The Elgin Public/Pope John boys basketball team bounced back after a tough loss Monday night to defeat Chambers/Wheeler Central, 43-37, Tuesday.
After a low-scoring first half, the Wolfpack (2-16) outscored the Renegades, 32-23, in the second half to pick up the win. Kyle Schumacher led the way with 19 points, two assists and four rebounds. Conor Ramold tallied 9 points and five dimes, Colton Wright recorded 7 points and 10 boards, while Adam Dreger and RJ Lierman each netted 4 points. In the girls contest, a fourth-quarter rally doomed EPPJ in its 54-51 loss to CWC. Trailing 27-23 at the break, the Lady Wolfpack used a 17-12 run to claim a 1-point advantage heading into the final stanza. The Lady Renegades outscored EPPJ (13-7), 15-11, to complete the comeback. Kayce Kallhoff paced the Lady Wolfpack with 17 points. Allyson Wemhoff accounted for 15 points, Ally Seltin had 8 points, Kirsten Krebs accumulated 4 points, Kaylee Ramold notched 3 points, while Lexi Bode and Grace Rittscher each added 2 points. Elgin Public/Pope John travels to Clearwater to take on county foe Clearwater/Orchard Thursday at 6 p.m. The Neligh-Oakdale basketball and dance teams celebrated parents night on Tuesday night in between the girls and boys basketball games.
The Elgin Public/Pope John schools honored parents of winter athletes during Monday's basketball game against Ewing.
Athlete's names were read off and their parents stood to be recognized by the crowd, while the seniors walked across the gym floor with their parents. Two strong offensive performances guided the Elkhorn Valley girls and boys basketball teams to a pair of victories on Monday over Creighton.
In the boys contest, a fourth-quarter surge propelled the Falcons past the Bulldogs, 53-48. Leading 31-30 heading into the final stanza, EV outscored Creighton (4-15), 22-18, to secure the win. Braedyn Ollendick had big game for the Falcons (8-11). The sophomore guard recorded 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Julio Sierra tallied 10 points, three rebounds and three assists, Brandon Evans and Carter Rautenberg each netted 7 points and Bryson Anderson added 3 points. For the Dogs, Alex Homan led the way with 13 points. Carson Lilly contributed 10 points and seven boards, Conner Hammer accumulated 8 points and two assists, Brayden Zimmerer scored 5 points, Brian Johnson accounted for 4 points, four rebounds and two steals, Brennan Pint and Sam Van Metre each poured in 3 points and Clay Curtis pitched in 2 points. The girls game went to Elkhorn Valley, 64-43. The Lady Falcons (19-3) opened the game with a 42-15 run in the first half to put the contest away early. Sierra Rystrom and Hannah Ollendick each netted 19 points to lead the way. Amber Miller tallied 9 points, seven boards, three assists and four steals, Olivia Nall recorded 8 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, Bria Gale had 3 points and two helpers, while Johannah Tassemeyer, Kaylee Bacon and Carney Black each added 2 points. Ashtyn Fritz paced the Lady Bulldogs (8-11) with 18 points and nine rebounds. Maycee Zimmerer accounted for 8 points, five rebounds and two steals, Charlize Wilmes accumulated 6 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, Christen Curtis netted 5 points, Clarissa Becker pitched in 4 points and three boards and Alaina Farnik contributed 2 points. Creighton hosts Lutheran High Northeast tonight at 4 p.m. Elkhorn Valley travels to Central Valley today at 4 p.m. The Elgin Public/Pope John and Ewing basketball fans were treated to two stellar hoop contests Monday evening at Pope John Gym.
In the varsity opener, Ewing rallied to defeat EPPJ, 54-52. “I was really happy we executed down the stretch,” stated Ewing girls coach Greg Appleby. “We had a little trouble lately of finishing the last four minutes of ball games. It was an up-and-down game, both ways. We needed that win. We lost a tough one in the conference tournament last week. I’m proud of the girls for the way they came back.” The Lady Wolfpack overcame a sluggish start to take a 3-point advantage into the half. Trailing 4-3, the Lady Tigers used a 9-0 run to claim a 12-4 lead. EPPJ came storming back with a 7-0 run to end the opening quarter. “When we bring the energy, both offensively and defensively, we do good things,” commented EPPJ girls coach Randy Eisenhauer. “We got off to a slow start and gave up layups every time down the floor. We talked about battling and keeping that energy high. We had times we did that, and then we had times where we struggled.” After trading buckets, the Lady Wolfpack used an 11-4 run and took a 29-26 lead into the locker room. Despite a sloppy third quarter and its senior leadership sitting on the bench with four fouls, EPPJ extended its lead to 4. The Lady Wolfpack committed seven turnovers and Allyson Wemhoff had to sit and watch the game from the sidelines after picking up her fourth foul. Trailing 34-31, several role players stepped up for EPPJ (13-6) during a 9-0 run. Kaylee Ramold tallied two layups, Kayce Kallhoff drilled a triple and Lexi Bode capped the run with a layup. “We talk about that in practice, you never know who it’s going to be and everybody needs to step up to fill their roles and do what they’re supposed to do,” Eisenhauer noted. “We had those turnovers in the third and then Ally (Wemhoff), our floor leader both offensively and defensively, went out. But all the girls said in the huddle everyone step up and do a little more. They did and did quite well until Ally got back in the game.” The fourth was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads, but when the dust had settled, the Lady Tigers emerged as the victor. Knotted at 43, Ewing junior Ashley Koenig netted 9 of the final 11 points for the orange and black. “We were able to get the ball to Ashley Koenig in the middle of their zone and she was able to attack the basket,” Appleby said. “That was huge.” Trailing, by 4 late in the contest, Grace Rittscher threw up a desperation triple and got the friendly roll to cut the deficit to 1 with two seconds remaining. After a Koenig miss on her second free throw, Rittscher full-court heavy was off the mark. “It was a game of runs with a couple of teams that are really comfortable with playing up and down basketball,” Appleby spoke. “That probably led to some of the runs. We had one early, then they had one. After our first run, I thought they dominated the rest of the first half. We were able to hang close enough to hang in there