COLO — The East Marshall girls’ basketball team scored the game’s first seven points on its way to a 58-23 victory over Colo-NESCO in Monday’s season-opener for both teams.

The Mustangs won all four quarters on the scoreboard and steamrolled to the win.

Ashtyn Wheater scored a game-high 15 points to lead East Marshall, Sydney Hull added 12 points and Alivia Neuroth got 11 more. Mya Gould made three 3-pointers and contributed nine points, while Addy Denham made a pair of treys for six points.

Hayden Hendrick and Kaydence Reyes scored six points each to pace Colo-NESCO.

NIACC uses second-half surge to top Tigers

MASON CITY — The NIACC men’s basketball team broke away from Marshalltown Community College for a 68-60 victory on Saturday.

The host Trojans (7-1) outscored MCC 35-27 in the second half to break a 33-all tie at the intermission. NIACC shot 42.4 percent from the field (28-for-66) while the visiting Tigers went just 16-for-62 (25.8 percent) from the floor.

MCC was 9-of-32 from 3-point range (28.1 percent).

RJ Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points to go with nine rebounds in leading NIACC. Cameron Reigard added 14 points off the bench, as Trojan reserves contributed 31 of the team’s 68 points.

Tristan Christopher led MCC (2-7) with 12 points, Tom Guma had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Sean Conway contributed 10 points off the bench. Tre’Von Coney added nine points, Hassan Bush had eight points and nine boards, and Antoine Glasper chipped in seven points.

MCC women succumb to No. 12 NIACC

MASON CITY — The No. 12 NIACC women’s basketball team got out to an early lead and slowly pulled away from Marshalltown Community College for a 65-43 victory over the visiting Tigers in Saturday’s Iowa Community College Athletic Conference opener.

NIACC (7-0, 1-0) outshot and outrebounded MCC, winning the battle on the boards 59-34. Ciara Seifert had 14 points and a game-high 20 rebounds, including nine offensive, for the Trojans. Zaria Falls scored a team-leading 17 points for NIACC and Reggi Spotts added 14 more.

MCC (3-5, 0-1) was led by Jaeda Turner’s 19 points and and seven steals, though Turner was 8-for-36 from the field and just 1-of-13 from 3-point range. Shenell Stewart returned to the lineup to score 16 points as the duo accounted for 35 of the team’s 43.

Iowa’s Wetjen named Jet Award finalist

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa senior Kaden Wetjen has been named a finalist for the 2025 Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football. The other four finalists are Caullin Lacy (Louisville), Ryan Niblett (Texas), Jadarian Price (Notre Dame) and Vicari Swain (South Carolina).

Wetjen, who was the recipient of the 2024 Jet Award, leads the country in combined return yards (by 231 yards) for a second straight season. He has 894 combined return yards (356 kickoff, 538 punt) through 11 games. Wetjen is No. 1 in the NCAA in punt returns (28.3) and punt return TDs (3) and fourth in kickoff return touchdowns (1). The 28.3 punt return average is currently tops in Big Ten history.