12-8-11
Lady Cards Squeak By Cyclones  JESSI PONGRATZ AND BRIDGET SCHNEIDER try to block out Taylor Twibell of Clearwater/Orchard in the season opener held last Thursday. The St. Mary's cardinals opened the 2011-12 basketball season with a hard fought 60-58 victory over the Clearwater/Orchard Cyclones. The Cardinals came out slow with possibly the first game jitters as they had 20 turnovers in the first half alone. Shot placement was also a problem with the Cards as their shooting percentage was low for the match. The Cards held their own in a tight match until late in the third quarter when the Lady Cyclones went ahead by 11. Coach Pardun changed his strategy and rearranged some players and the Cardinals came back with second ticking in the game to pull out the victory. The Saturday game with St. Ed was postponed due to snow. So the Cardinals were due to play the Niobrara/Verdigre Cougars on Tuesday. The Friday game with Hartington has been moved to Dec. 22 due to the fact the Wildcats are participating in state one-act competition. |
Ewing Boys Open Season With Win Over Neligh-Oakdale The Ewing Tigers opened up their season with a 62-41 win over Neligh Oakdale at Lynch last week. Leading scsorers for the Tigers were Blake Cunninghamwith 20 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists; Jake Walton with 15 points and four rebounds; Robert Norby with 14 points, 17 rebounds and three steals; Ben Ramold with five points and four rebounds; Damian Summers with four points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and five steals and Tyler Hickok with four points and three rebounds. Ewing 12 15 19 16 62 N/O 8 7 15 11 41 “We did a lot of good things in the 2011-2012 season opener. We did not shoot the ball well early in the ballgame, but our confidence and offensive execution improved throughout the ballgame. We played much better defensively and on the glass than we did in our exhibition game on Monday against Spalding / Spalding Academy. We look forward to improving our intensity and offensive and defensive execution with each practice and game," said coach Greg Appleby. In the game against the Tigers beat the Eagles 70-27. Leading scorers were Blake Cunningham with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists; Robert Norby with 13 points and nine rebounds; Damian Summers with 15 points, five steals and seven assists; Jake Walton with 10 points and five assists and Michael Hynes with eight points. Ewing 32 18 10 10 70 Lynch 0 14 8 5 27 “We got off to a great start leading after one quarter of play 32-0 and got valuable playing time for all members of our team during all four quarters. We really shot the ball well early against their zone and our pressure defense forced many turnovoers against an inexperienced Lynch squad.The scheudule will really get tougher over the next few weeks with games against CWC, Niobrara/Verdigre, West Boyd, and Lindsay Holy Family before the holiday break, said coach Greg Appleby. |
Lady Eagles Defeat Valentine In Season Opener Last Week The O'Neill Lady Eagles started off the season with a win over a very good Valentine team last Thursday night. The Eagles were led in scoring by Kelsey Appleby with 15, along with double digit performances by both Lyndsey Appleby and Alex Hedlund. "We new coming out that this team brought everyone back from a year ago and were going to be very tough. They are a high-intensity team that can give you fits if you are not aggressive and strong with the ball. I thought we really attacked them for three and half quarters, with great defense and pushing the ball up the floor anytime we could. At one point we stretched the lead to 16 points and the final five minutes we were not able to put them away. However we did make some free throws down the stretch and we found a way to win. We will get better from a game like this, go back to work this week and prepare for a very athletic and traditional C2 powerhouse Hartington Cedar Catholic on Friday," said Coach Eichelberger. |
Eagles Fall Short In Season Opener The O’Neill Eagles traveled to Valentine to take on the Badgers in the first contest of the 2011/12 basketball season and lost a heartbreaker 50-49. The Eagles got off to a bumpy start and couldn’t get into the scoring column until mid way through the first quarter, but the defense stepped up to keep the game close and allowed the boys to find their groove late in the early stanza to get into the second quarter only down by two points. It was this quarter that the Eagles executed well by getting fast break opportunities and finding their big man, Jordyn Johnson, who recorded eight of his game high 16 points to help the Eagles take a six point lead into halftime. The second half consisted of the two teams trading buckets, but O’Neill managed to hang onto the lead well into the fourth quarter before falling behind by one with under 15 seconds to go and that proved to be the difference. “We had our chances to take home the victory tonight and had a bunch of great looks at the hoop but the ball simply wouldn’t fall. I think this puts a deeper fire in our guys because they know we let one slip away. Our goal going forward will be to learn from this game but put it behind us and focus on our next opponent,” commented Coach Kallhoff. The Eagles finished the night with three guys in double figures, Johnson had 16, Tyler Knopp with 11, and Brock Schueth with 10. Johnson also led the Eagles in rebounds by grabbing 10, followed by Derrick Hostert who ripped down five. “Derrick does a great job of getting a hand on the ball and keeping rebounds alive with tips and hustle, and we need more of this if we plan to compete on the glass with some of our taller opponents,” added Coach Kallhoff. Next action for the Eagles is this Friday as O’Neill hosts Hartington Cedar Catholic. |
O'Neill Invite Held Last Saturday  MICHAEL BURIVAL of O'Neill gets ready to wrestle against a West Holt opponent in last Saturday's O'Neill Invite.  CALEB ROSS of O'Neill pins a Norfolk Catholic wrestler in last Saturday's O'Neill Invite.  SPENCER KNOPP prepares to take on a Norfolk Catholic wrestler in last Saturday's O'Neill Invite. The O'Neill Invite was held this past weekend with 9 teams from all over competing in the event. At the end of the day the team standings were Team Scores: 1st - Valentine – 218.5 points 2nd- O'Neill – 159.0 points 3rd- West Holt – 136 points 4th- Boone Central – 107 points 5th- Norfolk Catholic – 85 points 6th- Ainsworth – 81 points 7th- Pierce – 79 points 8th- Chamberlin – 77.5 points 9th - JV O'Neill – 6 points Overall Champions of the event were 106 – Eli Sharkeyr (Ainsworth) 113 – Bart Miller (Valentine) 120 – Blake Walters (O'Neill) 126 – Russell Felicia (Chamberlain) 132 – Eric Arnold (Valentine) 138 – Jess Shelbourn(Valentine) 145 – Marcus Nelson (Valentine) 152 – Tanner Clark (Ainsworth) 160 – Wesley Cole (West Holt) 170 – Josh Coyle (West Holt) 182 – Spencer Knopp (O’Neill) 195 – Trent Osnes (Valentine) 220 - Caleb Atkins (Valentine) HWT – Kyle Bachelor (Valentine)O’Neill Place Winners (Varsity): 106 - Joseph Gillham - 2nd Place 113 – John Marvin – 3rd Place 120 - Blake Walters -1st Place 126 - Dion Nemic - 4th Place 132 – Cory Rowse – 3rd Place 138 - Marcus McNichols - 3rd Place 145 - Angel Rodriguez - 3rd Place 160 - David Fox - 3rd Place 182 - Spencer Knopp - 1st Place |