in the second half to put a run together.” A key to the win was Ewing's (15-4) ability to cash in on extra opportunities. The Lady Tigers scored 16 second-chance points off of 33 rebounds, while EPPJ had 15 points off of 36 boards. “We were good on the offensive glass, and not as good on the defensive class,” Appleby continued. “There was a lot of offensive rebounds in that game. They had a lot of second-chance points too. Their’s were more of getting a whole other possession and they knocked down a 15-footer or a 3. Rebounding was huge in that ball game. We got better in the fourth quarter on the defensive end to hold them off.” Koenig led the way with a double-double. Koenig scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half, to go along with her 10 rebounds and three steals. Sidney Stallbaum poured in 14 points and nine rebounds. Brenna Wagner added 9 points, Tiana Thramer contributed 7 points and Miranda Summers pitched in 4 points. The Lady Wolfpack was led by Rittscher 17 points. Kirsten Krebs tallied 12 points, Kallhoff accounted for 6 points, Wemhoff and Ally Selting each netted 5 points, Ramold recorded 4 points and Bode had 3 points. “There were little things we didn’t do right to get the win, Eisenhauer remarked. “Give Ewing credit, they came and battled in that fourth quarter. We had a 4 or 5 point lead in the fourth quarter, but we couldn’t get any shots to fall to start the fourth, and they did. I was proud the girls didn’t quit and they kept battling.” In the boys contest, the Tigers overcame a big first-half deficit to defeat EPPJ, 49-47. “I’m proud of these guys,” commented Ewing boys coach Brett Kaczor. “We’ve been in opportunities like this and we’ve squandered them. We came out tonight down 44-35 and finished the game on a 14-3 run to come out. I’m super proud for all we’ve been through the past five or six years and not getting very many wins. It’s pretty easy to lay down when you’re down 10 with a couple of minutes left. We kept fighting and made enough plays and shots to get the W.” After battling to a 14-all tie in the first quarter, EPPJ pulled away to take a 10-point advantage into the break. Following Wyatt Wagner's layup, which gave the Tigers a 18-17 lead, the Wolfpack ended the half on a 20-9 run. Both teams were plagued by turnovers in the third, as both squads combined for 12 turnovers in the third. After going the first half of the fourth without a point, the Tigers offense exploded with a 9-0 run to take a 47-45 lead. Xavier Hobbs netted 5 points and Dalton Rotherham added 4 points in the run. “We took advantage of our opportunities,” Kaczor noted. “We knew all game they were going to take away Joey (Wright) all game long and they did a nice job surrounding him and making it tough on him to score. We told them to keep fighting and move to find open lanes. Those guys knocked down shots and got to the open area. We’ve told them since day one to play to their strengths and it finally clicked today in the fourth quarter.” With a minute remaining, Adam Dreger converted a layup to tie the game at 47. Hobbs then drilled two freebies to take a 2-point lead with 24 seconds remaining. The Wolfpack had numerous chances to tie or take the lead, but failed to find the bottom of the net and gave Ewing (2-16) its second win of the season. Kyle Schumacher paced EPPJ (1-16) with 22 points, two assists and five boards. Conor Ramold accumulated 9 points and five rebounds, Dreger netted 8 points, R.J. Lierman recorded 6 points, six assists and four rebounds and Layne Bullock had 2 points. Hobbs led the Tigers with 17 points. Ryan Brummels tallied 10 points, while Joey Wright and Rotherham each scored 6 points. Ewing hosts Clearwater/Orchard today. “We’re hoping it carries over against a very good OC team at home,” Kaczor stated. “A win always helps. You can say however much you want about playing teams close in a loss, but the momentum of win is huge. Who knows, you put together on the right night and somebody doesn’t come ready to play, you might pull off the upset of the year. That’s what we’re hoping for.” The Lady Tigers tipoff at 6:15 p.m. “It’s good we come back and play tomorrow night against OC,” Appleby spoke. “We need to get back in the gym and continue to get better at the things we need to work on. We took better care of the basketball tonight and our press break was really good. We got three games this week and I think it will be a good prep for sub-districts next week.” EPPJ travels to Bartlett to take on Chambers/Wheeler Central today at 5 p.m. “That’s NVC for you,” Eisenhauer concluded. “We got seven, or eight, quality teams that can play any night. We went from North Central (in the NVC quarterfinals) to Ewing and now CWC. We’re going to have to bring that energy against CWC. They’re one of the top teams in our conference and the girls have to put this one in the back of their head. Forget about it and come out against CWC.” Check out our photo gallery from Saturday night's Niobrara Valley Conference championship game between the Neligh-Oakdale Warriors and the OC Cyclones:
In an all-Antelope County conference final, Neligh-Oakdale edged the OC Cyclones 47-40 to win the Niobrara Valley Conference championship on Saturday night in Niobrara. It was the second NVC title for the Warriors in three years.
Cyclone senior Blake Hoke sank a 3-pointer to close the Warrior lead to just four points with 8.8 seconds remaining in the game. Beau Murray went to the line and connected on the back end of a 2-of-2 to make it a five-point game. The Cyclones couldn't find the hoop and sent Isaic Kurpgeweit to the line, where he finished the game with a pair of free throws. The Warriors held the advantage after a low-scoring first half, 17-15. Neligh-Oakdale out-rebounded the Cyclones 38-28 and hit three 3-pointers compared to the Cyclones tree treys. It was a balanced attack for the Warriors. Austin Rice led N-O with 10 points while Cole Belitz, Murray and Kurpgeweit each had eight points. Hunter Charf and Julian Hearn added six points apiece. Hoke scored more than half of the Cyclones' points with 22 to lead all scorers. Ryan Wilhelm finished with nine points, including seven in the second half. Jake Long added eight points, and Chris Kester had one point. In an all-Antelope County conference final, Neligh-Oakdale edged the OC Cyclones 47-40 to win the Niobrara Valley Conference championship on Saturday night in Niobrara. It was the second NVC title for the Warriors in three years.
