NEOLA -- Lucille C. Ausdemore, 80, Neola, died September 23 at her home.    Services will be held Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Neola with interment in the St. Patrick’s Cemetery.  Visitation was held Monday, Sept. 26 from 5-8 p.m. with a rosary at 6:30 p.m.

 HARLAN -- It wasn’t yet the knockout punch to Harlan Community’s 2016 playoff hopes, but it was a damaging body blow at the very least. For the second straight week, HCHS scored a lot of points but allowed even more, yielding 632 yards in an exciting, but disappointing, 49-41 loss to Glenwood at Merrill Field. Coupled with their 70-49 setback at Creston/O-M in Week 3, the Cyclones have allowed an astonishing 119 points and 1,174 yards in a tw

 HARLAN -- Two nights after starting slowly in a three-set loss at Kuemper Catholic, the Harlan Community volleyball team reversed roles in Thursday’s home match with Atlantic, scoring 21 of the first 26 points and cruising by the Trojans, 25-11, 25-14, 25-15. It was a marked turnaround for the 12th-ranked (Class 4-A) Cyclones, who fell behind 19-3 in the opening set Tuesday but raced to a 21-5 lead on Thursday. HCHS improved to 6-8 overall an

 AVOCA -- The AHSTW football team ran its shutout streak to three straight games here Friday night, blowing out ACGC (Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center) 55-0 to improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Class 1-A, District 7. Since opening the season with a 13-6 overtime win over Shenandoah, the Vikings have blanked Lawton-Bronson, 28-0, Tri-Center, 40-0, and the Chargers, 55-0, and have not allowed a point in 14 consecutive quarters.

 CARROLL -- Payton Sporrer of IKM-Manning placed third in the Class B girls division of Saturday’s Kuemper Catholic Cross Country Invite, pacing eight area runners to earn top 25 finishes at Swan Lake State Park. Sporrer’s five-kilometer time of 21:43 trailed only two Underwood runners - Karley Larson (19:59) and Ryann Portch (21:22) in the small-school girls race.

 MANNING -- The IKM-Manning football team came within five yards of a possible win over Logan-Magnolia here Friday night, falling just short, 14-8, when a fourth down pass was incomplete with 2:24 to go. The Wolves dropped to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in Class 1-A, District 7, while the Panthers improved to 3-1 and 2-0. Trailing 14-0 at the half, IKM-Manning pulled within a touchdown following Cody Chapman’s five-yard TD run and Stephen Grimm’s two-

 WESTPHALIA -- After a five-year absence, the Harvest Baseball Tournament returned to Westphalia with a game on August 27 and two games over the Labor Day weekend. The Council Bluffs Diablos won the 2016 incarnation of the tournament after defeating the Omaha Yankees 9-6 in the championship game on September 4. The Diablos beat the Massena Red Sox 11-6 in the first round and defeated Blair 19-10 in the semifinals. 

Exira-EHK swept Woodbine in three games Monday, Sept. 12.  The host Spartans won 25-9, 25-3 and 25-17 to push their record to 3-4 on the year.

 CARROLL -- Kuemper Catholic demonstrated early and often why it should be considered a serious state title contender in 3-A volleyball Tuesday night, starting fast and showing late grit in a 25-9, 25-22, 25-19 sweep of Harlan Community. The 2nd-ranked Knights dominated the opening set with authority, scoring eight of the first nine points and racing to a 19-3 lead, but the 10th-ranked (4-A) Cyclones were much more competitive the rest of the