Two Neligh-Oakdale seniors picked up a pair of victories Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the Class D state wrestling tournament at Omaha’s CHI Health Center Arena.
Cameron Wilkinson and Andrew Herley each went 2-0 in their respective weight classes. Herley scored two pins at 132 pounds and is a win away from a return to state championship match. "I think i performed pretty good today,” Herley noted. "I just went out on the mat and wrestled my match and how I know how to wrestle. I feel like there is a great chance I'll be in the finals again and that is a great feeling to have." Wilkinson opened the day with a pin over Hay Springs’ Austin Anderson, and followed it up with a major decision over Winside’s Cayden Ellis, 10-1. "I think I performed well," Wilkinson stated. "My weight cut was good and my body has felt the best it has in a long time. I just have to wrestle my best and hopefully it all unfolds in my favor.” In his first appearance at the state meet, Jayden Arehart (170) scored a second-period pin over Nebraska Christian’s Carl Mundt in his opener. Arehart fell in the quarterfinals to Amherst’s Jarin Potts, 4-2. Brock Kester (113) also went 1-1 on Thursday. Kester won 8-2 over Sutherland’s Jon Peterka in the first round, before losing to Plainview’s Scott Ashburn in overtime. Kaleb Pofahl (170), Dawson Kaup (195) and Colton Klabenes (220) each lost their opening match. The consolation rounds begin Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., while the semifinals are scheduled for 5 p.m. Two of the four Clearwater/Orchard wrestlers are guaranteed at least a place no worse than sixth after going 2-0 in Thursday's opening day of the Class D state wrestling tournament at Omaha's CHI Health Center Arena.
Senior Clay Thiele and Donaven Nolze won both their opening round and quarterfinal matches to advance to Friday's semifinals. After recording a second-period pin in his 195-pound first round match, Thiele had a tough matchup with Medicine Valley's Austin Wolfe. Wolfe tried to outmuscle Thiele, put the senior Cyclone hit a couple of headlocks and scored a third-period fall. "It was one of those strength matches where he might have had the strength, but I knew how to counter it," Thiele stated. "To know when to go down or how to handle the situation when he's trying to strength you. I cam out victorious and it's all there is." Nolze got off to a hot start in the tournament, scoring two falls on his way to the 220-pound semis. "After winning districts, I knew I was in a good spot," Nolze commented. "Today's competition wasn't the greatest, but it's still competition and you still have to do your best." OC senior Codey Snider fell to Hay Spring's Bryce Running Hawk, 3-1, in his 182-pound opener. It took an ultimate tiebreaker to determine a winner, as Running Hawk scored a reversal to pick up the win. Cyclone heavyweight Tommie Peed was unable to compete due to injury and forfeited his match. Snider will wrestle Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., while Thiele and Nolze compete in the semifinals Friday at 5 p.m. "It's good that I'm at least going to come home with some hardware," Nolze concluded. "But I'm not stopping there and I want to keep going." Elgin Public/Pope John advanced to the D1-7 girls subdistrict final with a 48-39 win over Neligh-Oakdale on Tuesday night.
Second-seed EPPJ will play #1 Elkhorn Valley in the 7 p.m. final in Battle Creek, while the 5-17 Lady Warriors saw their season draw to a close. "They are such a great group of kids," N-O Coach Christy Knutson said. "It's just been such a joy to see the improvement, see them gain confidence and work as a team. I'm just so proud of all of them. We'll really miss Haley (Kerkman) next year." Coach Randy Eisenhauer said his team came out firing and captured an 8-0 lead, but then got "a bit sluggish." Neligh-Oakdale went on to score 7 straight to trail by just one at the end of the first. The teams came out trading buckets in the second, but a Claire Whitesel jumper gave N-O their first lead, 11-10. EPPJ's Kayce Kallhoff drilled a trey to regain the lead, but 2 free throws by Paige Furstenau put the Lady Warriors back out front. Kallhoff hit a field goal to give EPPJ the advantage again. N-O freshman Emma Boggs connected on an and-one right before the break to knot it at the half, 18-18. The third quarter started out with more see-saw scoring as Furstenau hit a jumper for the Lady Warriors and Kaylee Ramold answered for the Lady Wolfpack. "We got kind of comfortable and that's something we talk about all the time, not settling, not getting comfortable," Eisenhauer said. "And then they tied it up and I called time out. I kind of got after them a little bit and the girls responded with a greater intensity level and then they took off." Trinity Kurpgeweit went 1-2 at the line and Haley Kerkman went 2-2 to complete the Lady Warriors' third quarter scoring, while EPPJ went on a run to take their biggest lead of the game. Kirsten Krebs drained two triples, Ramold drove in for two, Kallhoff hit a trey and a free throw and Grace Rittscher converted on an and-one for the Lady Wolfpack for a 35-23 advantage heading into the final quarter. The N-O girls actually outscored EPPJ in the fourth, but the deficit was too great to overcome as they fell by seven. "Everything we've been working on all year just kind of came together tonight," Knutson said. "They gave everything they had. Elgin's a good team and to lose by 20 points the first time and then now to stay with them, that was our goal and the girls did well." Frey led the Lady Warriors with 12 points and 8 boards, followed by Kerkman, Kurpgeweit and Furstenau with 7 apiece and Boggs and Whitesel with 3 each. Eisenhauer said his team struggled with N-O's man-to-man switching at first. "Then we went to a little different offense and we were able to get to the hole," he said. "But give them credit, they changed up a few things on us and their girls played well." A balanced scoring attack by EPPJ was led by Rittscher with 11, Krebs 10, Kallhoff 9, Ramold 8, Allyson Wemhoff 5, Ally Selting 3 and Lexi Bode 2. Eisenhauer said his team will have to come out and play their best ball of the season on Thursday night. "We played (EV) at the beginning of the year and they kind of took it to us in the fourth quarter," he said. "We'll have to play to the best of our ability and that's what I always tell our kids, 'Bring the energy, bring the effort.' If you bring the effort, good things will happen. We'll have to make sure we bring that intensity and shoot the ball a little better." Elkhorn Valley advanced to the D1-7 girls subdistrict final with a 52-27 win over Clearwater/Orchard on Tuesday night.