Cyclone senior Blake Hoke sank a 3-pointer to close the Warrior lead to just four points with 8.8 seconds remaining in the game. Beau Murray went to the line and connected on the back end of a 2-of-2 to make it a five-point game. The Cyclones couldn't find the hoop and sent Isaic Kurpgeweit to the line, where he finished the game with a pair of free throws. The Warriors held the advantage after a low-scoring first half, 17-15. Neligh-Oakdale out-rebounded the Cyclones 38-28 and hit three 3-pointers compared to the Cyclones tree treys. It was a balanced attack for the Warriors. Austin Rice led N-O with 10 points while Cole Belitz, Murray and Kurpgeweit each had eight points. Hunter Charf and Julian Hearn added six points apiece. Hoke scored more than half of the Cyclones' points with 22 to lead all scorers. Ryan Wilhelm finished with nine points, including seven in the second half. Jake Long added eight points, and Chris Kester had one point. The Neligh-Oakdale wrestling team proved it belonged with the best in the state after placing third at the Class D state duals Saturday at Kearney’s Buffalo County Fairgrounds.
“It was 14 guys wrestling their tails off,” stated N-O mentor Gary Davis. “There were matches we didn’t win, but we didn’t give up bonus points. We wrestled every dual as hard as we could.” The Warriors opened the day with a 42-34 victory over Amherst. Each of N-O’s victories were by pin or forfeit. “That’s the most important thing,” Davis noted on getting bonus points in a dual. “Not giving them up is key too. You might take an 11, or 12, point beating, but if you don’t give up those bonus points and you can hang in there and get a decision; that makes more difference in more duals than anything.” After Conor Dempsey was pinned at 160 pounds, Kaleb Pofahl (170) and Jayden Arehart (182) put the Warriors ahead with back-to-back pins. Losses by Dawson Kaup (195) and Colton Klabenes (220) gave the lead back to Amherst, 13-12. Following Tucker Knust’s forfeit win at heavyweight, Cody Booth (106) and Brock Kester (113) scored two-straight falls to regain the lead. Cameron Wilkinson fell in a hard-fought match to Isaiah Shields at 120, 6-1. After a pin cut N-O’s lead to 30-22, senior Andrew Herley stepped on the mat to face 32-1 Quentyn Frank, Trailing 2-1 after the first period, Herley scored a reversal and three-point near fall to take a 6-2 lead. Herley turned Frank again, but this time stuck Bronco freshman for a huge win. “He’s a strong kid, pretty fast and has good technique,” Herley recalled. “We started scrambling and I guess I caught his arm, pulled him down and ended up getting the pin.” Celeb Payne sealed the win for the Warriors with a first-period pin at 138. In the semifinals, the Warriors fell in a hard-fought match to No. 1 Plainview, 38-30. “We came up a little short against Plainview, but (Dean) Boyer did a great job coaching there,” Davis said. “They technically wrestle very well. They’re tough and their young guys are as tough as I have seen.” N-O started the match with a 15-0 lead after Pofahl and Kaup recorded forfeit victories and Arehart picked up a 6-0 decision. The Pirates won the next three matches to claim a 19-15 lead, but Kester got the Warriors back in the win column with a third-period fall. Following a loss at 126, Herley scored a 6-2 decision triumph to reclaim the lead for N-O. Cade Wilkinson won by forfeit at 145 to put Neligh-Oakdale ahead, 30-28, but Plainview rallied and won the last two matches to advance to the championship contest, where the Pirates defeated Burwell to capture the Class D crown. Once again bonus points played a factor in the third-place match for the maroon and white. The Warriors scored five pins and two technical falls on their way to a 43-33 victory over Thayer Central Arehart, Kaup, Klabenes and Knust opened the match with four pins to give N-O a 24-0 advantage. “We had our opportunity there and their middleweights are tough,” Davis commented. “They got all their points there. There wasn’t very many points left on the board one way or the other. We were able to get enough points to get that win.” The Titians came storming back and heading into the final match trailed by four. Pofahl scored the third-place sealing pin in the first period to give the Warriors their best finish at the state duals since they took third in 2014. “I’m really proud of the guys for how hard they fought” Herley spoke. “We were the fifth seed and went up against the first seed, Plainview. and lost by eight points at the end. We kept fighting and I’m proud of them for not giving up and keep fighting.” Herley, Pofahl, Kester and Arehart each went a perfect 3-0 Saturday. Knust, Kaup, and Payne each won two matches, while Cade Wilkinson and Klabenes each captured a pin. “It’s pretty important,” Herley added on having a strong performance ahead of next week’s district meet. “We got a lot of guys that are willing to put the work in to go to state. We are happy about that.” Neligh-Oakdale hosts the District D-1 meet Friday and Saturday. “Today helped,” Davis concluded. “You get in the fire and you know you can do it. We have to have a good week of practice and get better this week. That’s been the key every week, get a little bit better and work a little bit harder. Our practice room has been the key to all of this. Every day they come in there and go to work.” The Lady Falcons soared to a 53-44 win over Boyd County for third place in the Niobrara Valley Conference girls tournament in Niobrara on Saturday afternoon.
