DOUBLE-TEAMING — North Union’s Preston Guerdet (with basketball) and teammate Grady Madden (12) pick-pocket Alta-Aurelia’s Camden Reinert during their Iowa Class 1A, Substate 1, District 1 finale on Thursday night in Armstrong. North Union’s Dan Fothergill (back right) and Alta-Aurelia’s Jack Bloom (5) look on. (Photo by Greg Abel)

ARMSTRONG — The Iowa Class 1A, No. 8-ranked North Union Warriors boys basketball team defeated the Alta-Aurelia Warriors 58-39 Thursday night to advance to the District 1 championship.

Senior guard Preston Guerdet paced North Union’s offense to the tune of 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting from the floor and four boards on the night.

The first period started off with both sides keeping things tight.

Alta-Aurelia senior guard Jack Bloom got off to a fast start from the field, converting on a 3-pointer and a middy to score five points in the period. He was joined by sophomore forward Adam Stephan, who nailed a pair of hook shots to score four points for Alta-Aurelia.

North Union struggled to find its footing in the first and came out of the period with a 14-10 lead.

In the second period, Alta-Aurelia’s Ayden Dullea began his stretch of great play. He scored five points in the period and swatted a pair of North Union shots.

North Union senior post Kody Irmiter had a rough night from the field, but found his way to five points and five boards in the second period. He finished the game with seven points to go with his 12 boards.

Junior guard Grady Madden came off the bench and poured in five points for North Union in the period including a 3-pointer from the wing.

North Union took a 30-21 lead into halftime.

North Union was able to hold and extend its nine-point advantage. Guerdet did most of his damage in the third, totaling nine points and a couple of boards in the period.

Alta-Aurelia’s Dullea continued to go to work, scoring from the post and mid-range to add six more points and another pair of blocks to his tally.

At the end of the third, North Union held a firm 46-31 advantage heading into the fourth.

Alta-Aurelia was not able to cut the deficit and fell 58-39 to North Union despite some impressive performances. Dullea ended the night with a nice double-double of 16 points, 10 boards and six blocks as he patrolled the paint.

Bloom ended the night with 11 points, but came up empty in the fourth by going 0 for 5 from the field.

As for North Union, senior forward Dan Fothergill ended the night with seven points and four assists despite foul trouble throughout. Madden ended the game with 11 points to go with his three boards and three assists.

Senior forward Aiden Lofstrom utilized his left hand to produce nine points and four boards during the contest.

With the win, North Union (20-3) advanced to the district championship at 7 p.m. Tuesday night against St. Edmond in Humboldt, Iowa.

NU     14-16-16-12–58

A-A     10-11-10-8– 39

NORTH UNION (58)

Guerdet 7-14 3-4 18, Irmiter 4-13 1-4 7, Fothergill 2-9 3-4 7, Madden 4-8 0-0 11, Lofstrom 4-7 1-2 9, Ky. Jones 0-5 1-2 1, Henderson 1-4 0-0 3, Kh. Jones 0-0 2-2 2.

ALTA-AURELIA (39)

Bloom 4-13 2-2 11, Stephan 4-12 0-0 8, Dullea 6-9 4-5 16, Stites 1-4 0-0 2, Barnes 0-4 0-0 0, Reinert 1-2 0-0 2.

Redwood Valley 76, Fairmont 63 — The Fairmont boys basketball squad snapped its seven-game win streak in a loss to Redwood Valley on Thursday night on the road.

Junior big man Oliver Tordsen’s 18 points and 15 boards were not enough to get Fairmont another win.

Hadan Toomer scored 10 points0, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the loss.

Senior guard Levi Pooley struggled to find his rhythm from the field and ended the night with just eight points to go with his four rebounds and a pair of steals.

Fairmont (11-11) will look to begin a new win streak at 7:15 p.m. tonight against Windom Area at Cardinal Gym.

Tavian Harvey was the high scorer for Fairmont in B-squad action against Redwood Valley. Fairmont defeated Redwood Valley 63-51 on the night.

Joe Long finished with 12 points, Nolan Schultze chipped in eight points and Merritt Pomerenke contributed seven points for Fairmont in the winning effort.

Fairmont’s C-squad defeated Redwood Valley 51-37 on Thursday night in Redwood Falls.

Reed Johnson posted 13 points for Fairmont, while teammate Brayden Williamson chipped in nine points.

Maple River 69, Blue Earth Area 40 — The Blue Earth Area boys basketball squad took a loss against Maple River 69-40 on Thursday night.

Wyatt Birr scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Maple River in the victory. Cole Davis dropped an additional 14 points in the winning cause.

Max Loge was the high scorer for Blue Earth Area with 15 points to go with five boards in the loss.

Gage Barker added an additional 13 points and a pair of blocks for the Bucs.

Blue Earth Area (8-10) will look to change its fortune at 6:15 p.m. Monday on the road against Medford.

Girls Basketball

Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s 63, Martin County West 52 — The Knights defeated the Mavericks 63-52 Thursday night during nonconference action in Trimont.

The Mavericks were down 34-28 at halftime. High quality 13 of 15 free throw shooting from the Knights aided them in their victory.

Morgan Mathiowetz dropped in a game-leading 29 points for St. Mary’s. Brynne Ibberson helped out with 13 points for the Knights.

As for the Mavericks, Emily Anderson got to work with a solid 22 points on the night. She was backed up by Ella Carlson and Maddie Carlson who dropped 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Mavericks went 5 of 8 from the charity stripe in the loss.

Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s (18-7) will play Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Granada.

Martin County West (17-6) will look to get back in the win column at 7:30 p.m. Monday night against St. James Area on the road in St. James.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 75, Windom Area 63 — The Jaguars defeated the Eagles 75-63 on Thursday night during non-league action in Windom.

Keira Benck led the way for the Jaguars by scoring 20 points to go with six steals and four boards.

Madisen Lewis helped out on the inside by contributing 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in the winning effort.

McKenna Benck helped out from the backcourt with 16 points and five assists on the night for the Jaguars. Forward Olivia Mattson put up 10 points to pair with her five assists and three rejections in the win.

Hannah Dauer led the way for Windom Area. Dauer finished the night with 15 points. She was joined by Haidyn Sammons, who scored 14 points in the losing effort.

The Jaguars (19-4) will look to carry their winning ways into tonight’s 7:30 p.m. matchup with Sleepy Eye Public in Sleepy Eye.