CLARION — Defending North Central Conference champion Webster City took another step forward here Monday night.

And don’t look now, but the Lynx sit atop the league standings once again.

Balanced scoring and another solid defensive effort propelled WCHS to its third straight victory, this time over Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, 52-36. The Lynx (5-2, 4-1 NCC) own a half-game lead over Iowa Falls-Alden at the top of the leaderboard.

WCHS jumped on the Cowboys (4-5, 2-4 NCC) right away and opened up a 16-8 lead after one quarter.

Leading by nine, 25-16, at halftime, the Lynx pushed the margin up to as many as 19 in the third quarter.

Jordan Tanner scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and the Lynx junior point guard continued to be a force on the boards with nine rebounds.

Connor Shannon recorded his fourth double-double of the season — he finished one rebound shy of the mark in two other outings — with 14 points and 11 boards. His sometimes unassuming contributions are not lost on WCHS head coach Marty McKinney.

“Sometimes it’s quiet, but you look at the end of the night and he’s in double figures in scoring and either in double figures in rebounds or close,” he said. “We’ve challenged Connor in a lot of ways because of his potential and he’s doing a lot of things that are helping us be successful.”

Cameron Moen drained three first-half 3-pointers and pitched in 13 total points in the win.

Sam Urness led CGD with 16 points.

Webster City 52, CGD 36

Monday at Clarion

Webster City (5-2, 4-1 NCC) — Noah McKinney 1 0-0 3, James Van Diest 0 0-0 0, Jordan Tanner 7 2-2 16, Tyler Bultena 2 0-0 4, Cameron Moen 5 0-0 13, Connor Shannon 6 1-1 14, Henry Hoversten 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 3-3 52.

CGD (4-5, 2-4 NCC) — Sam Urness 5 5-7 16, Ryan Darland 0 0-0 0, Marco Duran 0 0-0 0, Rhett Darland 2 1-2 6, Derek Conlon 1 0-0 2, Jacob O’Connor 1 1-2 4, Will Weidemann 2 0-0 4, Bryce Tegtmeyer 1 0-0 2, Zach Leist 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 7-11 36.

Webster City 16 9 14 13 — 52

CGD 8 8 12 8 — 36

3-point field goals — WC 5 (Moen 3, McKinney, Shannon); CGD 3 (Urness, Rh. Darland O’Connor). Rebounds — WC 30 (Shannon 11, Tanner 9). Steals — WC 6 (Shannon 3). Assists — WC 15 (Bultena 5). Team fouls — WC 10, CGD 10. Fouled out — none.