The victory earned Coach Brendan Dittmer and his Elkhorn Valley team their best conference finish to date. "This is the first time that coach has been this far in this conference, so that was pretty important for both us and him, so that meant a lot to us too," Senior Hannah Ollendick said. She said her team's ability to bounce back after the tough loss to CWC in the semifinal was crucial. "We just wanted to show everybody that we can still come back and win the next one," Ollendick said. "It may not have been first, but it was still a place." Coach Dittmer said he told his girls to "just come out and play with mettle." "It was just kind of our motto coming into this game," he said. "It's easy to pout after you lose a tough game in the semifinals and maybe not come out as hard, but I knew Boyd County would not do that. I knew we needed to match their intensity and want to win this game, so I'm really proud of them for playing with mettle." The coach said Saturday's win was especially important to his seniors—Ollendick, Sierra Rystrom and Amber Miller. "They fought really hard for this for three years," he said. "We were awful close and now they got to that fourth day. And to come out with a third-place victory, it's a good example of their character." Boyd County started off the game with a three-point shot in the first minute of play, but Olivia Nall fired back with one of her own to knot it up at 3-all. Nall was fouled on her next trip down the court and went 1-2 at the line. Triples from Rystrom and Miller gave EV a 10-8 lead at the end of the first. At first, Boyd County's tenacious full-court press gave EV a few problems, but the team settled in and was able to get their offense rolling. "We got more calm and better with the ball," Ollendick said. "We were smart with our attacks and our shots ,so that helped too." The Lady Falcons got their offense running in the second and drew some fouls along the way. Ollendick went 2-2 at the line and Miller was 3-6 at the charity stripe. Miller drove in for two, Kaylee Bacon hit a bunny, Ollendick swiped a steal for a layup and Nall hit her second triple of the game. EV took a 24-13 lead into the break. Coach Dittmer said getting the halftime lead was really important. "I kind of joked, because the last time we played them we had a 20-point lead going into half, and we held on for a 6-point win," he said. "I kind of challenged them a bit at halftime because we only had a 10-point lead. I told them we don't have 20 points to work with here, so we need to come out with a little bit more intensity and energy, and I thought they did." After the break, Nall hit a jumper to extend their lead and then Ollendick poured in 11 points of her own with two field goals, a trey and four free throws. The Lady Falcons held onto a 37-29 lead heading into the final quarter. EV kept up the intensity in the fourth with Nall going 3-4 at the line, a Bacon jumper and free throw, a Rystrom field goal and freebie, an Ollendick jumper and two free throws and three free throws from Miller. Ollendick led Elkhorn Valley with 19 points, followed by Nall with 12, Miller 11, Rystrom 6 and Bacon 5. The 18-3 Lady Falcons will take the court again on Monday night when they host Creighton. Several area wrestlers brought home some hardware from a tough Clearwater Invitational on Friday.
Despite several quality teams having to back out of the invite due to Saturday’s state dual meet, there was still plenty of stellar action on the mats. “The caliber of wrestling was great today,” stated OC coach Dan Roeber. “You lose those three teams (Plainview, Burwell and Winside) and you take those away, we could have had some 16-man brackets instead of eight-man brackets, a few more wrestlers and a few more good matches. But it was absolutely great wrestling today.” OC led the area in the team standings with a fourth-place finish, behind Howells-Dodge, North Central and team champion Millard West. Elkhorn Valley was fifth with 118 team points, followed by West Holt and Crofton/Bloomfield in sixth and seventh, respectively, O’Neill St. Mary’s in ninth and Elgin Public/Pope John in 13th. “The team finish wasn’t big for us,” commented EV coach Joey Tegeler. “Josh (McFarland) and Brock (Schaecher) didn’t wrestle today and they’re two of our biggest point scorers. That didn’t matter, our kids wrestled really good today and it was a tough tournament. We’re ready to go.” EV’s Hunter Bennett opened the finals with a 3-2 victory over Millard West’s Nate Hartman at 106 pounds. Scoreless after the first period, Bennett recorded an escape and takedown in the second and held on for the win. “It was really good (to get the escape),” Bennett recalled. “I was starting to get worried knowing I had to try to ride him out to get the win. Hitting that escape helped get my head back in the game.” The next local champion came at 138 pounds when West Holt’s Cole Liable recorded a 1-0 victory over North Central’s Levi Lewis. The hometown kid, Clay Thiele, picked up a huge win over H-D’s Carter Jensen in the 195-pound title tilt. Thiele cruised to a 13-2 major decision. “It’s a big deal,” Thiele noted on winning the home invite. “It’s our last one as a Cyclone and it felt good to come out here and win it in front of all the fans. I was quick on my feet, the one looking to score and stayed in control.” The championship matches ended with a bang, as Falcon senior Christian Yaw scored an upset victory over West Holt’s Jade Buss to cap off a memorable day for the EV heavyweight. “He’s got confidence now and that’s what we want to see,” Tegeler said. “We’ve always known that Christian has had it, but he couldn’t get over that hump or mental lapse he always has. He got it today and hopefully he keeps going next week and the week after it.” In the semifinals, Yaw picked up a 5-2 decision victory over OC’s Tommie Peed. The win was Yaw’s first-ever victory over Peed. “Tommie is a great guy,” Yaw spoke. “I’ve wrestled him six times over my career and he’s beat me every time. To finally win that one feels great.” Yaw then entered the championship match going against the No. 2 ranked wrestler in Class D - according to newrestle.com. The Falcon senior got his offense going early, scoring three takedowns, along with a three-point near fall, to take a 9-4 advantage into the third period. Yaw scored a crucial takedown late and threw in a half nelson to pin Buss with six seconds remaining in the match to send the EV faithful to their feet. “I’m happy,” Yaw continued. “To pull this off is a big step for me. It’s my first time getting first. Buss is a good wrestler and I came out on top. I couldn’t ask for a better team. I had great supporters here today.” Elkhorn Valley’s Adam Miller (120), Prestin Vondra (145) and Mitchell Petersen - who recorded his 100th career win - earned runner-up honors, Reed Bennett (126) placed third and Gavyn Clause (195) was fourth. The Cyclones’ Spencer Kester (113) and Codey Snider (182) finished second, Houston Marino (152), Eli Macke (160), Donaven Nolze (220) and Peed took third, James Kester (132) placed fourth and Austin Pokorny (170) was fifth. “Our big boys did what they do every week,” Roeber commented. “Spencer Kester getting second and James Kester getting a medal is always good for them, especially going into districts to get some confidence. Hopefully we’ll finish on a high note for the rest of the year. We did what we could, we were just outmanned in a couple of matches and we have to get more aggressive at times.” Only two wrestlers completed for EPPJ Friday. Norman Grothe (120) scored a first-period pin and Cory Romej (145) fell in two hard-fought matches. Tyson Sauser led C/B with a second-place finish at 132 pounds, while Jared Janssen (220) Hudson Barger (106) and Calvin Dather (182) were fourth. “Physically, Tyson has not been struggling, but he’s been struggling internally this year,” noted C/B coach Caden Alexander. “The last two or three weeks, he’s been really coming on strong. He’s finding some confidence and aggression. Some are turning into wins, and some are turning into hard-fought matches against good kids. That’s what we were hoping to see out of him this year. I’m glad he’s finally getting there and it’s the right time of the year to be seeing that.” Ben Slaymaker (160) and Buss took runner-up honors for the Huskies, while St. Mary’s Cole Rosenkrans (220) also placed second. Each team now gets ready for next weekends district tournaments. St. Mary's heads to Midland District D-3 meet. Crofton/Bloomfield heads to Albion for the District C-2 tournament Friday and Saturday. “We are further ahead than I thought we would be this year,” Alexander said. “We are seeing the things we were hoping to see going into districts next week. We still have things to improve on. We have to make sure we’re in the right mindset to compete at our best level going into districts.” West Holt joins all three Antelope County teams at Neligh for a very tough District D-1 meet next Friday and Saturday. “We talked all week in practice that we never tend to wrestle well at the Cyclone Invite,” Roeber concluded. “I don’t know if it’s the pressure or the nerves of being in front of the home crowd. We told them to use that pressure and momentum to pretend that this was districts and get ready to wrestle under pressure. We focused on that in practice and today. Some of them did well under pressure, and some of them buckled. At least we had that chance to buckle today and they can step up next week.” Sixth-seeded Neligh-Oakdale cruised to a NVC semifinal win over #2 North Central to secure a spot in the conference championship.