Top-seeded EV will play #2 Elgin Public/Pope John in the 7 p.m. final in Battle Creek, while the 5-18 Lady Cyclones saw their season draw to a close. EV Coach Brendan Dittmer said his team will need to be at their best against EPPJ on Thursday night. "Elgin will be ready to go," he said. "They'll have guns ablazin'. They'll have their shooters ready to go. We'll have to make sure we play really good half court defense against them and just handle their pressure." In Tuesday's matchup, the Lady Falcons flew to an early 16-4 lead in the first quarter as Hannah Ollendick poured in 9 points. Olivia Nall, Sierra Rystrom and Carney Black each added a bucket and Amber Miller went 1-2 at the line. Julia Thiele was the lone OC player to net points as she nailed a triple and connected on a free throw. The next quarter was more of the same as EV matched their efforts in the second. Miller put up six, Nall 4, Rystrom a trey, Kaylee Bacon 2 and Ollendick went 1-2 at the charity stripe. Thiele was a perfect 2-2 at the line for the Lady Cyclones for their only points of the stanza. EV held a 32-6 lead at the break. Clearwater/Orchard improved their efforts in the third as Stearns put up 9 points and Avery Cheatum added 4. But Elkhorn Valley didn't let their foot off the pedal as Ollendick drained 10 points and Miller put up 6 for a 48-19 advantage heading into the final quarter. Haley Fleetwood and Kaylee Bacon each added a bucket in the fourth to round out the scoring for EV. For OC, Stearns put up 5 points, Holly Schacht netted 2 and Thiele went 1-2 at the line. Leading all scorers was Ollendick of EV with 20 points. Miller posted 13 points and 7 steals, Nall recorded 6 points and 5 assists, Rystrom added 5, Bacon 4 and Black and Fleetwood 2 apiece. Stearns led the way for the Lady Cyclones with 14 points, followed by Thiele with 7, Cheatum 4 and Schacht 2. "I thought we did exactly what we had to do," Dittmer said. "We came out and played really hard with great effort, great intensity on the defensive end which led to a lot of transition points. Our girls looked like they had a lot of fun tonight." The NSAA announced the boys basketball bracket for the Class D1, Subdistrict 5 tournament at Wausa.
Elkhorn Valley (9-12) plays No. 1 seed Hartington-Newcastle (12-9) Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. Bloomfield (13-8) earned the two seed and opens with Plainview (7-14) at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 19. The winners face each other Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Several different county boys basketball squads are represented at the Class D1, Subdistrict 6 bracket at Creighton.
On Monday Niobrara/Verdigre (8-13) opens with North Central (11-7) at 7 p.m. The winner advances to face No. 1 see West Holt (15-7) at 6 p.m. Feb. 19. Clearwater/Orchard (15-8) and Boyd County (14-5) battle in the other semifinal matchup Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The finals are scheduled for Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. The Elgin Public/Pope John boys basketball team found out its fate for the postseason after the NSAA released the brackets for the Class D2, Subdistrict 5 at West Holt.
EPPJ (2-17) faces Ewing (2-18) Monday at 7 p.m. The winner moves on to face No. 1 seed Stuart Feb 19 at 5:30 p.m. Chambers/Wheeler Central (4-16) opens with O’Neill St. Mary’s (7-10) at 7 p.m. The finals are scheduled for Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. After a stellar regular season, the Neligh-Oakdale boys basketball team was rewarded with the No. 2 seed in the Class C, Subdistrict 8 bracket at O’Neill.
For the third, and final time, this year, the Warriors (17-6) take on Battle Creek Feb. 19 at 7:45 p.m. The subdistrict meeting between N-O and the Brave will be the rubber match, as both teams have won and lost a game against each other. Creighton (5-16) takes on No. 1 seed Ainsworth (15-7) at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 The winners of the semifinal matchups play in the finals Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. The Clearwater/Orchard girls earned a win over Plainview to advance in the D1-7 girls subdistrict on Monday night.
Sinking the Pirates with a 45-37 first-round victory, the Lady Cyclones will move on to play Elkhorn Valley at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Battle Creek. Senior Katie Stearns got the OC offense going as she drained a triple, drove in for two and hit a jumper to put the Cyclones up, 7-0, in the first minutes of the game. Avery Cheatum and Julia Thiele each hit the back end of a 1-1 for two more, giving OC a 9-5 lead after the first 8 minutes of play. In the second, Holly Schacht drained a field goal and Stearns drove the lane for a bucket to put the Cyclones up 13-5. The Pirates went on a 10-0 run to take the lead with just 1:40 left in the half. Stearns went 1-2 at the line and OC trailed 15-14 at the break. "We handled the run," OC Coach Scott Leisy said. "When they made that run in the second quarter and took the lead at halftime, we didn't put our heads down, we just kept fighting and we found a way to win in the end." Cheatum hit a bunny shot to start off the second half and Stearns hit an and-one to knot it up at 19-all. Julian Tuttle drained a trey to put OC back on top. Jumpers by Tuttle and Stearns, a bucket by Elly Herley and a triple by Brooke Knievel gave OC a 31-29 advantage heading into the final quarter. Julia Thiele and Taylor Sanne each netted a three in the fourth. Stearns went 6-6 from the line and Thiele connected on 2-4 to seal the win. "Working together and coming through with the free throws at the end helped us a lot," Stearns said. Leisy said solid second half shooting helped his team get the victory. "We told our jump shooters we had to hit more shots than we did in the first half," he said. " I told them we just have to shoot the ball better and we hit some big ones. That's kind of what separated it. Katie (Stearns) got what she was going to get inside, but we had to hit some jump shots and we did in the second half." Stearns said their coach's game plan helped them get the win over Plainview. "In the locker room before the game, Leisy told us to keep calm with the ball and just work it around to make the defense tired, so that's what we did," she said. Stearns led the way with 21 points, followed by Thiele with 6; Tuttle 5; Sanne, Knievel and Cheatum 3 apiece and Herley and Schacht with 2 each. A hot start guided the Elkhorn Valley boys basketball team past St. Edward, 65-34, Saturday.
Leading 12-10 after the first quarter, the Falcons went on a 46-15 run, to seal the win. Braedyn Ollendick led the way with 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. Julio Sierra recorded 11 points and eight boards, Bryson Anderson tallied 10 points, five assists and two steals, Derek Hahne accounted for 9 points and four take aways, Carter Rautenberg had 6 points and four helpers, Brandon Evans and Conner Larson each notched 2 points and Josiah Wriedt added 1 point. Elkhorn Valley (9-12) ends its regular season Friday at Osmond at 6:15 p.m. The Elgin Public/Pope John wrestlers saw their seasons come to an end at the District D1 tournament Saturday at Neligh.
Junior Luke Henn fought his way back through the consolation bracket and was a win away from earning a spot at the state meet, but fell to Central Valley’s Trigger Pokorny in the 132-pound heartbreak round. Cory Romej (145) and Norman Grothe (120) were each defeated in the third round of the consolation bracket by pin. Four Clearwater/Orchard wrestling seniors will wrap up their careers at next week’s state meet, after placing in the top-four of their respectively weight classes Saturday in Neligh.
