Eagles Finish 6th In Midstate Conference Tournament

The opening round of the Midstate Conference Tournament saw the Eagles battling the Bluejays from Pierce for the second time this season, with the outcome similar to the first matchup as the Pierce defense shut down the Eagles offensive attack to win the game 58-40.  “Pierce prides themselves on their defense and it was tough for us to get open looks all night,” commented Coach Kallhoff.  Pierce also shot extremely well, as was evident with the opening quarter when they hit four threes to take a 12-10 lead.  Leading the way for the Eagles was Brock Schueth who finished with nine points, followed by Jordyn Johnson with eight to go along with his seven rebounds, Tyler knopp added seven pts, and Derrick Hostert pitched in six. The loss moved O’Neill to the consolation bracket where they faced Battle Creek in the second round.

Friday, Feb. 3 O’Neill again traveled to Norfolk, this time to face Battle Creek in the second  round of the Mid State Conference Tournament.  The Eagles jumped to an early first quarter lead with a solid defensive effort and some quick transition points for a 15-3 advantage heading into the second stanza.  From there the Eagles added five more points to their lead to head into halftime up 32-15.  The Braves came out in the second half swinging to cut the lead down as far as nine at one point, but it was too little too late as O’Neill recorded their first victory in conference tournament action with a final of 62-42.  Leading all scorers on the night was Jordyn Johnson with 19 points to go along with nine  rebounds and four steals.  Others scorers included Connor Peterson with 10, and Derrick Hostert, Tyler Knopp, and Brock Schueths all with eight  points and four  assists a piece.  David Akainda also shot well, finishing with seven points.  The win put the Eagles into the 5th/6th place game against Norfolk Catholic for another rematch of conference foes. 

The finals of the Midstate Conference Tournament was to be held this past Saturday, but due to the first snow storm of the year the games got pushed to Monday. Instead of playing those games all at Wayne State College as planned, the Eagles had to finish their conference tournament the same place it began Norfolk Catholic. As it would happen, O’Neill’s opponent was Norfolk Catholic who got to the game after losing to Boone Central in the opening round and then beating Wayne last Friday.  On this night the Knights put together four solid quarters and the Eagles could only manage three in the defeat, 66-50.  The first quarter was back and forth as the teams traded buckets and so was much of the second as Donnie Taylor helped keep the game close, nailing two threes that propelled O’Neill to a one point advantage, 31-30, at halftime.  The second half started much the way the first half ended, with neither team able to pull away, but the fourth quarter proved to be the difference maker as the Eagles ran out of steam and could only muster five points in the final stanza. “I was extremely proud at how hard the boys played.  It seems like we are finally starting to fit into our roles and play within ourselves, but now the trick will be to string together four straight quarters of solid play against tough opponents like Norfolk Catholic,” said Coach Kallhoff.  Leading the Eagles on the night was Jordyn Johnson who had a game high 21 points, followed by Donnie Taylor who knocked down three threes for nine points. Tyler Knopp added six points, Derrick Hostert and Brock Schueth each with five, and Connor Peterson rounded out the scoring with four.  

Next action for the Eagles is this Friday night vs. Ord in the Eagle home finale.  Come support the team as they look to add to the  win column vs. the Chanticleers, tip off at 7:45.

Road To A First Ever! NVC Championship

Jessi Simons 10 plays close defense against EPPJ's Carey Eischeid 15.  The St. Mary's Lady Cardinals brought home the championship trophy by defeating the EPPJ Wolfpack 48-47. Photo courtesy Studio B Photography.

On Jan. 30, St. Mary's Lady Cardinals started the long road of games with a 49-33 victory over a very good CWC team. Next up, SMH had a tough team to go against, Ewing's Lady Tigers. St. Mary's battled hard and came out on top 47-34. Elgin Public/Pope John Lady Wolfpack stood in their road on the last leg to the NVC championship. In one of the most exciting games this season, St. Mary's Lady Cardinals pulled out a 48-47 hard fought victory to claim the Niobrara Valley Conference championship. 

In the game against Ewing our "twin sophomore towers," Brooke Bauer and Justine Blumenstock each recorded a double-double. Brooke finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Justine pulled in 14 rebounds and netted 14 points. Senior Megan Schneider handed out six assists along with five each from Mackenzie Wecker and Bridget Schneider. SMH out rebounded Ewing 44-29 which was a big factor in the win. 

The game against EP/PJ Lady Wolves was a thriller, which wasn't decided until the end. When quarter one ended SMH had a 10-9 lead, but going into half-time and at the end of quarter number three EP/PJ had the advantage. With a 22 point fourth quarter effort led by Emily Everitt and Jessi Pongratz three pointers to tie the game up at 32-32. Freshman Addie Wetzel had a big rebound and put back to keep us up in the game. Bridgett Schneider knocked down some very clutch free throws at the end. With only a few seconds left and SMH holding on to a four point lead EP/PJ knocked down a three, but it wasn't enough as St. Mary's Lady Cardinals got their first ever NVC crown. 