The Warriors downed the Knights, 62-52, in Bartlett on Thursday night. Cole Belitz drained a shot from way beyond the arc to start things off and continued to light up the scoreboard, pouring in 11 points in the first quarter. Austin Rice added a layup and a free throw, Isiac Kurpgeweit added two buckets, Hunter Charf hit a trey and Beau Murray came out of nowhere to score on a putback. The hot start gave the Warriors a 23-10 first quarter lead. N-O put up 10 more in the second with four apiece from Kurpgeweit and Rice and two from Belitz. They led at the half, 33-23. The second half got underway with a Belitz drive for a bucket, followed by Charf getting fouled on a triple and getting all three as he was a perfect 3-3 at the line. Belitz and Kurpgeweit each added a field goal and Rice drained a three. Hearn got in on the scoring action as he hit two treys from the corner. North Central put up 19 points, but still trailed the Warriors 51-42 heading into the final 8 minutes. In the fourth, Kurpgeweit added a bunny, Belitz drove in for two, Hearn converted on a layup after a Rice steal and assist and free throw shots were made by Hearn, Kurpgeweit and Rice. Coach Ethan Larsen was proud of his team's "grit and mental toughness." "Our guys did a nice job getting points and doing what we do well, pulling the rock and shooting well," Larsen said. "Overall, it was nice to come out of here, in a pressure-packed game, with a win and an opportunity to get the championship on Saturday." Belitz led the Warriors with 19 points and 6 assists, followed by Kurpgeweit's double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, Rice 11 points and 3 steals, Hearn with 10 points, Charf 6 and Murray 2. Neligh-Oakdale will face Clearwater/Orchard in the NVC Championship game on Saturday night. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. in Niobrara. "This was one of our goals when we started out," Belitz said. "We wanted to go far in the NVC tournament because last year we won our first round, but then got beat right away by West Holt in the second round, who actually went on to win it. We wanted redemption on that a little bit for our last year." Larsen said getting into the conference championship "is big." "Before I got here, and even with Coach Gade, getting to the finals of conference was a tough road to hoe," he said. "I think there's a lot to be said for where this program's at right now, compared to where it was 8-9 years ago. This is the expectation and I'm glad to show that even as a six seed, there should be nobody counting us out because we're here and we're ready to go and play in that 8 p.m. game on Saturday." The #5 Cyclones knocked off top-seeded West Holt in overtime to advance to the Niobrara Valley Conference Championship.
Jake Long put up the first two points on the scoreboard, but the Huskies answered with a bucket of their own. Blake Hoke drained a triple to regain the lead, followed by a Chris Kester steal for a layup. West Holt answered shot for shot and then took a 5-point lead. A Hoke trey pulled the Cyclones back within two, and a Ryan Wilhelm bucket tied it back up at the end of the first, 12-12. In the second, Wilhelm laid in two more shots, Long hit a jumper and went 2-2 at the line and Hoke nailed a jumper and his third triple. OC headed into the break with a 25-18 advantage. Two more jumpers by Hoke and a Ryan Wilhelm bunny shot and free throw gave the Cyclones an 8-point lead midway through the third, but West Holt battled back to cut the lead to three at the end of the stanza, 32-29. The Huskies held OC to just six points in the fourth with two free throws from Hoke and two jumpers from Long. West Holt made a surge late in the game and were able to drain a buzzer beater to knot it up at 38-all, sending the game into overtime. Before the tying shot went up, the clock didn't appear to get started on time and there was some question whether the time should have run out. "It was kind of a downer to get there since there was a controversy with the clock and things like that, but hey, it happens," Coach Jim Schutt said. "We're humans. I just told the kids to stay with it. I felt like we beat them for four quarters and I said there's no reason this four minutes is going to be any different. And the kids had that attitude, too, in the huddle. They were a little angry, and I said I like the way we're coming out. And it showed there in that overtime how we got up on them." Wilhelm hit two buckets and went 4-4 at the line, Gage Clifton and Long each went 2-2 from the charity stripe and Hoke added one free throw to outscore the Huskies for the 51-46 overtime win. "Our game plan coming into this one was to play some block out defense and I think we did that," Senior Ryan Wilhelm said. "When we play good defense, it transitions into good offense for us." Hoke led the Cyclones with 18 points, followed by Wilhelm with 17, Long 12 and Clifton and Kester with 2 apiece. Clearwater/Orchard will face Neligh-Oakdale in an all-Antelope County conference championship on Saturday night. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. in Niobrara. "It's been a few years since we've been to the championship and these guys worked hard at it," Schutt said. "We're just excited. I looked at this final four tonight and there's us, West Holt, North Central and Neligh-Oakdale. And it's like, wow, it could be any of those four teams, and I guess we're lucky to be one of them playing at 8 p.m. for it all." In a high-intensity matchup, the Elkhorn Valley girls battled with top-seeded CWC, but were edged out in the final minutes of the NVC semifinal game in Bartlett on Thursday afternoon.
