Despite playing their best game of the year, the NCHS boys basketball team couldn’t stay with Glenrock last Friday at Tiger Gym. Seniors James Blackburn, Jacob Muir, Elise Myer (manager), Eli Wagner and Monte Wade were honored with Lady Tigers Mattie Pfister and Mathilda Schmidt and their families between varsity games.

The Herders took the upper hand early but a spirited effort by the Tigers kept Lusk close. James Blackburn knocked down a three pointer and NCHS was down 11-10 after one period. The defensive effort said more about the flow of the game than any offensive rhythm the teams could produce. They combined for 14 second period points as the visitors held on to a slim 19-16 halftime lead.

The Lusk boys came out of the locker room with a feeling of hope- knowing they were in a game with a chance to win. Dylan Miller’s basket at 7:15 gave the Tigers the lead at 20-19 before Glenrock responded with an 8-0 run. Lusk gave everything they had but after getting within 27-25- could not get closer. The multitude of big, wide-bodies that Glenrock rotated in began to wear out the beleaguered Tigers. The lead stretched to 36-29 as the final quarter began. Lusk couldn’t buy a basket and the lid was closed from the free throw line as well. Despite the Tigers best effort of the season, and playing until the final buzzer, the visitors pulled away to win 54-35. While the Herders may be peaking at the right time-they defeated SE on Saturday to secure the #2 seed at regionals, NCHS finished with a 2-20 record.

For only the fourth time since the forfeit-plagued disaster of 1982-83, Lusk failed to win five games. That team ended with a 4-12 record. The following year during Marlin Kemmerer’s first season, Lusk went 1-17 and the only other one was the 1996-97 team that went 4-16. Bumps in the road happen once in a while. 

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GLENROCK 11 8 17 18  54

NCHS 10 6 13 6  35

TEAM STATS

GLENROCK: 17/36 FG, 3/16 3PT, 11/22 FT, 48 REB, 20 TO, 21 PF

NCHS: 9/41 FG, 1/10 3PT, 14/23 FT, 37 REB, 19 TO, 20 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Miller 8, Monte Wade 7, Ryan Gilkey 5, Jake Heil 4, Eli Wagner 4, Blackburn 3, Alec Penfield 2, James Stone 2. Rebounds- Miller 8, Heil 7, Stone 6. Steals- Stone 5. Good Sportsmanship players of the game: Dylan Miller and Glenrock’s Kale Kuhlman.

The JV finished their season on a valiant effort-coming up short against Glenrock 40-39. The loss dropped them to 7-12 on the season.

Many schools like Lusk have very small participation numbers and with this the C squad suffers. They managed two wins in eight games-most being less than four periods.