The Cyclones placed fourth overall as a team with 111 points, behind Neligh-Oakdale, Elkhorn Valley and district champs Burwell. Before even stepping on the mat this weekend, Codey Snider had already sealed his first trip to Omaha. With only four wrestlers in the 182 pound weight class, Snider earned an automatic bid to state. “It feels good,” Snider said. “I’ve worked all year for it and it wasn’t easy to get it.” Clay Thiele and Donaven Nolze went back-to-back as district champions. Thiele scored a 10-2 major decision over Ainsworth’s Conner Jackman at 195 pounds. This will be Thiele’s third trip to the state meet. “My sophomore year I got fourth (at districts) and wrestled someone who got first at their district,” Thiele recalled. “It was definitely hard. It was motivation to want an easier match (at state) and win the district. It will help me next week.” Nolze, who is making his second-straight state tournament, shook off a rough start to earn an 8-0 major decision over Wisner-Pilger’s Landon Beaver at 220. “After the first period I was kind of frustrated,” Nolze stated. “Looking at the coaches, they were telling me my game plan, what I needed to do and what not to do. I just listened to them. I have great coaches and I’ve listened to them tell me what to do and what not to do. I felt like after listening and calling down, I was able to execute what I needed to get done tonight.” Tommie Peed will also be making his second state appearance, after taking fourth at 285 pounds. In Peed’s heartbreaker match, the senior Cyclone scored 2-0 decision over Central Valley’s Grant Marisch. The win not only sealed a spot at the state tournament, but also gave Peed his 100th career win. “It felt good,” Peed noted. “I knew my 100th win was going to be hard to get and it was going to be the one that would send me to state. It was a good match. My opponent and I had a good match and I came out on top.” OC’s Rafe Grebin (126) and Eli Macke (160) were just a win away from securing a spot at the state tournament, but lost in the heartbreak round. Anthony Ferris (106), Spencer Kester (113), Eli Thiele (126), James Kester (132), Alex Arroyo (145), Houston Marino (152) and Austin Pokorny (170) fell earlier in the consolation rounds. The state tournament begins Thursday with Class D starting at 9:30 a.m.at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha. The Neligh-Oakdale wrestling squad had a stellar performance at Saturday’s District D1 tournament in Neligh.
The Warriors placed third as a team with 118 points, behind Elkhorn Valley and district champions Burwell. N-O also qualified seven wrestlers for the state meet next week. At 113 pounds, Cameron Wilkinson and Brock Kester placed first and second, respectively. Wilkinson will be making his fourth appearance at the state meet. “That was the goal,” the senior Warrior stated. “I had a lot of nerves riding on this match after not having a great week last week. To come back, win districts and go for my fourth time is pretty cool.” Kester heads back to Omaha for the second time in his career. “I went on and wrestled, and that’s all it is to it,” Kester said. “I put in the work this year because not making as far as I could have last year, made me work this year to get as far as I can.” After scoring four pins on his way to the 132-pound championship contest, Andrew Herley fell to Pleasanton senior Tyler Pawloski, 6-3, in a hard-fought match. “It gives me a lot of confidence,” Herley commented. “He’s a three-time state champ and anytime you can go all three round with him, you got a real good chance of getting first or second at state. It’s giving me a lot of confidence. I just have to keep it up and keep going.” For the first time in his career, senior Jayden Arehart will compete at the state meet, after placing third at 170 pounds. “It feels really, really good,” Arehart stated. “I felt really nervous in my heartbreak match, but I just had to get through and get to that medal match.” Junior Kaleb Pofahl punched his ticket for the second consecutive season to Omaha with a second-place finish at 170. “I hope last year kinda settles the nerves down since I have a taste of what it is like,” Pofahl said. “This year I’ll be a little bit more calm wrestling down there.” Sophomores Dawson Kaup and Colton Klabenes earned their first trip to state with fourth and third-place finishes, respectively. “I’m pretty excited I get to go down there,” Kaup remarked. “Last year, I really wanted to go down there, but didn’t quite make it. I’m just excited I get to go this year.” “I’ve worked hard in the (practice room) and this has been what I’ve been working for all season,” Klabenes said. ”I’m just happy to make it.” Cade Wilkinson (145), Caleb Payne (138), Cody Booth (106) and Conor Dempsey (160) each bowed out of the tournament in the heartbreak round. The state tournament begins Thursday with Class D starting at 9:30 a.m.at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha. The Elkhorn Valley wrestling squad had a day to remember Saturday at the District D1 meet in Neligh.
The Falcons placed second as a team, just 2.5 points behind district champion Burwell, and qualified seven Falcons to next week’s state meet. Sophomore Hunter Bennett will be making his second-straight trip to Omaha after capturing the 106-pound crown. “It’s very important to me,” Bennett stated on entering the state tournament as a one seed. “It sets me up to place at state and that’s what I’m looking for.” Bennett will be joined by fellow classmate Adam Miller, who bounced back after his semifinals defeat to take third at 120. Miller will also be heading to state for the second time in his career. “I’ve had some tough matches that I think have helped me,” said Miller. “I might think that right away, but they will. I’m hoping to go down and get a medal this time.” After missing out on last year’s state tournament, senior Prestin Vondra made sure he did not make the same mistake this season. Vondra finished second at 145 pounds to qualify for the state meet for the second time in three years. “It’s your senior season and you need to push yourself and accomplish what you know you can accomplish,” Vondra spoke. “Last year was a little hiccup, but I hope to go down there and kick some butt.” Both Josh McFarland and Mitchell Petersen qualified at 160 pounds for EV. McFarland, last year’s 145-pound state champion, has been on a roll since dropping his only match of the year to Stapleton senior Seth Simants earlier this season. “Peaking at this time of year, especially at districts with state being the week afterwards, is important,” McFarland commented. “You want to wrestle as good as you can at districts and wrestle as hard as you can at state.” Petersen will be making his first appearance in Omaha to cap off a memorable season. “There are no words to put it,” Petersen stated. “The hard work is paying off. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was little. This is special.” Despite wrestling for his first time in two weeks, senior Brock Schaecher earned his third state qualification after claiming runner-up honors at 182. “I’m hoping to go down there and wrestle harder,” Schaecher said. “I’ve been out for two weeks. I came back and didn’t wrestle my best. I have grind this next week until I get down there. I want to bring home some hardware.” Christian Yaw booked his ticket to Omaha for the first time in his career, after placing third at 285. “I’ve been looking forward to this since freshman year,” Yaw remarked. “You see all your seniors and your teammates go to state. It’s been a big goal and I always watched my other classmates make it. I’m finally happy this is my year to join them down there. Now they’re forced to take me down with them, whether they like it or not. I got a great coaching staff that I love. They’re more than just coaches, they’re family. I’m ready to go down there and kick some butt.” Caden Reikofski (220), Gavyn Clause (195) and Reed Bennett (126) also competed for the Falcons on Saturday, but lost in the consolation bracket. The state tournament begins Thursday with Class D starting at 9:30 a.m.at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha. The Elkhorn Valley girls basketball team came up short against a talented Humphrey St. Francis squad, 58-55, Friday night.