The 58-51 loss drops the Lady Falcons into the consolation bracket on Saturday, where they will face Boyd County to play for third place in the conference tournament. Tip off is set for 2:45 p.m. in Niobrara. Against the Renegades, EV traded buckets in the first quarter and left it knotted at 17-all after 8 minutes of play. The see-saw scoring continued into the second and the Lady Falcons took a 33-28 lead into the break. "I was real proud, we got down by about seven in one point in the second quarter and our girls didn't fold, they actually came back and got the lead going into half," EV Coach Brendan Dittmer said of his team. "We just need to play that game-winning basketball all the way through, all four quarters." The Lady Falcons pulled a little further ahead in the third to hold onto a 41-36 advantage heading into the final quarter of play. About midway through the fourth the Renegades went on a run and took over the lead. EV answered and grabbed the lead back, but CWC converted a few and-ones to secure a five-point lead with just 30 seconds left. The Lady Falcons were forced to foul and Renegade free throws sealed the win for CWC. "I'm proud of our effort all the way through," Dittmer said. "CWC just picked it up and their two studs found a way to win the game for them." He said the Lady Falcons are ready to bounce back on Saturday. "It's a good opportunity to show our character," Dittmer said. "If we can do that, that's a good sign for our team going forward. We can learn a lot from a game like this. Like I told the girls, this doesn't end your season, this is something that can build you as a team. You can figure something out from it and push forward." Hannah Ollendick led the team with 15 points, followed by Amber Miller with 13, Olivia Nall 11 and Kaylee Bacon and Sierra Rystrom with 6 apiece. The Elkhorn Valley girls basketball team is final four bound in the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament after upending Stuart, 65-41, Tuesday at Chambers.
“I’m just really proud of the girls,” stated EV coach Brendan Dittmer. “I told them at halftime, there was a two-minute span in the second quarter where we won that two minutes because of their effort. I asked them in a timeout to get their hands on the ball, steal it and run in transition. That’s nothing you can draw up, it’s something they have to go do. That was the difference in the game.” After a rough start offensively, the Lady Falcons found their stroke towards the end of the first. A Hannah Ollendick 3-pointer, along with a triple and jumper by Sierra Rystrom, gave EV a 15-11 lead after the first eight minutes of play. “We needed to hustle back and transition was where we needed to be,” spoke freshman Carney Black. “Every body decided we needed to go and we started pointing at each other. The bench really got into it and that helps when we hear the bench. It makes us realize we have people there to back us up.” The Lady Falcons continued their run to start the second, pushing their lead to 8 midway through the quarter. Stuart answered with an 8-0 run to knot the game at 19, but the big green ended the half on an 8-0 run. “The break helped,” Dittmer noted. “It’s easy to get in your head when you give up an 8-point lead. It got them out of their head and reminded them they are a tough team when they play hard.” EV's offense continued to hum in the third, outscoring the Lady Broncos, 20-11, with 7 of those 20 points. The Lady Falcons sealed a spot in the semifinals with a stellar fourth quarter. Elkhorn Valley used an 18-11 run to secure the win. “Our offense really picked up because we were pointing at each other and the bench really helped tonight too,” Black commented. EV's second-half defense was superb in the second half, forcing 13 turnovers and turning it into 10 points. “We realized that’s where most of our points were going to come,” Black added. “We get them frustrated when we pick up our defense and get steals.” Four players scored in double figures for the Lady Falcons, led by Olivia Nall’s 19 points. Rystrom tallied 15 points, Amber Miller and Ollendick each netted 10 points, Black notched 7 points and Kaylee Bacon added 2 points. Elkhorn Valley (17-2) advances to Thursday’s semifinals to take on No. 1 seed Chambers/Wheeler Central Thursday at 2:45 p.m. at Bartlett. “They have a three-headed monster with (Taylor) Peter, (Morgan) Ramsey and (Michelle) Koenig,” Dittmer concluded. “You have to find one of them is off or do something with your defense to make one of them off. When they’re all hitting, it’s hard. If we can rebound their misses and run in transition, we stand a good chance.” The Lady Wolfpack fought hard until the end, but came up short in their NVC quarterfinal matchup against North Central in Ewing on a frigid Tuesday night.
Sixth-seeded Elgin Public/Pope John was eliminated from the tourney by the #3 Knights, 43-30. Allyson Wemhoff went 1-2 at the line for EPPJ to start off the scoring. Kayce Kallhoff swiped a steal and drove it in for a layup before Kirsten Krebs added a free throw shot. In a first-quarter defensive battle, the NC girls led 7-4. There wasn't much more to be had in the second, as Kallhoff hit a triple and a jumper, and Wemhoff made one at the charity stripe to trail 17-10 at the break. After halftime, North Central added 14 points while holding EPPJ to just 6—a jumper by Grace Rittscher and bucket apiece by Ally Selting and Kallhoff. The Knights led 31-16 heading into the final quarter, but that didn't stop the Wolfpack from battling and playing their best 8 minutes of the night. "The girls battled and that's something," Coach Randy Eisenhauer said. "It's not always about the wins and losses. It's about what these girls do. Are they staying with it? Are they giving me that energy the whole time? And they did. That's something I hang my head high on as a coach and these girls should as well." EPPJ stepped up their intensity in the fourth quarter and nearly doubled their scoring efforts, putting 14 points on the board. Rittscher drained a triple and went 2-2 at the line; Krebs sunk a trey; Kallhoff drove in for two; and Wemhoff added a layup and two free throws. "(North Central) did a good job pushing us out of our offense," Eisenhauer said. "I don't think we ever really did get into a sync tonight, offensively, until that fourth quarter." Kallhoff led the team with 11 points, followed by Rittscher with 7, Wemhoff 6, Krebs 4 and Selting 2. The coach said he was proud of his team's defensive efforts against a tough team. "I thought we played well defensively," he said. "We only gave up 43 points. We ran our defensive plan like we wanted to, but we gave up too many free throws. It's a good North Central team." With the projected cold weather expected to move into the area tonight, the Niobrara Valley Conference bumped up today’s girls tournament games.
