Cards Down Cougars And Cowboys

St. Mary's varsity and junior varsity boys basketball teams headed northeast on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and took on the always scrappy Cougars of Niobrara/Verdigre in a conference battle.

In varsity action SMH jumped out of the gates quickly putting in 16 unanswered points before the Cougars clawed their way back to the rim. After one quarter of play the Cards held a nice 19-5 lead.

Things were different in the second period as the Cougars mounted a huge rally. "With a couple of our starters out because of fouls they quickly knocked down seven points before we could get things under control," said Coach Viterna. The Cardinals managed to take a 34-27 lead into the locker room at half. 

Defense was a key issue in this game, as the Cougars had several players who lit it up and scored quickly. The Cardinals finished the second half with 28 points compared to the Cougars 17 points giving them a 62-33 road win. 

Jared Tomjack did a great job holding their leading scorer to only four points in the game. Senior  Adam Moon had a huge night as he pulled down 21 rebounds and ripped the baskets for 30 points, while blocking four Cougar shots on defense. Matt Kelly had a huge night defensively and on the boards with nine rebounds and several blocked shots as well. Kyle Pardun led in steals with eight as he played very well on both ends of the court. Freshman Tyler Regan poured in 10 points and numerous rebounds, while brother Kyle Regan and Brant Shoemaker caused problems  for the Cougars all night. "This was a big win for us after coming off two losses in the Crofton Holiday Tournament," said Coach Viterna.

In junior varsity play things were a little closer in the first period as the Cards held on to a narrow 10-9 lead. The defense really picked up in the second quarter as Niobrara/Verdigre was held to only three points compared to SMH's 13. The game remained very physical for each quarter in the second half. The Cards were able to pull out a 40-27 win. 

Jacob Petersen led the Cards with nine points followed by Brant Shoemaker with eight. Zach Novak led in rebounding with six boards and Adam Soukup stole the ball five times.

On Saturday the Cards loaded up and headed way out west and took on the Cody/Kilgore Cowboys. The junior varsity was able to handle the young cowboys by a score of 47-21. Tyler Regan and Brant Shoemaker led the team in scoring combining for 18 points. Every player suited up was able to see playing time and contribute to the win. The JV has a 6-0 record while the younger players lost a tough game to Bloomfield earlier in the season.

The varsity game started out pretty sloppy against Cody/Kilgore before things would settle down. The Cards made bad reads and didn't connect on their first four trips down the floor. It was a good thing the defense forced  the Cowboys into turnovers every time they tried to go down the floor. Once things started settling down the Cards were able to make a good run and take a 33-6 lead into the break. With two and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter one of C/K's players knocked Adam Moon to the floor causing him to miss the rest of the game. The rest of the team responded and went on to win 56-15. 

Tyler Regan led all scorers with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Seniors Wil Hup, Adam Moon and Matt Kelly controlled the boards inside. Kyle Pardun once again had eight steals. "With these wins we improved our record to 6-3 and will face a very tough schedule leading up to and into the Niobrara Valley Conference Tournament at the end of the month," commented coach Terry Viterna. Next action will be against Ewing on the road on Thursday, Jan. 16 and then CWC on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Chambers.