Eagles Up Three On The Week

Charley Burtwistle gets ready to go up for a shot against an Ainsworth player in last week's game.

The O'Neill Eagles improved their record last week to 11-2 by defeating the Guardian  Angels, Ainsworth and Creighton.   

To start the week off the Eagles traveled to West Point last Monday for a make up the game with GACC that had been postponed just before Christmas due to the weather. The long road trip did not seem to bother O'Neill as four players reached double digits in the scoring column and finished with the "W," 63-57.

Leading the Eagles was Charley Burtwistle with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.  Not too far behind was Donnie Taylor who knocked down three three-pointers to finish with 16, Derrick Hostert who also chipped in 16 and Michael Hedlund with 12 points. 

"This was our first trip to West Point for a ball game and I was a bit concerned with the new atmosphere, but our boys stayed focused and played really well all night," commented Coach Kallhoff.

On Thursday O'Neill played host to the Bulldogs of Ainsworth who had been scorching the nets for a 70+ point scoring average. The Eagles buckled down defensively and held them to 50 to win the game 64-50.

"Ainsworth is a very scary team because they have so many players who can shoot extremely well," said Coach Kallhoff. "It's that type of threat that always seems to keep the game closer than the score would indicate." 

Derrick Hostert led the way offensively with a game high 21 points and four assists, but it was Donnie Taylors five three's (15 total points) that seemed to really help the Eagles build and keep their lead much of the night.  Charley Burtwistle also dropped in 16 to go along with 10 rebounds and his team high four steals defensively. Michael Hedlund was faced with the daunting task of guarding Ainsworth's best player, Nick Martin, and held him to well under his season average while also grabbing 15 rebounds. 

Saturday was a match up of two 10 win teams as Creighton came to town, but the Eagles sent them home by beating them 69-61. O'Neill jumped to an early 11 point first quarter lead but then gave up a four point play when Creighton's Bronson Pahl was fouled on a last second three pointer that found the bottom of the net as time expired in the first stanza. This really helped fuel Creighton the rest of the half to get the game back to within one. The third quarter saw the Eagles build the lead back up and never look back, finishing the game with some good free throw shooting down the stretch to keep the game out of reach and improve their record to 11-2. 

Leading the way was again Derrick Hostert who finished with 23 points and six assists, followed by Michael Hedlund with 17 points and a team high seven boards, Charley Burtwistle 16, Donnie Taylor nine, and Cody Belzer with four. Hostert  and Hedlund were also the defensive catalysts as they plucked away four and three steals respectively. 

Next action for the Eagles was Monday as they traveled to Neligh to take on the Warriors. Then a quick turnaround with Wagner at home on Tuesday.  Then a much needed break before meeting up with Mid-State foe Norfolk Catholic.