In Ewing, games will start at 5 p.m. Ewing plays Boyd County first, followed by the Elgin Public/Pope John and North Central contest at 6:45 p.m. The games at Chambers will also start at 5 p.m. with Chambers/Wheeler Central and West Holt taking the court first, followed by Elkhorn Valley and Stuart at 6:45 p.m. Elkhorn Valley fell short as they went head-to-head in a NVC quarterfinal battle against the #2 North Central Knights on their home court Monday night.
Falcon freshman Carter Rautenberg started off the scoring with the first bucket of the game. North Central answered by going on an 8-0 run before Rautenberg found the net again. He put up 10 of EV’s 12 points in the first, sparking the offense with back to back and-ones. “The guards were driving pretty hard and then just easy dishes off to me led to easy buckets, so it was mainly all the guards working the drive,” Rautenberg said. To round out the scoring, Braedyn Ollendick went 2-2 from the line.The Knights held a 14-12 advantage at the end of 8 minutes of play. Rautenberg hit another 2, Bryson Anderson went perfect at the line to tie it and then hit two more from the charity stripe to take an 18-16 lead. EV was up 18-16. Ollendick went 2-2 at the line and Rautenberg and Julio Sierra added buckets. The Falcons trailed 30-24 at the half. “We missed a couple easy shots early,” Coach Derric Werner said. “Not saying we were happy going into halftime down by six, but considering the way the first half went, that wasn’t too bad. We knew North Central would have good ball pressure and we needed to have good screens and attack the basket. And we passed well, and when they sagged off, we got some points in the paint.” The teams traded buckets back and forth, just as EV made some progress, NC would answer. Ollendick drained a couple field goals, a triple and went 2-2 at the line. Brandon Evans, Sierra and Rautenberg each added two to trail, 45-39, at the end of the third. Ollendick and Hahne each hit a triple in the fourth quarter, Sierra went 2-2 at the line and Rautenberg added his final bucket. North Central picked up the 65-49 victory to advance in the tourney. “We knew we wanted to give them a good fight heading in, and I think we gave them a better fight than most people thought we would,” Rautenberg said. Werner said the final score wasn’t a true indication of how close the game truly was. “The final score didn’t show how hard the kids fought,” he said. “North Central is a heck of a team. Athletic as heck. Pick your poison on who you want to try to take away because their 3, 4 and 5 players are good enough to knock down shots if you leave those open. I thought our kids played hard. In the last five minutes of the fourth quarter we just went away from what was getting us there in the first place.” Rautenberg led the Falcons with 18 points, followed by Ollendick with 16, Sierra 6, Anderson 4, Hahne 3 and Evans 2. The team went a perfect 14-14 from the line with free throw shots by Ollendick, Sierra, Anderson and Rautenberg. “That was the first time all year we went perfect at the line,” Werner said. “It definitely kept us in the game tonight. Especially in the second half, anytime you can score with the clock stopped it’s an added bonus. That was nice to see.” With five players in double figures, the 6th seeded Warriors used a solid shooting night to dominate #3 Stuart and advance in the NVC Tournament.
Neligh-Oakdale downed the Broncos in Bassett on Monday night, 73-45. The fast-paced first quarter quickly put the Warriors on top. Austin Rice netted the first six points, followed by two triples from Julien Hearn and one from Hunter Charf. Rice added a trey of his own and Cole Belitz cruised in for a layup to grab a 20-10 lead at the end of the first. Turnovers plagued N-O in the second as the Broncos went on an early 5-0 run. Eight points from Isiac Kurpgeweit, a lay in by Belitz and a Rice and-one finished out the half, giving the Warriors a four-point advantage, 33-29. A spirited halftime talk from Coach Ethan Larsen got the Warriors revved up for the second half. “My voice was raised and we talked about three things, the same things I talked about before the game,” Larsen said. “I told them some big keys to tonight’s game are managing our turnovers, winning the boards - which I didn’t think we did a great job of doing in the first half, and making sure we were efficient at the free throw line. In the second half, we did a much better job of not turning the ball over and team rebounding.” After the break, Neligh-Oakdale scored 23 points in the third quarter, while holding Stuart to just 3. Hearn hit another trey, followed by a Kurpgeweit two-handed dunk to fire up the scoring. The Warriors hit the ground running, scoring seven layups in the third—three from Belitz, two from Hearn and one apiece from Rice and Charf. Hearn also hit a triple and Belitz added a free throw to lead 56-32 heading into the final quarter. In the fourth, Charf and Belitz each tallied five more, Rice added four and Hearn hit his fifth triple of the night. “It felt good to hit a lot of shots tonight because lately I’ve been in a little bit of a slump and haven’t been able to hit many,” Hearn said. Hearn came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points for the Warriors. Rice recorded a double-double with 18 counters and 11 boards, and Belitz charted an impressive triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 steals. Charf and Kurpgeweit added 10 apiece. “No matter what team you are, getting points off your bench is a big, big deal,” Larsen said. “Tonight Julien came off and had 19. Garret Belitz came off the bench and did a phenomenal job on defense and got some key rebounds. Andrew (Jacobsen) came in at a clock situation at the end of the first quarter and held his own. Our bench played well tonight.” With the win, Neligh-Oakdale advances to play #2 North Central in Bartlett on Thursday at 8 p.m. “I’ve always said the number in front of you that determines your seed really only tells you what time you play each night,” Larsen said. “We got the sixth seed, we knew our path and we knew what we’re capable of. I think that game against West Holt at their place really secured a lot of confidence for our boys and showed them what kind of team they can be. So, moving forward, we’re only halfway there. We guaranteed ourselves games on Thursday and Saturday, but it’s up to our guys to determine what games we play. If we continue to play well, we’ll be playing the 8 p.m. game two times in a row and finish out this tournament vying for the conference championship.” A big third-quarter surge, along with a dominating performance on the glass, led the Clearwater/Orchard boys basketball team to a 62-47 triumph over Boyd County in the quarterfinals of the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament Monday at West Holt.
