KJAN Podcasts

Jim Field visits with Atlantic Elk's members Gail Butler and Delbert Thurman about the Veteran's luncheon on Saturday.

For most teams a six-point loss and a two-game losing streak just stings. However, for Riverside Head Coach Mitch Rice and the (5-4) Bulldogs they came away with optimism after a 48-42 loss against the top Western Iowa conference team Treynor. The Bulldogs played the Cardinals as close as anyone in the WIC this year and gave Coach Rice an opportunity to show his young team the potential they've been playing with.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Riverside-BEtter-Treynor.mp3

Coach Rice is candid about the youth of his squad. Out of the 13 players on the roster, 7 of them are freshman. With so many freshmen in a 10-player rotation, it has brought slight growing pains this season and yet Riverside still has wins over Essex, IKM-Manning, Griswold, Missouri Valley, and Red Oak. That level of success had Coach Rice explain to his team that after Christmas break nobody will be viewed as a freshman. The expectations will only increase for this group.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Riverside-13-girls-out-rest-of-the-season.mp3

A player that has met expectations for Riverside is junior Elly Henderson who has played selfless basketball. Second on the team in assists with 18 and leading scorer at 58 points. Coach Rice wants to see her attack the basket more and hone her offensive ability.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Riverside-Henderson.mp3

Sydney Somers is another freshman on this Bulldog's team that impressed Coach Rice with her work effort throughout the season. Somers is second on the team with rebounds at 33 and tied at second in scoring with 53.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Riverside-Summers.mp3

Riverside dropped their first game in 2024 to Logan-Magnolia 42-31.

Jim Field visits with Erika Lundy-Woolfolk about the Three-State Beef Conference event on January 17 at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield.

The (5-4) AHSTW Lady Vikes had a bumpy start to the season with a 1-2 record and saw both Ava Paulsen and Bella Lamp go down with injuries.  Since then, Head Coach Jason McCall used his team's focus and depth of experience from his seniors to go 4-1 in Western Iowa conference play. When asked about why his team has played so competitively and efficiently against Western Iowa opponents. Coach McCall credits the ambitious and confident attitude the Lady Vikes carry with them into all of their Western Iowa matchups.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AHSTW-5-1-conference-record.mp3

One of the key ingredients for a fierce AHSTW squad is the effort from leading scorer and rebounder Delaney Goshorn. Goshorn is over the 14-point mark per game and has hooked 53 rebounds on the year.  Coach McCall gives kudos to the progress he has seen Goshhorn make since the start of the year.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AHSTW-Delaney-Goshorn.mp3

Coach McCall also explained that the Lady Vikes high winning percentage in the WIC is not solely from Goshorn but the other seniors on the team. High effort and consistency from players like Sadi Paulsen with 51 points and Ella Langer who leads the team in steals at 23.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AHSTW-Senior-Class.mp3

This Friday AHSTW is back in action, and it will be a special game for McCall. Friday night will be his first senior night as a head coach and he anticipates being a little emotional.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AHSTW-Senior-Night.mp3

The Lady Vikes opponent on Friday is the (6-4) Tri-Center Trojans who are one spot below in the conference standings. The Trojans have played their best when feeding the ball to junior Alexis Flaharty who averages close to 12 points a game. AHSTW is concentrated on the expected toughness of this game.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AHSTW-Tri-Center.mp3

Tipoff is set for 6:00pm in Avoca.

Jim Field visits with Sunni Kamp, Southwest Iowa Foundations Director, about the spring grant cycle opportunities through area county foundations.

The (4-6) Audubon Wheelers basketball team used the Christmas break wisely giving time off for their players to rest in preparation for the second half of the season. The Wheelers started the year off 1-4, with their only victory from a last place Missouri Valley team. Head Coach Darran Miller knew something had to change and decided to shift his team's focus to defense and saw them gel better together.  Audubon went on to win the next 3 out of 5 with strong wins against Riverside and Boyer Valley. Coach Miller credits the higher intensity on defense and rebounding for the Wheelers recent success.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Audubon-3-2-turn-around.mp3

A large part of the Wheelers dynamic has been the play of senior Edward Miller on both sides of the floor. Miller is averaging over 15 points and close to 9 boards per game. Coach Miller mentioned that Edward Miller does a nice job of deciding when to attack the basket or settling for an outside shot.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Audubon-Edward-Miller.mp3

Miller is not the only high contributor for Audubon. Junior Aaron Olsen is the second highest scorer on the team with 10.9 points per game and has 24 steals. Now through 10 games into the year and Coach Miller notices that he has team who has no problem hustling for the ball. This year's group does not get easily intimidated and will play as hard as they can through all four quarters.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Audubon-identity-10-games-in.mp3

Audubon resumes Western Iowa conference action this Friday on the road against a (3-6) IKM-Manning team who share a similar 3-2 record in their last 5 games. The Wolves are led by sophomore Ben Ramsey averaging over 16 points a game and a respectable 35% from behind the arc as a team. Coach Miller has his team looking to be a cohesive defensive unit to have 2024 start off with an Audubon win.

https://www.kjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Audubon-vs-IKM-Manning-Friday.mp3

Tipoff is set for 7:15pm Friday January 5th.

Jim Field visits with Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning about the "Soiree with the Swans' event Saturday, January 6 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic.

w/Kate Olson.

Jim Field visits with Cass Health CEO Brett Altman about successes in 2023 and plans for 2024.

Jim Field visits with Laura Ferguson of the NRCS about the Southwest Iowa Soil Health meeting on Wednesday, January 3, 2024 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Armstrong Research Farm near Lewis.