Good morning! I’m Meredith Tigges!

I’m Abbi Heying!

And I’m Reese Rosenmeyer! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

This winter should be an outstanding season for Golden Bear basketball. Both the boys and girls teams are ranked in the top five in every list of 1-A teams there is. The Golden Bear girls have started their season by demolishing pretty much all their opponents, with 50 or 60 point leads by the end of the game. The Bears’ top players are both freshmen: point guard Molly Joyce and power forward Audi Crooks.

Also back this year to help out the girls is junior Kaylyn Meyers, who was injured last season. The girls have good depth as well, with seniors Maddie Meister, Katie Noonan, and Amanda Miller and juniors Grace Elsbecker, Reese Rosenmeyer, and Kelly Baade all in the regular rotation. The team will have one of their biggest challenges this afternoon when they take on Algona High.

Our boys basketball team faced some of their biggest challenges early in the season. One of their biggest victories was beating another ranked team—Lake Mills—by a 7-point margin last Tuesday. Other teams are gunning for junior Angelo Winkel, who is one of the tallest high school players in Iowa.

Angelo is far from the only good player the Golden Bears have, though. John Joyce is one of the top ball handlers around, and fellow seniors Cade Winkel, Andrew Arndorfer, Cameron Baade, and Marcus Plathe and junior Kyle Schaaf also have good basketball skills. The Algona games this afternoon have been moved up half an hour, with JV starting at 1pm and varsity shortly after 3:00. Good luck to Coaches Schwab and Meister and all the Golden Bears!

We mentioned on last week’s “Bear Facts” that the danz squad had performed at state. We had to record the show before they performed, though, so we didn’t say how they did. Their kick routine was rated first in the state, and they were second statewide in pom. The squad also received special awards for community service and outstanding academic achievement. Congratulations to Coaches Ashley Meyer and Katie Miller and all the Garrigan dancers!

Next Wednesday we’ll have a special Life of Christ Pilgrimage at Garrigan as part of our Advent preparations. The 5th and 6th graders from St. Mary’s in Humboldt will be joining us, and any adults who want to attend are welcome as well. We will begin the day with mass at St. Cecelia’s, with a speaker after that. There will be a living rosary and a sung Chaplet of Divine Mercy. We’ll have another speaker and then conclude the day with adoration.

Tryouts for the BGHS spring play began this past week and will continue through next Thursday. The show is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, March 12 and 13. This year’s play is a drama called Runaways that is set in a home for young people in distress. Mrs. Carol Eischeid is directing the play, and we’ll tell you more about it as the production comes closer.

The Golden Bear quiz bowl team is wrapping up their busiest time of year. Six students competed at the Spirit Lake quiz bowl last Saturday: Grant Bormann, Aric Laubenthal, Amanda Thilges, Marguerite Fakler, Gavin Swift, and Jacob Ward. This coming Monday the quiz bowl team will take participate in 3—2—1, a nationwide online competition. Good luck, quiz bowl!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Dillon Buscher. Dillon is an Kossuth County native whose main activity is trapshooting. He says his favorite classes are Capstone and Guitar. Away from school he spends time working and enjoys riding his motorcycle. Next year he’d like to attend Iowa Lakes. We wish Dillon all the best in the future.

On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s the big cross-town basketball game this afternoon at Garrigan. The JV and JJV games start at 1:00, and the varsity girls are scheduled for 3:15.

Tomorrow is the third Sunday of Advent, and we’ll have another Advent prayer service on Monday. After school that day quiz bowl will compete in 3—2—1.

Tuesday there’s a basketball quad, with the Bears hosting Garner Hayfield Ventura. Also that night the JJV girls have a home game vs. Webster City.

Wednesday we’ll have our Advent day of reflection. That night is the Christmas choir concert. The school board meets on Thursday, and that night the JJV boys host North Union.

Next Friday we’ll have the big mass for deceased alumni, which was postponed due to snow in November. We’ll dismiss for Christmas vacation at 2:15pm, and that night the Bears travel to Armstrong to play North Union.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to listen next week for a special show where we’ll be celebrating the holidays here at Bishop Garrigan High School.