The Lusk boys’ basketball team had a chance last weekend to improve on their #4 SE seed heading into regionals. But Yoder is always a tough place to win and Pine Bluffs is ranked second in the Wyopreps Top 5.

Friday’s trip to Southeast was preceded by another snowstorm yet the Tigers matched the Cyclones energy early. Cole Hart sank a three pointer and NCHS was down 10-8 after one period. Aided by treys from Ryan Gilkey and Alec Penfield, NCHS knotted the game at 18 at the break.

Southeast got hot on the offensive end and used a 17-6 third quarter run- coupled with continued poor shooting Tigers to take the lead for good. Foul trouble began to creep into play as the home team had already began to make repeated trips to the charity line. NCHS managed just ten points down the stretch as the Cyclones came away with the 51-34 victory.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 8 10 6 10  34

SE 10 8 17 16  51

TEAM STATS

NCHS: 9/32 FG, 3/14 3PT, 7/13 FT, 34 REB, 27 TO, 24 PF

SE: 16/32 FG, 1/13 3PT, 16/28 FT, 41 REB, 20 TO, 12 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Gilkey 11, Jake Heil 6, Penfield 5, Dylan Miller 4, Hart 3, Teagan Tschacher 3, James Stone 2. Rebounds- Heil 8, Miller 5. 

After a thrilling girls game and Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Tiger Gym, the boys game against Pine Bluffs could not match the electricity. Despite All Stater Haize Fornstrom sitting for the first six minutes, the Hornets raced out to a 22-6 first quarter lead. The full court pressure applied by the visitors gave PB many open shots (and they usually went in), despite Heil and Stone combining for eight points. The lead opened up to 38-22 at halftime.

Haize came alive in the second half with 18 of his game high 20 points as the lead grew to 63-21 with one stanza to play. The Hornets used another lesser opponent to run up the score and pad stats in their attempt to win regional and state titles in the next few weeks. It will likely backfire as this writer feels there are at least three West teams that are more prepared for four hard quarters. PB poured in another 22 points to wrap up the 85-28 win.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

PB 22 16 25 22  85

NCHS 6 10 5 7  28

TEAM STATS

PB: 28/52 FG, 8/21 3PT, 5-9 FT, 40 REB, 10 TO, 8 PF

NCHS: 11/40 FG, 2/14 3PT, 0 FT, 37 REB, 29 TO, 11 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Heil 8, Gilkey 4, Stone 4, Penfield 3, Tschacher 3, Ryan Bruegger 2, Hart 2, Miller 2. Rebounds- Miller 7, Heil 6, Stone 5. 

The JV lost to Southeast 44-37 despite Penfield and Tanner Carpenter combining for 15 points. PB beat the Tigers 55-45 as Penfield led with ten points. Tschacher, Krejci and Wyatt Stauffer each dumped in eight points. 

The C squad hosted Wheatland on Feb. 8 yet came up short in the 55-33 loss. Jayden Matthews hit three triples en route to 15 points and Stauffer added seven. They wrapped up the season Monday at Newcastle with a 43-39 loss as Ben Eiden scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Carpenter scored a dozen. The pair of sophs combined for six steals as they finish with a 4-4 record.

This week is the final one of the regular season as NCHS heads to Glenrock Friday. JV girls tip off at 3 p.m., JV boys 4:30, varsity girls 6, varsity boys 7:30. The Tigers (9-11) will know their first round 2A East Regional opponent Saturday night, but will likely be Big Horn or Wright.