With 12 seconds remaining, a 3-point field goal by sophomore Elijah Solum provided the winning points. Then a stolen pass by sophomore Jaxon Strinmoen denied Waukon a last-second chance. The 55-52 decision was the 500th career win, all at Spring Grove, for boys basketball coach Wade Grinde. That Jan. 27 non-conference home win versus Waukon came between two conference victories … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past When first built, it was claimed to be the best in state
Part four of a series. An 1882 history of Houston County included a collection of occurrences that reflected life in the county during its first three decades. One typographical error has been corrected, but otherwise, the following text is quoted with the original spelling, capitalization and punctuation (or lack thereof) from that large hardbound volume. Current 2022 … [Read more...]
Spring Grove boys fall to state-ranked MCW, dismiss Madelia
The Spring Grove boys battled but could not quite upend one of the state’s top-ranked teams on a Friday night/Saturday afternoon western excursion. Undefeated Martin County West (13-0), ranked No. 1 in the Class A computer poll and No. 4 in the press poll, used a seven-point, second-half run to turn away the Lions, 41-33, as both teams were held to their fewest points of the … [Read more...]
Spring Grove girls come close against ‘Canes, conquer Cardinals
First team to 58 points won last week, and so did both visiting teams. The Houston girls edged Spring Grove, 58-55, on Jan. 18, two nights before the Lions won at LeRoy-Ostrander, 58-33. The Hurricanes had also scored 58 in their previous win against Spring Grove, but the Lions scored 23 more points in this conference rematch than they had at Houston in early December. At … [Read more...]
Lion boys hand Class AA Lancers first loss
The Class A Spring Grove boys dealt a first loss to Class AA La Crescent-Hokah, 56-41, on Jan. 18, one night after walloping Houston, 72-24. A strong first half propelled the Lions to both road wins. Oddly enough, the winless Hurricanes had more points at halftime (Lions led 54-20) than the unbeaten Lancers (Lions led, 36-14). But La Crescent-Hokah came out of the halftime … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Sleeping on the counter, running unclothed for his life
Part three of a series. Two men had been observed around town making small purchases. One claimed he was working on a model for which he would soon be applying for a patent. In 1870, it was surely common to see non-residents in a town on the heavily-traveled Mississippi River. It was later learned these two men had been staying in a log cabin not far from town – again not … [Read more...]
Lion girls left behind after competitive start at Grand Meadow
The Spring Grove girls led 10-9 after six minutes of play, but the sixth lead change – which came with a 3-point basket by Grand Meadow’s Lauren Queensland – kickstarted a 10-point Superlark run. And the final 30 minutes would not remotely resemble those first six minutes on the way to the 66-21 final count at Grand Meadow on Jan. 11. The Lions, after scoring 10 points in … [Read more...]
Spring Grove boys fend off Knights, Superlarks
The Spring Grove boys, after coasting past all four SEC East Division rivals by an average score of 67-26, received serious challenges while hosting the fourth-place and fifth-place squads from the SEC West. The Lions trailed in the second half of both contests before salvaging low-scoring wins with second-half scoring surges. They kept the games close with defense that … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past They bounced their ears off a bang board
A bang board stood upright in a horse-drawn wagon. It was a target for a contestant to hit with an ear of husked corn, so the ear would fall into the wagon without the corn picker having to look at the wagon. He or she could continue looking only at the corn being husked or shucked. In 1940, witnessed by approximately 1,000 spectators, George Reining of Caledonia successfully … [Read more...]
Lion boys coast past Cougars, other Lions
Defense provided two road routs for the Spring Grove boys, who have an early stranglehold on the Southeast Conference East Division race. There was some offense, too; In the 58-14 win at Rochester over Schaeffer Academy on Jan. 7, sophomore guard Elijah Solum poured in a career-high 30 points while junior guard Tysen Grinde tallied 20 along with a pair of career-highs with 9 … [Read more...]