Newell-Fonda an unselfish outfit

DES MOINES -- They run. They score. And they share.Top-ranked Newell-Fonda racked up 26 assists on 32 field goals in a 73-37 trouncing of Bedford in a Class 1A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Monday morning at Wells Fargo Arena."The kids are really unselfish," said Mustangs Coach Dick Jungers. "They really don't care who scores."Renee Maneman tied a five-player state record with 13 assists despite sitting out much of the fourth quarter. Her dishes came in all shapes and sizes -- driving and passing in the half-court game, hurling long, one-handed passes on the money to teammates in transition."I've got to give credit to my teammates for catching it and scoring," Maneman said. "That's what is special about our team: Nobody is selfish. Everybody is willing to pass the ball in order to score."Newell-Fonda is a small-school basketball giant, a perennial winner and championship contender. The Mustangs are making their 10th state trip since 1995.But, somewhat astonishingly, there are no championship trophies in the school's hallways. Newell-Fonda is 0-4 in state finals."The kids are been really focused since the first day of practice," Jungers said. "They want to make some noise out here, some serious noise."Newell-Fonda (23-2) faces Colo-Nesco (24-1) in a 1A semifinal at 8:30 Wednesday night.

ADIOS, TV TIMEOUTSChampionship-night games will be "a different TV experience" this year, according to Iowa Public Television official Paul Yeager.The network's host of sports, Yeager confirmed Monday that the Friday and Saturday finals will not contain television timeouts."Due to limits by the FCC, we can only do commercials only 90 minutes," Yeager said. "It's something we're hoping the teams and fans like."In the past, the finals were a start-and-stop affair with media timeouts enforced about every 3 minutes of play. The result has been little flow (sometimes) and late nights (always).IPTV is the new television network of girls' basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball.Championship games are 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday in 1A and 2A, 4, 6 and 8 on Saturday in the larger three classes.

JANESVILLE'S COMMON DENOMINATORJanesville is in the midst of a major run in girls' athletics, and Dana Sorensen has been a part of all of it.Sorensen has made state-tournament trips in all four of the major girls' sports (track, softball, volleyball and basketball) in the past year as an assistant coach.The Wildcats were Class 1A state volleyball champions in November. The basketball team kept its hopes of another crown alive with a 58-46 win over Rockford on Monday and will play in a semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday.