LUSK – In the last basketball action of 2017, Guernsey-Sunrise (G-S) brought their boys and girls teams to Tiger Gym to face the Lusk JVs on Dec. 19. 

The C squad girls also got a game of their own with the Lady Vikings JV. NCHS took an 11-4 first quarter lead before stretching it to 16-8 at halftime. As the Lady Tigers kept pushing the score, everyone in uniform got at least two quarters of playing time. The lead increased to 25-10 before Lusk won 31-15. Courtney Rowley led with seven points while Riley Shaw added six, Anna Richardson five, Lucy Ceaglske four, Jozalyn Potter four.

The JV girls put up a scoring barrage on the G-S varsity with 16 points in each of the first three periods. They overwhelmed the inexperienced visitors by creating turnovers and converting them into points. After one quarter the score was 16-3 and at halftime increased to 32-7. As coach BJ Engelker began subbing more frequently the lead was 48-14. The younger players got some time against varsity competition as NCHS won 52-24. Rowley led with 14 points while Ashley Christianson added 11, Sadie Sturman nine, Mackenzie Lyons six, Makena Engelker six.

The JV boys got a challenge from the Vikings varsity and found themselves in an 11-6 first period deficit. The visitors scored the first four points of the turnover-prone second stanza before a late run got the Tigers within 15-12 at the break. The defense improved after halftime, as did the offense. It took almost five minutes but NCHS outscored the Vikings 13-5 in the third as Teagan Tschacher and Ryan Bruegger combined for nine points. Lusk went on to win 35-24 as Tschacher led with 14 points, Bruegger seven, Jarit Krejci six, Tanner Carpenter four.

As the NCHS winter athletes get ready for 2018, 3A Newcastle comes to Tiger Gym for basketball on Jan. 2. Varsity girls start at 6 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m. Three days after that both teams head to the North-South Challenge in Sheridan County.

On Jan. 5 the Tigers face Kaycee at 1 p.m. in Big Horn, followed by a game against the hosts at 7. The next day NCHS goes up to Dayton for a 2:30 p.m. game with the Eagles. The JV boys face Kaycee (4 p.m. Fri) and TR (1 p.m. Sat).

The Lady Tigers also go north with an 11:30 a.m. game against Kaycee in Big Horn Friday morning, and a game against the home team at 5:30 p.m.. Lusk plays at Tongue River Saturday at 1 p.m. JV girls games are against Kaycee (2:30 p.m. Fri) and Tongue River (11:30 a.m. Sat).

The wrestlers will be at the Shane Shatto Memorial Tournament in Douglas while the speech team heads to Cheyenne Central, Jan. 5-6.