After falling behind 30-20 in the third, the Lady Flyers used a 19-3 run to take a 6-point advantage into the final stanza. The Lady Falcons saw the deficit grow to 14, but came as close as 4, but failed to complete the comeback. Hannah Ollendick led the way with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Amber Miller tallied 12 points, two assists and three steals, Sierra Rystrom recorded 9 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Kaylee Bacon had 6 points and six boards, Olivia Nall accounted for 4 points and Carney Black added 2 points. Elkhorn Valley (20-4) begins subdistrict play Tuesday at Battle Creek, when the Lady Falcons take on the winner of Clearwater/Orchard and Plainview at 6 p.m. The Neligh-Oakdale teams split their road games with CWC in Chambers on Friday night.
The Lady Warriors (5-16) fell, 50-25, while the N-O boys improved to 17-6 on the season with a 45-29 win. In the girls matchup, Paige Furstenau tied it up at 2-all when she went perfect from the line. CWC went on an 8-0 run before Brooke Frey nailed a trey. The Renegades picked up some more momentum at the end of the first to lead 17-5. Layups by Haley Kerkman, Frey and Furstenau closed the gap to seven, but the Renegades went on another small run. Frey hit a jumper with about 3:00 left in the half, rounding out the scoring for N-O. CWC took a 29-13 advantage into the break. The Renegades stretched their lead to 10 as Frey scored the only points in the third on a wide-open layup after N-O broke the pesky CWC full-court press. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Warriors put together their best offensive effort of the game with Trinity Kurpgeweit scoring on a jumper and a free throw, Kerkman driving in for another layup, Frey drilling a triple and Furstenau going 2-2 at the charity stripe. Frey led the team with 12 points, followed by Furstenau with 6, Kerkman 4 and Kurpgeweit 3. Coach Christy Knutson said she saw some good things from her team in the competition. "These girls started out learning all new offenses, all new defense, fast break, everything that we've been working with," she said. "They put it together really well tonight. These (CWC) girls are very competitive and it was hard to do what we needed to do, but I saw things that if we would've done that a few games ago, we would've been just fine." Knutson said her team is "making strides" as they head into postseason play. "We're doing the things that we've been practicing," she said. "They come to practice every night and they give us 110 percent, so it's going to pay off, it's just a matter of time." The Lady Warriors will face EPPJ in their first D1-7 subdistrict game on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Tip off is set for 7:45 p.m. in Battle Creek. In the boys game, the Warriors came out firing as Austin Rice netted a jumper, Isiac Kurpgeweit poured in three buckets, Cole Belitz cruised in for a pair of layups, Hunter Charf drained a triple and Beau Murray hit from behind the arc and sprinted down the court for a layup. N-O held a 20-12 lead after the first 8 minutes. The Warriors only added seven in the second with a Garret Belitz trey, Kurpgeweit bunny and Murray layup; however, they were able to hold their opponent to just six for a 27-18 halftime lead. Buckets were hard to come by in the second half as well. In the third, Kurpgeweit added two field goals and went 1-2 from the line. Rice connected on a bunny and Cole Belitz hit two free throws for a 36-24 advantage. The final quarter recorded a triple from Julien Hearn, followed by two freebies and a jumper from Kurpgeweit and a Cole Belitz layup. Kurpgeweit led the Warriors with 17 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Cole Belitz with 8 counters and 6 steals; Murray 7 points; Rice 4 and Charf, Hearn and Garret Belitz 3 apiece. "They found the open holes and I just happened to be there," Kurpgeweit said. "We moved the ball around well and got it inside." Coach Ethan Larsen said a lot of N-O's shots just weren't falling, but he credits his players for working hard to get the win. "Isiac Kurpgeweit had a nice night with 17 points, and other than that, we were pretty balanced," he said. "We didn't hit some shots tonight that we normally hit, so I would have to say it was an ugly win, but sometimes it's important to keep the perspective that even though it was ugly, a win is a win." Larsen said it's nice having some extra time to prepare before their next game. The boys will travel to Niobrara next Friday for their final regular season game and subdistricts will begin the following week. "Since January, it seems like we've have three games a week and we've had some stretches where we've had five games in seven days," he said. "Having this time gives us lots of opportunities to prepare to focus on the details and fine tune things. Hopefully we can go into Niobrara next Friday and come in with an improved product and really set the stage for us going into subdistricts." Kurpgeweit said the team hopes to step up their game as the season winds down. "Hopefully we got all the uglies out tonight, and we're ready for next week and districts," he said. "We'll just go to practice and work hard." Considered to be one of the toughest districts in the Cornhusker State, wrestling fans were not disappointed by Friday’s action at the Class D, District 1 wrestling tournament in Neligh.
