Spirit Lake’s girls basketball team suffered a narrow non-conference home loss to eighth-ranked (2A) Pocahontas Area on Monday, Feb. 6. The Indians fell 59-55 in Spirit Lake.

Okoboji’s girls basketball team earned a Siouxland Conference road win over Sheldon on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Despite a slow start, the Pioneers defeated the Orabs 59-45 in Sheldon.

Okoboji’s boys basketball team edged Siouxland Conference rival Sheldon on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The Pioneers defeated the Orabs 70-67 in Sheldon.

The Pioneers took a 14-11 after one quarter and built a commanding 38-22 halftime advantage with a 24-11 score in the second. The Orabs clawed their way back into contention in the second half, outscoring the Pioneers 27-20 in the third and 18-12 in the fourth, but Okoboji was able to squeak out a three-point victory.

Harris-Lake Park’s boys basketball team earned a convincing win over Adrian/Ellsworth in an interstate showdown Tuesday, Feb. 7. The Wolves defeated the Dragons 66-40 in Lake Park.

For members of the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club who attended last Wednesday evening’s annual spring banquet at the Hap Ketelsen Community Center in Everly, it was an evening of great food, telling the normal fishing stories, participating in a general raffle topped off by a top-notch fishing seminar by Joe Henry, executive director of Lake of the Woods Tourism.

Iowa’s 2022 deer harvest increased seven percent over the 2021 season, due, in part to the new Excess Tag January Antlerless Season approved by the Iowa Legislature last spring.

State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) is a nationwide Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) practice within the continuous sign-up administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The SAFE initiative allows public and private organizations and state and federal agencies to propose areas where new CRP acreage is essential to benefit endangered, threatened or high priority fish and wildlife species.

A midwinter visit to check on the boat − no matter if stored ashore in a backyard or a marina parking lot − is a wise thing to do. Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has four tips to ensure there are no surprises at spring commissioning.

WATER IS BAD

Spirit Lake’s boys basketball team dominated Pocahontas Area in a non-conference matchup Monday, Feb. 6. The Indians defeated Pocahontas Area 71-32 in Spirit Lake.

The senior night victory kicked off a busy week of four games in five days.

“I thought we did a really good job of coming in and taking care of business to start the long week,” Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. “It was a great night to celebrate our seniors, and be able to start five seniors.”

Spirit Lake’s girls basketball team earned a narrow non-conference home victory over Western Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The Indians defeated the Wolfpack 61-56 in overtime in Spirit Lake.

In the last 15 years, Spirit Lake’s boys basketball program has finished in the top three in the Lakes Conference standings nine times but had failed to summit the mountain that was perennial power Western Christian. With the Wolfpack out of the way for the first time since the late 1990s, Spirit Lake clinched a long-awaited conference crown following a 50-42 home victory over rival Estherville Lincoln Central on Friday, Feb. 3.

Okoboji/HMS put five wrestlers into the finals, but Noah Strantz was the lone Pioneer to win a title at the 2023 Siouxland Conference Tournament held Saturday, Feb. 3. Strantz won the 160-pound bracket to help the Pioneers to a fourth-place team finish in Sioux Center.

Okoboji/HMS finished 8.5 points behind runner-up Sioux Center. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley won the conference crown.

Spirit Lake Park’s Aroura Preston and Okoboji/HMS’ Avery Ballis made history as the first-ever Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state wrestling tournament qualifiers. Both competed at the tournament held Thursday-Friday, Feb. 2-3 at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.