Bishop Garrigan 70
West Fork 61
Bishop Garrigan used an explosive start on offense to gain an early lead and defeat West Fork 70-61 in class 1A – district 3 play Thursday night.
The Golden Bears came out firing on their home hardwood, scoring 30 points in the first quarter to take a 30-16 lead, ending the quarter by scoring the final 12 points in just under 2 minutes.
The Golden Bears continued to stretch their advantage in the second quarter, bringing the lead to 48-32 at halftime. Although West Fork would outscore the Golden Bears 29-22 in the second half, the Warhawks would get no closer than six points.
Amaury Thomas finished one point shy of a career high, with 23 points on 10/12 shooting from the field, while adding 11 rebounds. Michael Joyce scored 15 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Carter Schwab scored 14 points, and Nick Leerar had 7 points along with 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.
Ashyr Wiseman scored 27 points in the loss for West Fork, who ends their season with a record of 11-12.
The Golden Bears blazed a path to the free throw line throughout the evening, converting on 17 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe. Bishop Garrigan would grab 38 total rebounds, including 15 on the offensive glass in the win, improving their record to 20-3, their first 20 win season since their state runner up finish in 2020.
Bishop Garrigan advances to the district championship, where the Golden Bears will face Lake Mills Tuesday night in Clear Lake after Lake Mills took down Northwood-Kensett 63-46. Coverage of that matchup can be heard on KLGZ 98.5 FM/AM 1600, with the video stream on the Algona Radio YouTube channel.
MMCRU 71
North Union 49
The season comes to an end for North Union, as the Warriors were knocked off by MMCRU 71-49 in class 1A – district 2 action, marking the 14th straight win for the Royals.
The Warriors battled early, trailing by just four points at the end of one, and seven at halftime, but MMCRU opened the floodgates in the second half with a 36-21 scoring edge over the final two quarters.
Lane Bruhn paced North Union with 19 points in the loss, making all eight of his field goal attempts, while Grady Madden scored 13 points on 6/7 shooting from the field.
MMCRU was able to shoot 52% from the field and knock down 8/18 three point attempts, as Wyatt Alesch led all scorers with 26, Michael Peterson scored 20, and Brayson Mulder added 18. The Royals will move on to face Newell-Fonda for the district title on Tuesday.
North Union finished the night shooting 48% from the field, but made just 3/16 three point shots, and finished the night with 20 turnovers.
North Union ends the season 10-13, going 9-5 over their final 14 games after their 1-7 start to the season.