“I don’t know how many top-10 teams and top-six individual wrestlers are here, but every weight you go to, there is not an easy one in the whole bunch,” stated Neligh-Oakdale coach Gary Davis. “I thought everyone wrestled well. A lot of the team really competed hard.” Several area wrestlers find themselves one win away from sealing a spot at the state meet next week. Seven N-O wrestlers will compete in the semifinals tomorrow morning. Colton Klabenes (220), Dawson Kaup (195), Jayden Arehart (170), Kaleb Pofahl (170), Andrew Herley (132), Brock Kester (113) and Cameron Wilkinson (113) each qualified for the semis. Conor Dempsey (160), Cade Wilkinson (145), Caleb Payne (138) and Cody Booth (106) fell in the championship bracket, but are still alive in the consolation bracket. Jose Luna (152), Isaias Juarez (126) and Griffin Claussen (120) each ended their seasons with a pair of losses. Clearwater/Orchard seniors Codey Snider (182), Clay Thiele (195), Donaven Nolze (220) and Tommie Peed (285) each advanced to the semifinals. Anthony Ferris (106), Spencer Kester (113) Rafe Grebin (120), Eli Theile (126), Alex Arroyo (145), Houston Marino (152), Eli Macke (160) and Austin Pokorny (170) kept their seasons alive with wins in the consolation bracket, while James Kester (132) and Tyson Rix (138) bowed out of the tournament after suffering their second loss of the evening. “Some of our guys that we thought were going to do well, sputtered a little bit,” commented OC coach Dan Roeber. “And some of our other guys stepped up and that’s what you have to do this time of the year. You have to leave it out there, whether you’re a senior or a freshman. This is districts and there’s no tomorrow. That’s been our motto all week. Go get it and have some fun. We’re going to enjoy and the train ride all week. Hopefully we get as many boys down to Omaha for next week as we can.” The Elgin Public/Pope John wrestlers had an up and down day. To open the tournament, Norman Grothe (120), Luke Henn (132) and Cory Romej (145) each scored a pin to advance to the quarterfinals. All three Wolfpack grapplers fell in the quarters by pin, but all three bounced back in the consolation round to stay alive in the tournament. “The theme this year has been to bounce back,” spoke EPPJ coach Trey Rossman. “Luke should have won his quarterfinal’s match, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. But we’re coming back and we’re apart of the final eight.” All but two Elkhorn Valley wrestlers are still in the hunt for a spot at the state tournament. Christian Yaw (285), Brock Schaecher (182) Josh McFarland (160), Mitchell Petersen (160) Prestin Vondra (145), Adam Miller (120) and Hunter Bennett (106) each qualified for the semis, while Caden Reikofski (220), Gavyn Clause (195) and Reed Bennett (126) will try to battle back in the consolation bracket. Hunter Klinetobe (132) and Michael Glynn (145) each concluded their seasons. Klinetobe went 2-2 Friday, while Glynn was 0-2. “We did good and we’re right where we thought we would be,” remarked EV coach Joey Tegeler. “We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.” West Holt’s Cole Liable (138), Ben Slaymaker (160) and Jade Buss (285) picked up quarterfinal’s wins to advance to Saturday’s semis. Jaegher Ogden (132) and Jordan Moore (285) kept their seasons alive with wins in the consolation round, while Rylan Olson (126) and Martin Wentworth (152) were eliminated from the tournament. “We got tomorrow to go yet and so far we are doing as good as we could hope for,” said West Holt coach Randy Schroeder. “I would have liked to get a couple more for the next day, but not everybody can make it.” All seven Niobrara/Verdigre wrestlers saw their seasons come to an end Friday. Toby Ives (132) and Hudson Drobny (145) each recorded the two lone wins for the Cougars, but dropped two matches later in the tournament. Trey Sucha (152), Evan Ruzicka (160), Gavin Chohon (170), Beau Hrbek (195) and Duta Thomas (285) each went 0-2. In the team standings, the Cyclones are 2.5 points out of first, behind Weeping Water. The Warriors sit in fourth with 50 points, the Falcons are sixth with 45.5 points, EPPJ is tied with West Holt for 11th with 21 points and N/V sits in 19th with seven team points. Wrestling resumes Saturday morning at 10 a.m. “Anything can happen tomorrow,” Rossman concluded. “We saw a few upsets tonight and few seeded kids, that probably should still be in, but they’re out. This is districts and anything can happen.” It was a county clash Thursday evening, as the Elgin Public/Pope girls and boys basketball teams invaded Clearwater to take on Clearwater/Orchard.
The Lady Wolfpack opened the varsity action with a 63-37 triumph over OC. “We played 10 times better than we did 10 days ago (in the opening round of the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament),” stated OC girls coach Scott Leisy. “We made some adjustments against their press and we were a lot more successful against it tonight. I give our kids credit for making that adjustment. We had great looks, but couldn’t get them to fall. That’s been the mantra pf our season, not shooting the ball well. They shot the ball well and extended it there in the second half. We know to beat a team like that, we have to force them into more misses than they had tonight. After giving up an opening layup OC senior Katie Stearns, the EPPJ defense clamped down the remainder of the opening quarter. The Lady Wolfpack turned 13 Lady Cyclone turnovers into 12 points and led 14-6 after the first. “We pride ourselves on defense,” spoke EPPJ senior Grace Rittscher. “We know we have to work really hard on it. We wanted to go out, start good and start from there.” A Rittscher jumper gave EPPJ its largest lead at 24-14, but OC ended the half on an 8-6 run to cut the lead to 8 at the break. Julia Thiele cut the deficit to 7 to start the third, but the Lady Wolfpack ended the quarter on an 11-2 run. Ally Selting capped the run with the final 6 points of the quarter. EPPJ continued its strong defensive play in the fourth and pulled away for a 23-point victory to break a three-game losing skid. “We came off of two really big games and we came up short on both of them,” Rittscher mentioned on EPPJ’s losses to Ewing and CWC coming into Thursday’s contest. “We wanted to go out with a lot of energy like we played with in the past two games and it really showed.” The Lady Wolfpack was opportunistic in the win, turning 35 OC (4-17) turnovers into 29 points. “It starts on defense,” Rittscher added. “We know we have to start there. Every ball, every shot and every box out matters. We wanted to get the ball and transition from there Four players scored in double figures to pace EPPJ (14-7), led by Kirsten Krebs’ 16 points. Kayce Kallhoff and Allyson Wemhoff each netted 12 points, Rittscher contributed 10 points, Selting had 7 points, Kaylee Ramold accumulated 4 points and Lexi Bode added 2 points. Stearns led the way with 14 points, two assists and six rebounds. Thiele tallied 8 points, three rebounds, a steal and an assist, Taylor Sanne accounted for 5 points and three steals, Avery Cheatum recorded 6 points and three boards, while Julian Tuttle, Holly Schacht, Maryssa Long and Taylor Bolling each pitched in a point. In the boys contest, the Cyclones surged past a pesky EPPJ, 59-45. “We struggled a little bit in the first half,” admitted OC senior Chris Kester. “We came out in the second half and started playing harder on defense. It transitioned to layups for us. We pulled away towards the end there.” The two squads battled to a tightly contested matchup in the first quarter, as OC led 12-11. “I was really proud with how we started the game and how we came out and dictated the tempo and energy,” commented EPPJ boys coach Michael Becker. “We really played well as a team. That showed with how we challenged them on defense and how our went in on offense. I have to figure out a better way to make sure we are ready when teams throw that pressure on us and we can still get some