ARMSTRONG — Prior to Friday night’s basketball game against North Union, a West Hancock sports fan jested with Eagles’ leading scorer Rachel Leerar about the intense expression on her face in a photo in Wednesday’s Globe Gazette sports section.

“I guess I don’t always take a good picture from every angle,” Leerar joked.

Leerar, however, scored from a variety of angles and distances in Armstrong’s gymnasium en route to a team-best 25 points to steer unbeaten Iowa Class 2A No. 3-ranked West Hancock to a 69-49 triumph over the North Union Warriors.

“It’s always interesting to see what expression you’re making when they (photographers) take your picture in sports,” said Leerar, who made the Warrior faithful frown a bit by contributing six rebounds, three assists and a co-game-high five steals to the Eagles’ winning ways.

“Chloe (Lofstrom) is a great player, but I get kind of set in my ways and decided not to double down on her in the low post tonight,” said West Hancock head coach Paul Sonius, who netted his 400th career coaching win against Garner-Hayfield/ Ventura on Tuesday night in Britt, Iowa. “She got our posts in foul trouble, but I thought our bench players did a nice job when (starting center) Amanda (Chizek) picked up her second (personal) with four minutes left in the first quarter.”

Lofstrom netted seven of her game-best 26 points during the opening 8-minute quarter to keep the Warriors knotted at 13-all.

Loftstrom, who finished with a game-high 14 rebounds for an impressive double-double performance, delivered an assist to Brooklyn Prochniak for a baseline leaner to stake North Union to a 13-8 lead with 2:13 to go in the first.

Leerar and sophomore sixth-player sensation Kennedy Kelly then triggered the Eagles’ ensuing 13-0 surge that bridged the first and second quarters.

Leerar nailed the first of her three 3-pointers on the night, converted a one-and-one situation and banked home a layup off one of Kelly’s four steals and three assists. Kelly, who finished with 16 points — seven better than her prior four-game scoring average, followed with another theft and one of her three trifectas to highlight a 21-13 margin with 5:15 to go before halftime.

Lofstrom’s putback basket finally ended the Warriors’ offensive drought with 3:36 remaining in the second quarter.

North Union’s Hope Steinberger later pocketed one of her co-game-best five steals and drove the distance for two of her nine points before Leerar countered with two free throws at the 3-second juncture for a 27-19 lead at the break.

Vanessa Von Bank’s 3-pointer off one of Steinberger’s co-game-high five assists and Lofstrom’s end-to-end runner inched the Warriors with 27-24 to open the third quarter only to see Kelly and Leerar trigger an ensuing 11-0 surge.

Kelly drove the paint for a basket-and-one play, Leerar spotted Maddie Eisenman for a right-wing trey, Leerar nailed a pull-up 3 from the left wing and the Eagles’ leading scorer capped a 43-28 lead with a steal-turned-layup with 3:03 left in the third.

Lofstrom tallied seven of North Union’s 14 fourth-quarter points to help outscore West Hancock by one in the final frame.

“Turnovers (29) and poor free throw shooting (8 of 20 for 40 percent) hurt us tonight,” said North Union head coach Merle Tigges.

North Union (2-3) travels to Northwood, Iowa, on Monday to play Northwood-Kensett, while West Hancock (5-0) plays host to Emmetsburg in Britt, Iowa.

W. Hancock 13-14-29-13–69

N. Union 13- 6-16-14–49

NORTH UNION (49)

Lofstrom 9-13 7-14 26, Steinberger 4-4 0-2 9, Laverty 1-2 0-0 2, Prochniak 2-5 0-1 4, V. Von Bank 1-8 0-0 3, Nielsen 2-5 1-1 5, O. Von Bank 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 0-6 0-1 0, Beadle 0-0 0-0 0, Cummins 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 19-44 8-20 49.

WEST HANCOCK (69)

Chizek 1-7 0-2 2, R. Hiscocks 2-6 1-2 7, Faust 3-5 0-0 7, Eisenman 3-9 0-0 8, Leerar 8-22 6-6 25, Kelly 5-5 3-5 16, Ryerson 0-1 0-0 0, Horstman 2-2 0-0 4, Aitchison 0-0 0-1 0, Johanson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 10-16 69.

3-pointers: West Hancock 11-32 (Leerar 3-12, Kelly 3-3, R. Hiscocks 2-6, Eisenman 2-7, Faust 1-2, Johanson 0-2); North Union 3-12 (Lofstrom 1-1, Steinberger 1-1, V. Von Bank 1-7, Henderson 0-3). Fouled out: Faust. Rebounds: N. Union 31 (Lofstrom 14); W. Hancock 30 (Chizek 8). Assists: W. Hancock 14 (R. Hiscocks 5, Leerar and Kelly 3 each); N. Union 8 (Steinberger 5). Steals: W. Hancock 16 (Leerar 5, Kelly 4); N. Union 7 (Steinberger 5).

Jackson County Central 89, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 67 — The undefeated Huskies built a 49-26 halftime lead over the Jaguars and never looked back en route to a 22-point nonconference triumph Friday night in Truman.

Senior sharpshooting guard Alaina Wolff poured in a game-best 26 points to top JCC, while sophomore forward Sadie Voss supplied 17 points in the win.

Michaelah Petrowiak topped the Jaguars’ effort by collecting 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while teammate Lizzie Oothoudt chipped in 12 points.

Eden Studer tallied six points and pulled down six boards for the Jaguars, while teammates Emily Stauter, Jayme Balcom and Samantha Moeller each scored six.

Kiana Preston distributed three assists for the Jaguars, who made 29 of 70 field goals overall and 5 of 11 free throws on the game.

The Jaguars (4-3) travel to Cleveland next Friday night for a 6 p.m. varsity-only game, while Jackson County Central (5-0) hits the road to Worthington on Tuesday night.

JCC 49-40–89

GTML 26-41–67