Using their quickness, Nodaway Valley held North Iowa to 31.5% shooting in a Wolverines 62-40 win in the first round of the Class 1-A boys state basketball tournament.  Playing in the opening game of the tourney Monday morning, Nodaway Valley jumped out to a 30-17 halftime lead and were never challenged in the second half.  The Wolverines got solid performances from their leaders, as Dan Ehrsam scored 20 points, T.J. Bower tossed in 14 points and 6-foot-7 center Alex Welsch added 11 points and hauled down 10 rebounds.  The Wolverines made 20 of 42 shots from the floor, shooting 47.6% overall and made 7 of 16 from the three point line.  They also made 15 of their 18 free throw attempts.  Nodaway Valley out-rebounded North Iowa 37-26.  North Iowa made just four of 17 three point tries.  The Wolverines improve to 23-2 and advance to semi-finals on Thursday morning at 10:30.

Class 1-A
Final — Nodaway Valley 62, North Iowa 40
Final — Danville 68, St. Albert 39
Final — Boyden-Hull 64, Iowa Mennonite 44
Final — Storm Lake St. Mary’s 62, Lisbon 44

Class 2-A
Final — MFL-Mar-Mac 73, Sioux Center 72
Final — Mount Vernon 56, North Cedar 39

Residents of Pottawattamie County have an opportunity to attend one of several listening sessions scheduled to take place throughout the County, with regard to possible county-wide trails. The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board will meet with residents to gather public input on the future of multi-use trails. Mark Shoemaker, executive director of the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board, says the meetings are to being held to discuss where the trails should be located. He says anyone attending the sessions will discuss the future of the multi-use trails and asked to offer their opinions on where the lines should be drawn as to where the trails should be. 

Shoemaker says there are some short trails already in place, in Pottawattamie County. That includes the Wabash Trace, in Council Bluffs, several trails within the Council Bluffs city limits, some short trails in Oakland and other communities. Some trails are under development in other communities within the County. The main purpose of the meetings is to eventually connect the trails to every community in Pottawattamie County.

The County-wide trail planning listening sessions will be held in  four cities across the county. They will be held March 8^th, from 7-to 9-pm at the Neola Community Center; at the Carson Community Center, March 10^th, from 9am-11am; and at the AHST High School in Avoca, March 14^th, from 7-9pm. The final session will be held March 22nd, at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Looft Hall – Room 10, from 4-to 6-pm. Shoemaker says even if a meeting will not be held in your community in Pottawattamie County, you are still welcome to attend one of the meetings elsewhere in the County. The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board is also scheduling a water trails meeting at the Botna Bend Park in Hancock on Wednesday, March 21^st.

(courtesy Joel McCall/KNOD, Harlan)

w/ Jim Field

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

COLUMBIA, Mo. – After nearly pinning his opponent in the championship match, Iowa State heavyweight Matt Gibson earned the 2012 Big 12 Championship heavyweight title Saturday at the Hearnes Center. Gibson defeated Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State in an 8-3 decision for the crown. Missouri won the team title with 77 points. Oklahoma State (73), Oklahoma (60.5) and Iowa State (24) rounded out the team scoring.

Iowa State will take at least Gibson, Ryak Finch (125), Andrew Sorenson (165) and Boaz Beard (184) to the NCAA Championships, March 15-17 in St. Louis, Mo.

Missouri led as a team by four points heading into the final match of the evening, as many Tiger faithful supported Gibson throughout the match. As Gibson earned a three-point near fall in the second period, the crowd continued to cheer for the Vallejo, Calif., native and gave him a slow clap in the final 20 seconds of the match.

Gibson is now 24-8 overall and has received an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Championships.

At 184 pounds, Boaz Beard lost a tight match to No. 1 seed Mike Larson of Missouri. Beard trailed 4-2 entering the third period and posted a reversal 30 seconds in to knot the score 4-4. The Wichita, Kan., native wasn’t able to pull off the win after an escape by Larson with 1:20 remaining.

Iowa State senior Andrew Sorenson earned a second-place finish after losing a 3-2 decision to Zach Toal of Missouri. Sorenson was in deep three times and has his opponent hopping on one leg, but ultimately could not finish the ensuing scrambles that followed. Sorenson is now 26-2 overall.

Iowa State travels to St. Louis, Mo., for the NCAA Championships March 15-17.

FINAL TEAM SCORES: Missouri, 77; Oklahoma State, 73; Oklahoma, 60.5; Iowa State, 24

Finals Results

125 pounds: Alan Waters (MU) dec. Jarrod Patterson (OU), 7-0

133 pounds: Jordan Oliver (OSU) dec. Nathan McCormick (MU), 10-2

141 pounds: Kendric Maple (OU) dec. Josh Kindig (OSU), 11-5

149 pounds: Jamal Parks (OSU) dec. Kyle Bradley (MU), 8-3

157 pounds: Drake Houdashelt (MU) dec. Matt Lester (OU), 3-1

165 pounds:  Zach Toal (MU) dec. Andrew Sorenson (ISU), 3-2

174 pounds: Chris Perry (OSU) dec. Dorian Henderson (MU), 8-2

184 pounds: Mike Larson (MU) dec. Boaz Beard (ISU), 5-4

197 pounds: Cayle Byers (OSU) dec. Brent Haynes (MU), 5-0

285 pounds: Matt Gibson (ISU) dec. Austin Marsden (OSU), 8-3

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State sophomore forward Royce White has burst onto the national collegiate basketball scene and the Big 12 coaches have taken notice. White, who is ranked in the Big 12’s top-five in both rebounding (9.2) and assists (5.2), was honored as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, announced today by the league office.