easy shots going to the hoop.” Some stellar 3-point shooting gave EPPJ the early edge in the second quarter. Three triples gave the Wolfpack a 22-16 advantage. The Cyclones answered by capitalizing off of EPPJ miscues. OC turned five Wolfpack turnovers into 7 points and used a 13-0 run to reclaim the lead. A Kyle Schumacher trifecta cut the deficit to 29-25 at the half. OC opened the third with a 9-2 run, but the Wolfpack kept the contest close going into the final stanza after Conor Ramold drilled a jumper and a trey. “Tuesday’s night game really showed them (how to battle back),” Becker said. “We were down at halftime, and we battled back and played well. All five guys played well together. That gave them a lot of confidence. When a team goes on a 6-0 run, we have the ability to stop it, battle back and do some good things on the other end of the floor.” The Cyclones pulled away in the fourth with a 20-13 run, to capture their seventh win in eight tries. “We’ve played a lot of games,” Kester stated. “We let teams hang around too long and it ends up close and we either lose the game by a little bit or barely win it. It was good to get a good lead on them, not have to play as hard in the end and let the JVs get in for a little bit.” A big key to the win was OC's (15-8) ability to capitalize off of EPPJ turnovers. The green and black scored 22 points off of 16 Wolfpack turnovers. “In a hard defense, if you take it away, they don’t have anyone back on defense,” Kester continued. “You can get the easy layups and easy buckets to get a better lead.” Schumacher led EPPJ (2-17) with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists, Ramold contributed 10 points, three rebounds and three helpers, RJ Lierman scored 10 points, Adam Dreger collected 4 points and seven boards and Colton Wright pitched in 3 points and eight rebounds. Jacob Long recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards. Blake Hoke netted 15 points, Kester tallied 14 points, six rebounds and seven steals, Ryan Wilhelm had 9 points and five rebounds, Gage Clifton poured in 8 points, while Mason Hoke and Anthony Umphress each added a point. The EPPJ boys hosts O’Neill St. Mary’s Feb. 15 at 6:45 p.m. for its final regular season contest of the year. “We got a week off before our next game,” Becker noted. “We have time to focus on improving and getting better. When you get to the middle of February and subdistricts, all it takes is one good night for anybody. We preach to the kids to keep improving and getting better. When you get to that point in the year, you try to play your best basketball. That’s what we’re trying to do.” OC welcomes Boyd County to Orchard Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. The girls squads begin subdistrict play next week at Battle Creek. Elgin Public/Pope John battles Neligh-Oakdale Tuesday at 7:45 p.m., while the Lady Cyclones open with Plainview Monday at 7 p.m. “I’ve been on both sides of the coin and you’re back to 0-0,” Leisy concluded. “Weird things happen in February. The more you’re around it, the more you know. You have to win three or four ball games to get to where everybody wants to go. At this point, you have to go out and win basketball games. We got a Plainview team we’ve beaten once, but we had a 13-point lead at half and we gave that thing up in the second half. We know we have to play well like we did tonight. If we can play like we did tonight, we’ll put ourselves in a pretty good position Monday and hopefully moving forward, we’ll keep growing and seeing where it takes us.” Football players from Clearwater and Orchard are among those who will be inducted into the 2019 Eight-Man Football Hall of Fame this summer.
Billy Legate from Clearwater and Matt Ickes of Orchard are two of the 14 players who made the list. Legate, who graduated from Clearwater High School in 1994, played fullback for the Huskers until 1998. Ickes, who graduated from Orchard High School in 1997, played right cornerback for the Huskers until 2001. Two coaches, 14 players, and one contributor have been named to the 2019 Eight-Man Football Hall of Fame. They will be inducted during ceremonies to be held Saturday, June 15 at The Tom Osborne Family Sports Complex in Hastings. The hall of fame is presented by the Nebraska Eight-Man Football Coaches Association and sponsored by Pinnacle Bank of Nebraska. Induction ceremonies will be held at halftime of the 42nd Annual Sertoma Eight-Man All-Star Game played at Hastings College. Kickoff for the game will be 6 p.m. Members of the Class of 2019 include: Players- Casey Beran (Sargent), Clint Eikmeier (Dodge), Cory Eikmeier (Dodge), John Howell (Mullen), Matt Ickes (Orchard), Paul Kosch (Humphrey St. Francis), Steve Kriewald (North Loup-Scotia), Billy Legate (Clearwater), Eric Ryan (Overton), Steve Simon (Falls City Sacred Heart), Glen Snodgrass (North Loup-Scotia), and Andy Zeisler (Butte); Family Legacy- Joel and Jeff Makovicka (East Bulter); Coaches- Doug Goltz (Falls City Sacred Heart), Gordon Pilmore (Dodge); Contributor- Bob Jensen (Huskerland Prep Report). The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to celebrate the history, growth, and success of Nebraska Eight-Man Football. Tom Allen of Crofton High School and Ron Beacom of Neligh-Oakdale have been named head coaches for the 7th Annual Red vs. White Northeast Nebraska Football Classic, according to Mike Sunderman, President of the Classic’s Board of Directors.
The 7th Annual game will be held on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at Veteran’s Memorial Field in Norfolk. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 noon. Sunderman said his Board of Directors is very enthusiastic about the 2019 all-star coaching staffs. “We are excited to have coaches Beacom and Allen for this year’s all-star game. Both are held in very high regard by their players, staffs and communities, and will be excellent representatives of the board of directors and our sponsors.” Allen served as an assistant for the Red Team in the 2015 game and will lead the Reds in 2019. Beacom was an assistant for the White Team in 2015 and will serve as head coach for the Whites this year. The series is tied at 3-3. Allen is honored to have been chosen to lead the Red Team. “Not only do I get a chance to work with some of the most talented players in our area, but I get the opportunity to work with some of the best high school coaches in Nebraska. This game provides a tremendous opportunity to showcase some of the talent that Northeast Nebraska offers, and I am extremely excited to be a part of that!” Allen’s staff will include Silas Fluellen of South Sioux City, Mike Hassler of Wakefield, Zac Kliment of Creighton, Johnnie Ostermeyer of Crofton, and Corey Uldrich of Hartington-Newcastle. Beacom is appreciative of the opportunity to lead the Whites. “It is a tremendous honor to be asked to coach the All-Star Classic. Northeast Nebraska has always been known for its outstanding football. There are great coaches in the area that are running some tremendous programs. I had such a good time coaching in the classic in 2015.” Joining Beacom on the White staff will be A.J. Burki of Wisner-Pilger, Brendan Dittmer of Elkhorn Valley, Scott Morrison of Osmond, Dave Ridder of Guardian Angel Central Catholic, and Blake Wokenfuss of Norfolk High School. Here is a look at the Red Team’s coaching staff: ALLEN COACHED AS AN assistant coach at Omaha Benson High School for two years before becoming the assistant coach at Papillion LaVista High School in 1995. Allen was the defensive coordinator from 1997-2000 after which he moved to assistant coach and defensive coordinator for Crofton High school. In 2015 Allen became the head football coach at Crofton High School. Throughout his career Coach Allen has been to six state championships thus far. FLUELLEN HAS BEEN the head coach for South Sioux City Cardinals since 2017. Prior to taking the head coaching position, he was an assistant coach for Norfolk High School for four years. Though Fluellen