Justine and Brooke led in rebounding while seven players had a good balanced scoring. This was definitely a team effort. Every player on this team, including the ones that didn't get to suit up made this championship and season possible. There is a lot of effort in every practice by every player.

Lady Cards Improve Record 18-2 With Win Over St. Edward 

In a very strange game on the home court SMH beat the St. Edward Lady Beavers 30-13. 

Points were hard to come by in this game as St. Ed.  just held the ball at half court and never gave themselves a chance to win. Our defense was able to shut their post completely down in scoring and rebounding. Their game plan was to work the ball inside, since that didn't work they just stalled the game and let us record our 18th win of the season. Brooke Bauer led all scorers with 15 points and Bridgett Schneider dished out five assists and three steals. 

Two seniors played their last game on the home court, Sarah Vandersnick and  Megan Schneider. Megan nailed a three pointer at the buzzer to seal a home victory 

Cardinals Down CWC For NVC Crown

Battle of the Highest  Will Burtwistle 52, Schylar Franssen 10 and Tom Chvala 41 stretch for the rebound in NVC action Saturday night. Photo courtesy Studio B Photography.

The St. Mary's boys varsity improved their record to 18-0 and won the first Niobrara Valley Conference championship in school history. The Saturday night game at West Holt High school saw the Cards jump out to a 19-0 lead and never looked back in a 59-34 victory over the CWC Renegades. 

St. Mary's placed two men in double figures led by senior Tait Sibbel with 23 points while sophomore Adam Moon added 12. Moon also led the rebounding with 10 boards and was followed closely by Tom Chvala with nine caroms. David Shields added six rebounds. Junior point guard Ty Eiler led the ball handling with nine assists while Tyler Timmerman dished out four. Timmerman was also the defense leader with another great effort as the Card's team defense had a big night. On defense, Adam Moon had three steals and led with six blocked shots to tie the school record.

The semi finals game on Thursday at Verdigre saw the Cardinals take an 11 point lead into the final quarter only to see the hard charging West Boyd Spartans tie the contest at 32. Junior Connor Connot put the game away with two free throws and a 34-32 victory. Tyler Timmerman, Ty Eiler, and Adam Moon led the St. Mary's offense with seven tallies each. Tom Chvala led the rebounding with 12 boards and Moon followed closely with 10 caroms. Eiler led the assist column with five dishes. On defense Moon led with three blocked shots and two steals while Tait Sibbel added two blocks and two steals. 

The opening round of the NVC Tourney saw the North Central Knights visit St. Mary's on Tuesday evening. The Cards took a 43-15 lead after three periods and never looked back. Tait Sibbel and Adam Moon led the offense with 14 and 11 points respectively, Tom Chvala and Moon led the rebounding chart with 10 boards apiece. The assist column was shared by Ty Eiler and Tyler Timmerman with five each.

The previous week saw the Cardinals entertain two good basketball teams. On Tuesday Jan. 24 the Creighton BullDogs (14-2) were defeated by the Cardinals 71-56. On Thursday the Stuart Broncos (9-4) were defeated by St. Mary's 59-41. The Creighton game saw Tait Sibbel score 25 points to lead three men in double figures. Tyler Timmerman and Adam Moon scored 14 and 13 points respectively. Moon led the rebounding with 17 boards while Tom Chvala added 10 boards. Ty Eiler broke the school record with 15 assists in the up and down battle. The Stuart game saw the Bronco's sagging defense take away the Cardinal post points but the Cardinals responded with a 13 for 25 shooting night from the three point arc. Adam Moon had 17 points, Tyler Timmerman 14 and  all hit double figures in the scoring column. Tom Chvala and Tait Sibbel led the rebounding with eight and six boards respectively. Eiler handed out six assists while Moon and Timmerman each added four assists.

West Boyd Downs Ewing In NVC Action

West Boyd advanced on into the NVC semi-finals with a 61-34 win over Ewing at St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.  The Tigers were short-handed due to injuries and sickness but were able to hang close in the first half and trailed 22-17 going into the halftime break, but the Spartans exploded behind the arc in the second half to pull away from the Tigers.  The Tigers were led by 10 points from Blake Cunningham and seven points from Damian Summers.  Robert Nordby had six points and seven rebounds.

“I was proud of how our team battled early on in this ballgame despite missing players due to injuries and sickness.  We just ran out of gas after halftime and West Boyd played really well on both offense and defense in the second half.  We will have to regroup and get ready for our final regular season games and post-season play," said Coach Appleby.

Ewing 6 11 3 14 34

WB 10 12 21 18 61

Eagle Wrestlers Take Part In Midstates Conference

Angel Rodriguez works for a fall against Nathan Brtek of Norfolk Catholic. Photo by Kathy Marvin.

The O’Neill wrestlers participated in their first Midstates Conference Tournament this past Friday.  

  The tournament was scheduled to take place Saturday, but with the impending winter weather the tournament was moved up to Friday afternoon.  

