ALGONA — Missing one of its leaders, Algona still had more than enough firepower to roll past Webster City in a North Central Conference boys’ basketball contest here Friday night.

Collin Bleich and his 16.2 points per game average weren’t on the floor for the Bulldogs, but Wyatt Wegener and Jason Cecil picked up the slack in a 60-37 rout of the Lynx.

WCHS (10-9, 7-7 NCC) lost its third straight outing and is just 2-6 over its last eight contests. Struggles at the defensive end Friday night continued to be the primary theme in the late-season swoon.

“We’re just not good enough defensively to beat the better teams on our schedule,” WCHS head coach Marty McKinney said. “Algona shot 21 of 35 from the field (60 percent), 5 of 8 from the 3-point line (63 percent) and then went to the free throw line 18 times. You’re just not going to beat good teams defending like that and this is a trend for us. I’m not finding the right combination of guys, or whether it’s defenses we need to call, I don’t know. We’re just not there.”

Algona (16-3, 11-2 NCC), the conference runner-up behind champion Clear Lake, won its seventh consecutive outing by jumping on WCHS early. The Bulldogs led 8-0 in the opening minutes, extended the lead to 10 points by the half, and then outscored the Lynx 15-9 in the third quarter to push the margin to 16, 47-31.

Wegener led all scorers with 22 points and Cecil finished with 13. Noah Nelson buried three 3-pointers for nine points.

WCHS committed only five turnovers, but shot just 34 percent (16 of 47) and missed eight of its nine 3-point attempts.

Sophomore reserve forward Jamin Stuhr was the only Lynx player to score in double figures; he finished with 10 points to go along with four rebounds. Drake Doering added seven points, Carter Neuroth pitched in six, and Tyler Olson contributed four points and five boards.

WCHS settled for a fifth-place finish in the NCC behind Clear Lake, Algona, Iowa Falls-Alden and Humboldt.

The Lynx will have a few days off before they close out the regular season at Boone on Thursday.

McKinney and his club will head back to Algona next Monday for a Class 3A Substate 2 quarterfinal against Ballard at 6:30 p.m.

Algona 60, Webster City 37

Friday at Algona

Webster City (10-9, 7-7 NCC) — Ty McKinney 3 0-0 6, Drake Doering 2 2-2 7, Trey Lyons 0 0-0 0, Tavis Eklund 1 0-0 2, Tyler Olson 2 0-1 4, Carter Neuroth 3 0-0 6, Elijah Killian 0 0-0 0, Lincoln LaSourd 1 0-0 2, Jamin Stuhr 4 2-4 10, Casey Kolbeck 0 0-0 0, Will Tasler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 4-7 37.

Algona (16-3, 11-2 NCC) — Wyatt Wegener 8 5-5 22, Caleb Helmers 1 0-0 2, Elliot Berkland 1 0-0 2, Nick Brown 0 0-0 0, Noah Nelson 3 0-0 9, Tyler Manske 2 0-0 5, Quelub Heidelberg 1 0-2 2, Jack Beenken 0 0-0 0, Jason Cecil 3 7-8 13, James Wartick 2 0-1 4, Garrett Goche 0 1-2 1, Aaron Weringa 0 0-0 0, Trevon Smith 0 0-0 0, Jackson Cecil 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-18 60.

Web. City 8 14 9 6 — 37

Algona 15 17 15 13 — 60

3-point field goals — WC 1 (Doering); Algona 5 (Nelson 3, Wegener, Manske). Rebounds — WC 19 (Olson 5, Stuhr 4). Steals — WC 4 (Neuroth 2). Assists — WC 1. Turnovers — WC 5. Team fouls — WC 12, Algona 11. Fouled out — none.