is a young head coach, he has had plenty of years of experience with football. He played quarterback at Wayne State College from 2006-2011, where he set numerous records and in 2018 was inducted in the Wayne State Hall of Fame. He is excited about South Sioux City's program and the direction it is going. HASSLER IS A 2003 graduate of Wayne State College. He began his football coaching career in Clearwater in 2004 as a volunteer assistant under Rod Brummels. Hassler arrived in Wakefield in 2005 and was an assistant coach under Justin Smith. He was a part of the 2006 and 2007 Wakefield Class C-2 State Football Championship teams. Mike took over as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2009 and became Wakefield’s head coach in 2011 and has been in that role ever since. This past season, Hassler was recognized with the Class D-1 Berens Coaching Award by Huskerland Prep, as he guided his team to a 6-2 record and a number four ranking in the class. KLIMENT IS THE head football coach at Creighton High School. A product of Creighton as well, he has been coaching back at his alma mater since 2012, coaching multiple sports seasons for seven years. For football, in five out of those seven regular seasons, the Bulldogs posted perfect 8-0 records. Last season was his first year with the Bulldogs as head coach, resulting in a 13-0 record with the school's first State Championship. Six previous seasons spent as an assistant coach & defensive coordinator resulted in a 60-8 record. OSTERMEYER STARTED HIS coaching career at South Sioux City while student teaching. He then taught and coached football at Woodbury Central in Moville, Iowa. After two years, he returned to South Sioux City as a math teacher and assistant football coach. In 2005 and 2006, Ostermeyer was the offensive coordinator at Newcastle High School. Then he spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Briar Cliff University Chargers in Sioux City, Iowa. He transitioned back to high school football becoming the assistant principal and activity director at Pierce High School in 2012. In 2015, he made the short trip north to Crofton to become the high school principal. He has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Crofton High School team under coach Tom Allen. Crofton was the State Runner-Up in 2016. Ostermeyer also played eight years in the Indoor/Arena Football League. ULDRICH IS CURRENTLY serving as the 7-12 principal at Hartington-Newcastle Public and just finished coaching his 13th year of football. Uldrich began his career as an assistant coach for his father, Dave Uldrich, at his alma mater, Allen Consolidated Schools. For three years, he coached at Allen and then spent the next two years as an assistant coach at Cedar Catholic High School under head coach Chad Cattau, where, in 2009 they were C2 State Runner-up Champions. From there, Uldrich coached for five years at Humphrey Public Schools, the first two years as an assistant under head coach Bob McEvoy. The next two years he moved to head coach of Humphrey Public before serving one year as co-head coach with Bill Mimick of the newly formed co-op between Humphrey Public and Lindsay Holy Family. Uldrich has spent the past three football seasons as the head football coach at Hartington-Newcastle, the first two years as co-head coach with Blair Kalin, and this past season as the head coach. Here is a look at the White Team’s coaching staff: BEACOM HAS BEEN a head high school football coach for 19 years, thirteen years at Archbishop Bergan and six at Neligh-Oakdale High School. When coaching at Bergan, their record was 98-39 and at Neligh, they are currently 33-22. Beacom’s overall record as a head coach is 131-61. While coaching, his teams have qualified for the playoffs 16 out of those 19 years, winning seven District titles, and State Runner-Up twice, in 2008 and 2010. Beacom was awarded the Class D-1 Mike Behrens Coaching Award in 2016 and was the assistant coach for the East in the Sertoma 8-man All-Star Classic in 2017. BURKI JUST COMPLETED his 10th year as a high school football coach. He started his career in Ansley, Nebraska serving as an assistant coach for two years before taking over the head coach position. While coaching at Ansley, the team made their first playoff appearance as the co-oped Ansley Litchfield Spartans for D-1 eight-man football in 2014. Burki was in Ansley from 2009-2014 and in 2015 he moved to Wisner, Nebraska. Burki served as the assistant coach for two years before taking over the program last year in 2017. In 2018, Wisner moved to 8-man football for the first time in school history. Wisner finished the regular season at 6-2, making it to the playoffs, but losing in the 2nd round, finishing out the season at 7-3. DITTMER HAS BEEN a football coach at Elkhorn Valley since 2001, serving as an assistant coach for 15 seasons, and the last three years as the head football coach. Dittmer has had an interesting career, as Elkhorn Valley has gone from playing 11-man football, to 8-man, to 6-man, and back to 8-man. He has served as the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator at all levels. Elkhorn Valley's four years in 6-man resulted in four playoff appearances, with three seasons ending in the semi-finals. Dittmer’s team made a huge improvement this past season and was on the cusp of making the first 8-man playoffs. MORRISON IS IN HIS fifth year at Osmond High School. This is the second year he's been the head coach. He spent the previous three years serving as an assistant coach. Morrison spent three years at Lindsay Holy Family (2011-2013); he student-taught at Crofton High School (2010). Morrison says he is lucky to have worked with some great people and coaches including Rod Brummels, Bill Mimick, and Tony Hoffman just to name a few. RIDDER HAS COACHED at Guardian Angels Central Catholic since 1986. He was the assistant coach until 2001 after which he became the head football coach. Ridder is currently the head football coach and during his tenure GACC has been in the playoffs 16 times in a row, three times in the semi-finals, two times as runner-up champions, and one State Championship title. Ridder played football and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 1979 to 1983 and was a 3-year letterman. Ridder was born and raised on a farm near West Point and graduated from GACC. WOKENFUSS IS THE VARSITY assistant football coach at Norfolk High School. He has coached for three years, first as the freshman football coach and for the past two seasons he has been on the varsity staff as the defensive line coach. Wokenfuss graduated from Weeping Water High School, and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Elkhorn Valley earned the top seed in the D1-7 girls basketball subdistrict in Battle Creek, which features all four Antelope County teams.
The tournament will kick off Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. with No. 4 Clearwater/Orchard taking on No. 5 Plainview. The winner will play No. 1 Elkhorn Valley at 6 p.m. Feb. 12. No. 2 Elgin Public/Pope John will face No. 3 Neligh-Oakdale at 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 12. The final will then be played on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. Neligh-Oakdale will host one of toughest wrestling districts in the state on Friday and Saturday. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for next week's state tournament in Omaha.
Friday's action begins at 3 p.m. Teams competing are Ainsworth, Burwell, Central Valley, Clearwater-Orchard, Elgin Public/Pope John, Elkhorn Valley, Elwood, Franklin, Fullerton, Guardian Angels Central Catholic, Harvard, Lutheran High Northeast, Neligh-Oakdale, Niobrara/Verdigre, Osmond, Pleasanton, Riverside, Twin Loup, Weeping Water, West Holt and Wisner-Pilger. Top Wrestlers per weight, according to Nebraska Wrestling: 106
113
120
126
132
138
145
152
160
170
182
195
220
285
The Elkhorn Valley girls and boys basketball teams split its road matchup against Central Valley Tuesday evening.
