When he’s old and gray, Tristen Brase will fondly remember what he accomplished in the winter of 2017-18, but for now, his focus is what lies ahead.

Evan Rosonke didn’t know which match sealed New Hampton/Turkey Valley’s Northeast Iowa Conference championship Saturday.
As it turns out, it was his.

It’s not a good sign when only three girls get on the scoreboard, but that’s how many scored in a Turkey Valley loss to Central Tuesday.

New Hampton coach Chad Sweitzer has waited all season for his team to put together a complete game in Northeast Iowa Conference play.
He’s still waiting.

Everyone has different ways of relaxing.

Chad Pemble stood in the hallway at Waverly-Shell Rock High School and talked about getting his New Hampton girls basketball team over the hump.

Given the choice, New Hampton/Turkey Valley obviously would take winning a state wrestling championship over claiming the Northeast Iowa Conference tournament title.

There are times, Nashua-Plainfield girls basketball coach Josh Smith concedes, that he wouldn’t mind playing in anything other than the Top of Iowa Conference East Division.

It isn’t that the last two months haven’t meant anything, but ask Nashua-Plainfield coach Al Frost about the Top of Iowa tournament on Saturday and the excitement rises in his voice.

The Nashua-Plainfield boys basketball team split a pair of games last week, falling 70-34 at home to Mason City Newman Catholic on Tuesday before bouncing back to take a 78-50 victory on the road at Central Springs on Friday.

Anyone that sees the way Emily Busta cuts through defenders and dives after a loose ball may forget the major surgery she had on her knee last year. 

With 3:32 left in the first quarter of Turkey Valley’s win over Clayton Ridge Tuesday, the Trojans owned a 12-4 lead, with 10 of those points by the hands of Keegan Balk.

It wasn’t just the way his “big guns” wrestled, it was the way kids like Shane Hillesheim, Justice Palmier and Dalton Asche fared that made Saturday a pretty satisfying day at the Hudson Invitational for Nashua-Plainfield wrestling coach Al Frost.

Maybe the most impressive part of the Nashua-Plainfield boys basketball team this year has been its ability to forget the past.

The game plan in some ways was simple — get the ball inside and limit turnovers — and it proved to be a pretty good one Friday night for the Nashua-Plainfield girls basketball team.