The 7:20-a.m. sports report with Jim Field.

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One of the stranger looking fish in Iowa waterways will once again be a target of anglers in March on the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers in western Iowa. D-N-R fisheries biologist, Van Sterner, says it will be the first time you can legally go after paddlefish on those two rivers since 1986 when fishing was cut off out of concern for their survival.  “The Missouri River has undergone a lot of changes over the last several decades with the channelization for commercial barge traffic, the construction of the reservoirs.

The river experienced some very dramatic habitat loses and changes in habitat diversity and that sort of thing,” Sterner says. “So, the thinking back then was the paddlefish population would have difficulty, was in jeopardy, because of these changes.” The fish has a flat front that looks kind of like a paddle. They are referred to by many as a spoonbill, it’s got a long nose or rostrum that measures out to 15 inches sometimes, it’s a scaleless it actually has not bones as well, it’s skeletal system is all cartilage. So it is a unique looking fish,” Sterner explains.

He says the fish now found in the Missouri River will range between 15 and 20 pounds at a length of 30 to 40 inches. There is a length limit on the fish. Fish between 35 and 45 inches have to be immediately released to protect their ability to reproduce. Sterner can’t say how the fish uses its unique nose. “Nobody knows for sure. There’s been some things speculated that it has something to do with finding prey species, speculation that it gives the younger fish some protection from predation by making them appear larger than they are, but nobody is certain,” Sterner says. He says there should be some good areas of habitat for the fish.

Sterner says the fish seek out deep and slow waters as they strain plankton from the water and often can be found in the calmer water behind the many wing dikes that line the Missouri River. It’s a unique fish and it’s not caught in the standard method of baiting a hook and tossing it in the water to wait for the fish to bite. “The method is actually snagging, where you pull a treble hook through the water hoping to actually snag the fish in the body, hoping to retrieve it that way,” Sterner says. He says those who find a keeper paddlefish will enjoy a good meal.

“They’re very good to eat, a good firm white flesh,” Sterner says. “When you clean this fish, there will be a little bit of red meat right below the skin, and you’ll want to trim that off and get down to the good white stuff.” A special license is required for the paddlefish on the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers, but they can be caught on the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers without a license. Sterner says they learned some things about the fish through a program that tags some of the western Iowa fish.

“We put that into the lower jaw…part of it is for a mark and recapture population estimate, so recovering those tags is important for us actually getting a population estimate, it also gives us interesting information on movement. We’ve had tagged fish recovered down in Memphis, and also up in South Dakota. It’s a highly mobile, migratory fish,” Sterner says. He asks anyone who catches a fish with a tag to report it to the D-N-R.

(Radio Iowa)

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Samantha Logic and Melissa Dixon scored 13 points apiece and Number 22 Iowa survived a shaky and wild finish to beat Michigan State 52-50 on Sunday. The Spartans kept the high-powered Hawkeye offense (79.8 points a game) in check but couldn’t come up with a final key play down the stretch.

Lexi Gussert’s layup with 2:31 left pulled Michigan State (9-9, 1-6 Big Ten) within 49-45 but the Spartans had turnovers on their next three possessions. Meanwhile the Hawkeyes (14-3, 5-1) couldn’t score and Logic (74 percent) and Dixon (86 percent) missed the front end of one-and-one free throws.

Anna Morrissey hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 20 seconds left to make it 49-48 but Michigan State couldn’t get the ball back until after Dixon made two free throws at eight seconds. Down three, the Spartans’ Tori Jankoska was fouled with a half-second to go and she made both free throws, the second on a bank when she was trying to miss.

Ally Disterhoft, who had 12 points, made a last free throw.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Seth Tuttle scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and No. 23 Northern Iowa cruised past Missouri State 60-46 on Sunday for its fifth straight win. Deon Mitchell had 11 points for the Panthers (16-2, 5-1 MVC), who moved into a tie for second place in the Valley with Indiana State with the win.

Northern Iowa made quick work of the overmatched Bears (8-10, 2-4), who only dressed nine players. The Panthers pushed a 12-point halftime lead to 47-30 midway through the second half and won by double digits for the fourth consecutive game.

Austin Ruder had 13 points for Missouri State, which played its second game without suspended star Marcus Marshall.