The Lady Falcons came away with a hard-fought 51-46 win over the Lady Cougars. The difference in the game was EV’s (20-3) 14-5 run in the second quarter. Hannah Ollendick led the way with 15 points, five boards and three assists. Amber Miller tallied 11 points five helpers and three take aways, Kaylee Bacon recorded 9 points, three boards and three steals, Olivia Nall had 5 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, Carney Black and Sierra Rystrom each netted 4 points and Bria Gale added 3 points. In the boys contest, third-quarter surge doomed EV in its 67-55 loss. Trailing 27-24 at the break, Central Valley outscored the Falcons 19-8, to rally past the big green. Braedyn Ollendick paced EV (8-12) with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven dimes. Bryson Anderson scored 14 points, Carter Rautenberg accumulated 11 points and five rebounds, Derek Hahne accounted for 3 points and four assists and Julio Sierra pitched a point, three boards, three assists and two steals. The Lady Falcons host Humphrey St. Francis Friday at 6 p.m., while the boys welcome St. Edward to Tilden Saturday at 2 p.m. The Neligh-Oakdale girls fell to a fiesty Battle Creek team, while the Warriors avenged an earlier loss to the Braves on their home court Tuesday night.
It was a Parent’s Night split as the girls were defeated 66-38 and the boys won their eighth straight game in a 51-46 victory. The defensive pressure from the Bravettes gave the Lady Warriors some trouble. In the first stanza, Claire Whitesel drove in for two, Paige Furstenau hit a jumper and Haley Kerkman went 1-2 from the line to trail 13-5. To start off the second, Furstenau and Whitesel each drained a triple, but BC put together a run of their own. Furstenau answered by scoring on a drive to the hoop, followed by a Trinity Kurpgeweit bunny. Whitesel added a free throw before the half expired and the Lady Warriors trailed 31-17 at the break. Kerkman drew a pair of fouls and went a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe before Kurpgeweit poured in a couple jumpers in the third. Heading into the final quarter, BC held a 51-25 advantage. Brooke Frey got hot in the fourth, scoring all 10 of her points in the final 8 minutes. Frey nailed two triples and two jumpers for N-O. A free throw by Kurpgeweit and a Furstenau field goal finished out the scoring. Coach Christy Knutson said Battle Creek was a very aggressive team, which proved to be problematic for her team. “We’ve seen that, but we haven’t seen it to that extent,” she said. “They were well-coached and they just kept coming after us. They knew what we were trying to do, and they stopped us and we got frustrated.” Senior Haley Kerkman said she’d seen the Bravettes play before and knew they were a good pressure team. “We knew we had to stay calm right from the get-go and that got us,” she said. “In the end, I think we played really well against them compared to what we have in the past.” The 5-15 Lady Warriors were led by Frey with 10 points, followed by Furstenau with 9 points and 4 steals, Kurpgeweit with 7 points and 9 rebounds and Kerkman and Whitesel with 6 points apiece. Another night of balanced scoring by the N-O boys secured another win for the Warriors. “Pair that with good defensive play and our guys have a lot to be proud of after tonight’s win,” Coach Ethan Larsen said. After Battle Creek jumped out to a 6-0 lead, the Warriors got to work. Isiac Kurpgeweit went 2-2 at the line and hit a field goal to close the gap before Julien Hearn drained a trey to knot it at 7-all. Cole Belitz converted on an and-one to give N-O its first lead with 1:42 left in the first. A Hunter Charf layup and triple gave the Warriors a 15-11 advantage at the end of the quarter. Belitz sped in for a layup and then hit from beyond the arc. Hearn hit two triples, Kurpgeweit drained a jumper and Rice sank two free throws and scored on a putback to give the Warriors a 14-point halftime lead, 34-20. Charf netted a jump shot to put up the first points for N-O after the break. Rice went 2-2 on free throws, Belitz scored on a pair of layups and Kurpgeweit added a bucket for the 44-34 advantage heading into the final 8 minutes of play. The Braves cut the lead to five before Hearn put down a triple for the Warriors. With just 3:18 left in the game, BC closed the gap to just three points. Rice went 1-2 at the line to make it a 4-point game with 2:37 on the clock. As the time wound down to just 49 seconds, BC scored a field goal, making it 48-46. The Braves were forced to foul in the final seconds and Rice went 3-4 from the line to secure a 5-point win for the 16-6 Warriors. “We lost to them in the holiday tournament by two, we didn’t play very well that game, so we wanted to avenge that loss tonight,” Belitz said. “With it being our last home game, we thought it would be pretty cool if we did it here on our home court.” Larsen said it was good to “send our seniors out with a win on our home court.” “Playing Battle Creek earlier in the year at the holiday tournament and losing a close one, I think our boys wanted that one back,” he said. “It was nice tonight to be able to get a win and even the series against them. I’m sure we’ll probably see them again in subs, so this series is far from done.” Belitz said defense was the difference in tonight’s game. “In the first half, our offense was pretty good, but in the second half it kind of slowed down and we weren’t making the shots as well, but our defense stayed up,” he said. Larsen said he was pleased that his team was able to hold Battle Creek to 46 points. “I think that’s a testament to the boys and their defensive play,” he said. “That was a big one tonight, considering our fourth quarter only posted 7 points on the scoreboard. Our defense allowed us to weather that storm and still come out on top.” The balanced attack was led by Belitz and Hearn with 12 points apiece, followed by Rice and Kurpgeweit with 10 each and Charf with 7. Belitz swiped 4 steals and Kurpgeweit grabbed 8 boards. “We have another game on Friday, so we’ve got to keep building off games we’ve played and just keep getting better for subs coming up,” Belitz said. Neligh-Oakdale will travel to Chambers on Friday to take on the CWC Renegades. The girls JV game is set to tip off at 5 p.m. The Clearwater/Orchard girls and boys basketball teams went 1-1 Tuesday night against Ewing.
The boys squad surged past the Tigers, 57-38. After taking a 12-10 lead in the opening quarter, the Cyclones outscored Ewing, 45-26, the remainder of the game. OC (14-8) was led by Blake Hoke’s 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and seven steals. Ryan Wilhelm recorded 16 points, six rebounds and three steals, Jacob Long accounted for 9 points, four rebounds and two steals, Gage Clifton netted 9 points, Chris Kester had 3 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals, Anthony Umphress notched 2 points and three boards and Mason Hoke added a point, three rebounds and two take aways. In the girls contest, Ewing overpowered the Lady Cyclones (4-16), 53-25. The Lady Tigers jumped out to a quick 33-7 lead and cruised to the victory OC welcomes county foe Elgin Public/Pope John to Clearwater Thursday at 6 p.m. |
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