 points per game.

Johnson has been named second-team All-America by the AP and AFCA, while he was a first-team choice by Walter Camp. Johnson was also voted Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten and finalist for the Doak Walker Award. He posted school single-season records in points (138), total touchdowns (23) and rushing scores (21). Johnson (6-foot, 225 pounds) rushed for 1,537 yards in 12 games, sixth-most in the country and third-most in program history. The native of Hamilton, Ohio, scored at least one touchdown in all 12 regular season games — the longest stretch in school history. Johnson had seven games in 2024 with two or more rushing touchdowns, believed to be the most in a single season in program history. He declared for the NFL Draft earlier this month.

The 2024 Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) All-America teams will be announced on Tuesday and conclude with Sporting News on Wednesday.

The Hawkeyes will play No. 19 Missouri on Dec. 30, 2024, in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl in Nashville. The game will start at 1:30 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on ESPN.

2024 IOWA POSTSEASON ALL-AMERICA NATIONAL HONORS
JAY HIGGINS: Walter Camp, AFCA, AP, CBS, The Athletic (first team)
KALEB JOHNSON: Walter Camp (first team); AFCA, AP, CBS, The Athletic (second team), Pro Football Focus
LUKE ELKIN: AFCA (first team)