“It was a great win for us,” stated OC mentor Jim Schutt. “It was a team win for us tonight. Everybody did what they needed to do to get the victory. It’s a heck of a ball club we beat. I was scared of them when I looked at the draw. I was very proud of my kids. We played well on both sides and we rebounds well, which is what we needed to do against them.” Both teams battled for the early momentum in the first half. After Boyd County took a 16-10 lead late in the first quarter, OC senior Blake Hoke scored the next 5 points to make it a 1-point game after the first eight minutes of play. The Spartans opened the second with a 5-2 run, but the Cyclones answered with a 17-2 run and led 34-27 at the break. Gage Clifton and Jacob Long each netted 6 points during the run, while Chris Kester tallied 5 points. “I told them we’re playing with these guys and we have to start believing we can beat these people,” Schutt noted. “It was more about not adjusting Xs and Os, but just digging down in the old heart and my kids did. They showed a lot of that tonight.” After Boyd County cut the deficit to 3 to open the second half, OC responded with an 18-5 run to end the third. “We’ve been talking a lot about working through adversity,” Long spoke. “It was one of those things we just had to work through. We had to work through that adversity to have it come out in our favor.” Some missed free throws by the Cyclones kept the Spartans alive in the fourth, but the green and black pulled away to seal a spot in the semifinals. “It was a good win for us,” Long added. “It was one of the first times we came out and played as a team, like we know how to play as a team. It feels good to get a good win against a good team like this.” A key to OC's victory was its dominant performance on the boards. The Cyclones outrebounded Boyd County, 39-20, and scored 14 second-chance points. “After our last game, we decided to focus more on boxing out and getting more rebounds,” Long said. “That way, we can get those extra chances and get more points off that.” The Cyclones were led by Long’s double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Hoke recorded 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, Kester tallied 10 points and three assists, Ryan Wilhelm accounted for 7 points and 14 boards and Clifton added 6 points. “As a team, we have so many players that can contribute in different ways,” Long continued. “When we are each doing our thing, we play so well together. It works out great.” Clearwater/Orchard (12-7) takes on No. 1 seed West Holt in the NVC semifinals Thursday at 6:15 p.m. in Bartlett, with a spot in the conference championship contest on the line. “We know they’re tough and play really hard-nosed defense,” Schutt concluded. “We’re going to have to do what we did tonight against Boyd County. We have to take care of the basketball, rebound and do the little things. It’s not always the points that make the difference, it’s the little things and I thought we did that tonight.” After an unbeaten regular season and a Niobrara Valley Conference team title, the Neligh-Oakdale wrestling squad qualified for the Class D state duals Saturday at Buffalo County Fairgrounds In Kearney.
The Warriors (12-0) earned the fifth seed and open with No. 4 Amherst at 9 a.m. The winner faces either No. 1 seed Plainview (8-0) or No. 8 seed Maxwell (8-0) in the semifinals. Several wrestlers from Elkhorn Valley and Neligh-Oakdale brought home some hardware from the Boone Central Invitational on Saturday.
Six out of the eight Falcon wrestlers medaled, to help the team place fourth, while the Warriors’ Brock Kester took first at 113 and Dawson Kaup was fifth at 195. Seniors Prestin Vondra (145) and Josh McFarland (160) led EV with first-place finishes. Adam Miller (120) and Brock Schaecher (182) earned runner-up honors, Christian Yaw (285) placed third and Mitchell Petersen (170) took fifth. Both squads await to see if they qualify for Saturday’s state duals in Kearney. Both the Elkhorn Valley girls and boys basketball teams won their opening round matchups of the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament Saturday at Bartlett.
In the boys contest, the Falcons surged past O’Neill St. Mary’s, 45-35. Trailing 9-4 in the first, EV (7-10) outscored the Cardinals, 41-26, to end the game. Braedyn Ollendick led the way with a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Julio Sierra accumulated 12 points and four rebounds, Bryson Anderson scored 11 points, Derek Hahne notched 7 points and six board and Brandon Evans contributed 4 points, three rebounds and two assists. A big second quarter propelled the Lady Falcons past Santee, 63-40. Leading 19-12 after the opening quarter, EV (16-2) used a 22-9 run to put the game firmly in its favor. Carney Black led the Lady Falcons with 13 points five rebounds and three steals. Olivia Nall tallied 9 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals, Amber Miller recorded 8 points, Hannah Ollendick had 7 points and five boards, Bria Gale netted 6 points and Johannah Tassemeyer and Sierra Rystrom each added 5 points. The Elkhorn Valley boys take on North Central Monday at 6:15 p.m. at Bassett, the Lady Falcons face Stuart Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Chambers. Mistakes and turnovers were the main cause for the Neligh-Oakdale girls basketball team’s 44-30 loss to Boyd County Saturday in the first round of the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament at Ewing.
“We made some silly mistakes and it was almost like we didn’t want that lead,” stated N-O mentor Christy Knutson. “When we get too anxious we turn the ball over. We need to do the little things and make the little things big things. Until we learn that, keep our composure and not let that get our frustration level up, we’ll be OK. Everything will fall into place. Sometimes we just quit on ourselves.” Paige Furstenau and Brooke Frey opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers to give N-O an early 6-0 lead. The Lady Spartans answered with a 10-2 run to take the lead. The Lady Warriors then turned around and went on a 9-2 run led by 6 points from Trinity Kurpgeweit during the run. Boyd County ended the half on a 10-0 run to take a 22-19 advantage into the half. The Lady Spartans' defense was stellar in the second half to seal the win. Boyd County held the Lady Warriors to just 11 second-half points and forced 12 turnovers. Kurpgeweit led N-O with 13 points and eight rebounds. Frey recorded 8 points and six boards, Haley Kerkman tallied 4 points, six rebounds and five assists, Furstenau had 3 points and Claire Whitesel added 2 points and two assists. Neligh-Oakdale (5-14) returns to action Feb. 5 against Battle Creek at 6:15 p.m. “I always tell them it’s the end of the season that matters,” Knutson concluded. “We prepare the whole season and when it counts is the end. Hopefully these girls can take everything we’ve taught them, everything we have given them and they can go forward at the end and make things happen.” |
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