ADM Tourney

1. Ames 206.5
2. Atlantic/CAM 183
3. Dallas Center-Grimes 174
4. ADM 151.5
5. PCM 122

152 – 1st place – Reid Nichols (Atlantic/CAM)

Griswold Dual Tourney

1. East Mills 5-0 (Exira/EHK 36-31, Treynor 37-34, Tri-Center 38-36, Southwest Valley 54-18, Griswold 44-16.)Other known results are below:
2. Tri-Center 3-1 (Griswold 60-15, Southwest Valley 54-24, Exira/EHK 42-27)
3. Treynor 2-1 (Southwest Valley 41-30, Griswold 40-36)
4. Exira/EHK 2-2 (Southwest Valley 46-24, Griswold 33-27)
5. Griswold 1-4 (Southwest Valley 34-33)

Kuemper Catholic Dual Tourney

1. Johnston JV 5-0 (Kuemper Catholic 50-24, Guthrie Center 48-33, Missouri Valley 42-33, Audubon 57-21, Storm Lake 46-24)
2. Storm Lake 4-1 (Guthrie Center 38-36, Audubon 48-27, Kuemper Catholic 48-18, Missouri Valley 33-32
3. Kuemper Catholic 3-2 (Missouri Valley 39-24, Guthrie Center 37-33, Audubon 54-24)
4. Missouri Valley 2-3 (Audubon 40-21, Guthrie Center 42-27)
5. Guthrie Center 1-4 (Audubon 42-27)
6. Audubon 0-5

Underwood Tourney

1. Gretna, NE 229.5
2. Thomas Jefferson 228.5
3. Ogden 173
4. Denison-Schleswig 113
5. Nodaway Valley 101.5
6. Underwood 66.5

Area Champions:

• 106 – McGwire Midkiff, Thomas Jefferson
• 113 – Alex Thomsen, Underwood
• 126 – Colton Downing, Thomas Jefferson
• 138 – Colton Clingenpeel, Thomas Jefferson
• 145 – Robert Daley, Thomas Jefferson
• 152 – Jason Wallace, Thomas Jefferson
• 182 – Brendan Anderson, Thomas Jefferson

Jim Field has the call of the game played at Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln High School.

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BOYS BASKETBALL

• CB Abraham Lincoln 65, Atlantic 57
• Harlan 63, Glenwood 62
• Shenandoah 73, Audubon 52
• Panorama 72, Nodaway Valley 46

Corner Conference Tournament Play-In

• Heartland Christian 68, South Page 63

GIRLS BASKETBALL

• Coon Rapids-Bayard 60, West Harrison 11
• Denison-Schleswig 39, OA-BCIG 33
• Harlan 73, Glenwood 29
• Panorama 61, Nodaway Valley 54
• Shenandoah 73, Audubon 39
• St. Albert 47, Missouri Valley 28
• Panorama 61, Nodaway Valley 54

Corner Conference Tournament Play-In

• Heartland Christian 45, Clarinda Academy 16

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Naz Long scored 20 points and 11th-ranked Iowa State held off Number 9 Kansas 86-81 on Saturday night, recording back-to-back wins over the Jayhawks for the first time in 14 years. Georges Niang had 15 points for the Cyclones (13-3, 3-1 Big 12), who shot 9 of 20 on 3s in snapping Kansas’ five-game winning streak.

Long followed a long 3 with a layup to give Iowa State a 71-57 lead with 6:26 left. Kansas pulled to 82-79 with 29 seconds to go, but Niang sealed the win by drawing a crucial charge with 14 seconds left. Frank Mason III scored 21 points and Perry Ellis had 19 with 11 rebounds for Kansas (14-3, 3-1), the last team in the Big 12 to lose a conference game.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Chris Caird scored 16 points and hit a key 3-pointer with less than a minute left to help Drake beat Indiana State 84-79 on Saturday, handing the Sycamores their first Missouri Valley Conference loss. Caird drained his fourth trey to give Drake a 76-74 lead with 54 seconds left, and the Bulldogs shot 8 of 8 from the line to seal it.

Gary Ricks Jr. hit 5 of 7 from long range on his way to 23 points, and Jordan Daniels chipped in 15 points for Drake (3-15, 1-5 Missouri Valley), which snapped its five-game losing skid. The Bulldogs shot 61.5 percent from the field and went 12 of 17 from deep.

Brenton Scott scored 21 points, including 4 of 10 from beyond the arc to lead Indiana State (9-9, 5-1). Khristian Smith and Devonte Brown added 16 points, and Justin Gant had 10 for the Sycamores.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Aaron White scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half to lead Iowa to a 76-67 win over Ohio State on Saturday. Adam Woodbury had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (13-5, 4-1 Big Ten), who swept the home-and-home series with Ohio State for the first time since 2004. Mike Gesell added 11 points the Hawkeyes. D’Angelo Russell scored a game-high 27 points on four 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds for the Buckeyes (14-5, 3-3).

White scored 12 straight points during a key stretch in the middle of the second half to push Iowa’s lead to 16 points. The senior made 10 of 12 free throws for the game. A Shannon Scott 3-pointer cut Iowa’s lead to 68-62 with 4:46 left, but Ohio State never got any closer. Jae’Sean Tate scored 11 points and Marc Loving added 10 for Ohio State.