The Eagles placed third overall as a team behind champion Madison and runner-up Battle Creek.  The Eagles finished with 139.5 team points, just 1.5 points behind Battle Creek.  Medalists for the Eagles were as follows:  Jon Marvin, first; Joe Gillham, second; Blake Walters, first; Cory Rowse, fourth; Angel Rodriguez, first; David Fox, second; Spencer Knopp, third; and Morgan Sterns, second.  O’Neill senior Angel Rodriguez’s conference championship was the first tournament championship of his career.  Rodriguez notched the victory in dramatic fashion, avenging a loss from earlier in the season with a come from behind victory over Jacob Meyer from Boone Central.  The O’Neill wrestler was down by one point in the waning seconds of the match before he was able to take Meyer down to his back securing the near-fall in a 9-5 victory.  O’Neill assistant coach Tyler Cole commented on the Eagle’s performance, “We had some very good individual performances today.  Team wise, it was disappointing to finish behind Battle Creek by such a slim margin.  The one and a half points that separated us is basically one more win in the tournament or even a pin when we just won by decision.  We need to find a way to get those.  Hopefully our guys recognize this and we’ll see some improvements going into districts.”  

The Eagles will be back in Norfolk this Friday for the C-2 District tournament.

Leprechaun Extreme Wrestling Shows Strengths In Wins

Leprechaun Extreme Wrestlers competed at the Ainsworth/Bassett tournament. Pictured are (l-r): John Alden, Matthew Wilson and Pryor Mathews. Back row (l-r): coach Greg Walters, Peyton Mathews, Jared Hammerlun, Aidan Hedstrom, coach Blake Walters and coach Mike Hammerlun.

 

 he 2012 Leprechaun Extreme Wrestling Program is underway. The younger kids have just started while the older kids started in January. The wrestlers have been to several tournaments and have been doing very well this year.  Tournaments they have attended so far include:     

 Jan. 15-Wisner/Pilger

1st Place:

Bailey Thompson

Ty Rainforth

Brady Thompson

John Alden

2nd Place:

Jared Atkeson

3rd Place:

Will Atkeson

Jared Hammerlun

Riley Davis

4th Place:

Jordan Sterns

Derek Bronzynski

Matthew Wilson

Jan. 21-Vermillion, SD

Ty Rainforth-1st

Jared Hammerlun 2nd

Jan. 21-Tulsa, OK

Bailey Thompson-1st

Jan. 22-Columbus Lakeview

1st Place:

Brady Thompson

Jared Hammerlun

2nd Place:

Porter Mathews

John Alden

Peyton Mathews

3rd Place:

Pryor Mathews

Ephraim Bunner

Cauy Shaw

4th Place:

Will Atkeson

Zeb O'Bryan

Jan. 28-Kansas Tounament of Champions

Bailey Thompson-1st

Will Atkeson-4th

Chance Sholes-5th

Also gaining valuable knowledge were:Brady Thompson (2-2) and Jared Atkeson (1-2).

Jan. 29-Ainsworth/Bassett

1st Place:

John Alden

Riley Davis

Jared Hammerlun

2nd Place:

Pryor Mathews

Aidan Hedstrom

Peyton Mathews

Matthew Wilson

Feb. 4-Clearwater

1st Place:

John Alden

Ty Rainforth

Cauy Shaw

Chance Sholes

3rd Place: 

Braxton Stauffer

Matthew Wilson

Jared Hammerlun

Also participating were Davin Holste and Luke Wilson.

Feb. 5-Stanton

1st Place:

John Alden

Ty Rainforth

Brady Thompson

Aidan Hedstrom

Bailey Thompson

2nd Place:

Clay Shaw

Jared Atkeson

Cauy Shaw

3rd Place:

Alec Disterhaupt

Will Atkeson

4th Place:

Matthew Wilson

Mason Disterhaupt

Tony Meye

Lady Eagles Have Tough Week

Last week the Lady Eagles had a tough week losing to both Pierce and Hartington CC in the Midstates Conference Tournament.  "I thought we played flat on Tuesday against Pierce and their length in their zone bothered us offensively.  We did not get off many shots and it was a pretty ugly game.  Credit goes to Pierce with their slow-down style of play. Pierce is a very good team which we beat earlier in the season, which makes the loss all that tougher.  Pierce went on to beat Norfolk Catholic on Thursday by 14 points and is played Boone Central for the championship Monday night. We dropped a close game in over time on  last Thursday night against another team that the Lady Eagles beat earlier in the season.  I am disappointed in the loss, but not with our overall team effort.  I thought our girls played hard for 36 minutes and played tremendous defense at times throughout the game.  We need to improve on our defensive rebounding and knocking down  point-blank shots to compete the next two weeks.  This week the Lady Eagles took on Plainview on Tuesday and will play Ord on Friday at home," said Coach Eichelberger.

In last weeks game against Pierce the Eagles fell 43-32. Leading the  Lady Eagles were Kelsey Appleby  with 11 points and five rebounds, Lindsey Appleby with nine points and two rebounds and Alex Hedlund with five points and three rebounds.

In the game against Hartington the Eagles lost 40-36. Leading the Lady Eagles were Kelsey Appleby with 13 points and four rebounds, Alex Hedlund with 11 points and two rebounds and Brandi Walters with five points.