Varsity Boys Finish 1-2 in Conference Tourney Action
By: Sage Fernau, freshman, and Emily Loseke, senior
The Clarkson-Leigh boys’ basketball team played three games in the East Husker Conference tournament. Going in as the #6 seed out of 13 teams, they played their first game on January 30th against Tekamah-Herman in Leigh.
In this matchup, the Patriots came out on top with a score of 86-59, breaking a Patriot boys’ basketball record of most points scored in a single game.
Everyone got in on the scoring action in this game, but junior Eli Hays led the team in points with 25.
In the second round, the boys played on February 2nd in North Bend against Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family. They kept pace with the Bulldogs for three quarters, heading into the fourth with a score of 35-34 Patriots. But the Bulldogs rallied in the fourth and outscored the Pats by 10 points. In the end, the Patriots lost to the #3-ranked H/LHF with a final score of 45-53.
The third and final round saw the boys squaring off against #4-ranked Howells-Dodge on February 4 in Howells in what was not as exciting of a game as the first two. This game ended in a loss with a final score of 41-57.
Head Coach Mr. Jeff Bachman said, “We had a nice run in the tournament. We got a big win against Tekamah, battled and just fell short against Humphrey, and had a learning experience against Howells-Dodge. I like how we are improving, and I am excited to see how far we can go.”
“Overall I think we did well,” sophomore Mason Whitmore said. “We knew we were going to have to play well to be in all of these games. We came out strong the first two games. We almost upset a state-worthy team, and I think that just proves that we can be dangerous if we do the little things right.”
After these three games, the Patriot boys’ record stands at 9-8.
v. Tekamah-Herman
1 2 3 4 Final
C-L 16 24 21 25 86
T-H 8 14 22 15 59
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Eli Hays: 25, 3, 3, 4; Kyle Kasik: 10, 5, 5, 0; Jacob Eisenmann: 0, 1, 0, 0; Lance Paprocki: 6, 4, 6, 2; Mason Whitmore: 7, 1, 2, 1; Gavin Novotny: 2, 0, 1, 1; Trevor Zulkoski: 10, 6, 0, 0; Kanyon Held: 2, 0, 0, 0; Carter Hanel: 14, 9, 1, 1; Logan Schroeder: 4, 1, 0, 0; Mitch Beeson: 2, 1, 2, 2; Kyan Schnelle: 2, 0, 0, 0
v. Humphrey-Lindsay Holy Family
1 2 3 4 Final
C-L 15 10 11 9 45
H-L 22 6 6 19 53
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Eli Hays: 12, 4, 5, 1; Kyle Kasik: 8, 2, 2, 0; Mason Whitmore: 3, 7, 0, 0; Lance Paprocki: 5, 1, 2, 1; Trevor Zulkoski: 13, 5, 1, 0; Carter Hanel: 4, 10, 1, 1; Kyle Holmberg: 0, 1, 0, 0
v. Howells-Dodge
1 2 3 4 Final
C-L 5 11 3 22 41
H-D 12 21 11 13 57
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Lance Paprocki: 5, 1, 3, 1; Eli Hays: 5, 2, 2, 3; Kyle Kasik: 10, 5, 1, 1; Jacob Eisenmann: 2, 0, 0, 0; Mason Whitmore: 0, 3, 1, 0; Gavin Novotny: 2, 0, 1, 0; Trevor Zulkoski: 2, 6, 0, 0; Kanyon Held: 3, 1, 0, 0; Carter Hanel: 7, 13, 1, 0; Logan Schroeder: 3, 0, 2; Mitch Beeson: 2, 1, 0, 0