White is the only player in the nation to lead his team in scoring (12.9), rebounding (9.2), assists (5.2), steals (1.2) and blocks (1.0). The Minneapolis, Minn., native, has nine double-doubles to rank second in the league and the point-forward registered just the sixth triple-double against league competition in Big 12 history with 10 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists vs. Texas A&M.

White, who was recently named to the Naismith Award Top-30 Watch List, is averaging 6.8 assists in his last nine games. He was a three-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week honoree during the season.

White is the fifth Cyclone in school history to earn conference newcomer of the year honors: Zaid Abdul-Aziz (1966, Big Eight), Bill Cain (1968, Big Eight), Dedric Willoughby (1996, Big Eight) and Jamaal Tinsley (2000, Big 12).

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg orchestrated the greatest turnaround in Big 12 history in his second season at the helm. The Big 12 coaches recognized the extraordinary efforts of Hoiberg during the 2012 season, selecting him as the Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year, announced today by the league office.

Hoiberg shared the award with Kansas head coach Bill Self, who led the Jayhawks to their eighth-straight Big 12 regular-season title.

“I am humbled to be recognized as the co-coach of the year in a league with outstanding head coaches,” Hoiberg said. “This award is a credit to our players and coaching staff, who worked tirelessly throughout the season to improve each day. I can’t thank them enough for their hard work.”

The Cyclones were predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Big 12 Coaches poll, but Hoiberg and Cyclones earned the No. 3 seed at the Big 12 Championship, tying for third in the Big 12 with a 12-6 record. Iowa State’s 12 wins in league play is the third-best total in school history.

After finishing last in the Big 12 at 3-13 a year ago, Iowa State improved its conference win total by nine (12-6). It is the largest turnaround by any team in all-time Big 12 play. The Cyclones also finished the regular-season with 22 victories, the third-best total in Iowa State history.

The Mayor, who has a 38-25 overall record at ISU, led the Cyclones to a pair home wins over top-10 teams (Kansas, Baylor) for the first time since 1992. He also energized the Iowa State fan-base, as the Cyclones finished second in the league in attendance (13,015), selling out four of their last six home games.

Hoiberg joins former Iowa State head coaches Tim Floyd (1996-Big Eight) and Larry Eustachy (2000, 2001- Big 12) as coach of the year award winners.

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State men’s basketball was well-represented on the Big 12 annual postseason award list, announced today by the conference office. Sophomore Royce White was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, senior Scott Christopherson earned third-team honors, senior Chris Allen was an honorable mention pick along with sophomore Melvin Ejim. White also made the all-rookie team.

White, a 6-8, 270-pound forward from Minneapolis, Minn., is the fifth Cyclone to earn All-Big 12 First-Team accolades by the conference coaches: Dedric Willoughby (1997), Marcus Fizer (2000), Jamaal Tinsley (2001) and Craig Brackins (2009).

White is the only player from a power-six conference to rank in the top-100 nationally in rebounding (44th-9.2) and assists (50th-5.2). Both his season rebounding (284) and assist (160) rank in Iowa State’s single-season top-20.

Christopherson, a native of LaCrosse, Wis., is Iowa State’s career leader in 3-point percentage (44.2 percent). Christopherson is currently the Big 12 leader in both 3-point percentage (45.5 percent) and free-throw percentage (89.5 percent).

A native of Lawrenceville, Ga., Allen ranks sixth in Big 12 3-pointers per game at 2.3. Allen’s 72 3-pointers ranks ninth on Iowa State’s single-season record chart.

Ejim, who hails from Toronto, Ontario, is averaging 9.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. Ejim improved his play dramatically in conference action, averaging 10.9 points and 7.1 rebounds. His conference rebounding average was the sixth-best total in the league.

DALLAS (AP) — Kansas forward Thomas Robinson has been voted the Big 12’s best player by league coaches, while Bill Self was picked as co-coach of the year along with Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg. Robinson was joined on the All-Big 12 first team on Sunday by teammate Tyshawn Taylor. The Cyclones’ Royce White, Marcus Denmon of Missouri and J’Covan Brown rounded out the five-member squad. Baylor’s Quincy Acy and Pierre Jackson made the second team along with Missouri’s Ricardo Ratliffe, Oklahoma State’s Keiton Page and Rodney McGruder of Kansas State. Bears forward Perry Jones III was joined on the third team by Iowa State’s Scott Christopherson, the Jayhawks’ Jeff Withey and Missouri guards Kim English and Phil Pressey.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Drew Crawford scored 18 points as Northwestern beat Iowa 70-66 on Saturday, boosting the Wildcats’ hopes for their first NCAA tournament bid. Iowa’s Josh Oglesby missed a 3-pointer from the wing with 4 seconds left that would have given the Hawkeyes the lead. Northwestern (18-12, 8-10 Big Ten) needed this win after losing two of its last three games. The Wildcats overcame an early 15-point deficit and held on in their last game before the Big Ten tournament. Alex Marcotullio’s two free throws with 2 seconds left sealed the win for Northwestern.  Senior Matt Gatens scored 17 points to lead Iowa (16-15, 8-10).   Northwestern went on a 17-0 run late in the first half to lead 42-35 at halftime. Iowa failed to hit a field goal in the last seven minutes of the half. The Hawkeyes shot 53 percent in the first half, but committed 13 turnovers.