Hwy 191 BKB Rivalry Ends in Split as Underwood Girls, TC Boys Win

Underwood's Ruby Irwin (12-22-25)

Tri-Center's AJ Harder (12-22-25)

Hwy 191 BKB Rivalry Ends in Split as Underwood Girls, TC Boys Win -

(12-22-25) – A early holiday gift as the Highway 191 rivalry was as entertaining as expected.

AJ Harder had 22 pts to lead the #8 Tri-Center boys to a hard-fought 58-53 victory over Underwood.

The game was a back-and-forth battle with neither team gaining more than a 6-pt lead. The Trojans eked out 4-pt lead at the half and the Eagles took the lead twice in the 4th qtr before Harder hit a big 3-ptr with 2:30 left to all but seal it.

Harder talked about what makes this rivalry so special.

“We're super close (in proximity). We see each other all the time, and obviously we play each other in every sport, so it's super fun to play this rivalry, but it's also super intense.”

The Trojans Cael Witt had a double-double with 11 pts and 12 rebounds.

Garrett Luett led the Eagles with 18 pts while Landon Wigington added 14 pts.

In the girls’ contest, Ruby Irwin led the way with 10 points as the Eagles came away with a 38-26 win over the Trojans.

Underwood used a 19-2 run to sprint out to early 13-pt lead, but their shooting fell cold in the 2nd qtr, as they’d only score just 3 pts the rest of the half. But Tri-Center couldn’t put much of a dent into their deficit and were still down 7 pts at the half. The Trojans kept it close, but couldn’t over pass the Eagles in the 2nd half.

Underwood’s top-scorer, Ainsley Roberts, was shutdown by Tri-Center’s defense, only scoring 5 pts in the contest. Irwin talked about being able to get the win in a game where their leading scorer was defended so well.

“I think it built a lot of confidence for us that we can all work together, swing the ball around, take shots that we usually wouldn't. I think sometimes we get a little nervous, like some of us, for taking some of those shots, but I think this day it really helped us see we can do it on our own.”

Underwood also got 8 pts from Remi Paulson.

Lauren Harder led Tri-Center with 15 pts.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats