The Tigers came into the weekend on a three game winning streak, with a pair of conference games on tap. Friday’s home game against Southeast looked to be a stepping stone, while Saturday at Pine Bluffs a measuring stick against a 2A powerhouse. It’s safe to say Lusk batted .500 after the trip to the Hornet’s Nest was postponed until Tuesday.

It was apparent early that the NCHS basketball team was not quite up to the challenge that Southeast came out of the gate with. The Tigers were sloppy with the ball with eight turnovers and found themselves in an 11-4 hole near the quarter’s end. Dylan Miller and Jake Heil were the only scorers for Lusk as they trailed 16-6 after one. Teagan Tschacher stopped an 8-0 run with a three pointer, but the lead became 39-15 SE at the break.

Lusk took better care of the ball in the second half, but had no answers on the defensive end. Only a Ryan Gilkey triple kept the score within 30 as it became 53-23 with eight minutes to play. Both coaches emptied their benches as JV players finished out the 67-36 Cyclone win. The loss dropped NCHS to 6-7 overall- yet 1-1 in conference play.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SE 16 23 14 14  67

NCHS 6 9 8 13  36

TEAM STATS

SE: 23/37 FG, 3/11 3PT, 12/16 FT, 35 REB, 19 TO, 9 PF

NCHS: 11/45 FG, 3/16 3PT, 5/8 FT, 34 REB, 21 TO, 17 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Gilkey 12, Heil 4, Miller 4, Alec Penfield 4, Cole Hart 3, Tschacher 3, Declan Jensen 2, Jarit Krejci 2, James Stone 2. Rebounds- Penfield 6, Stone 5.

The JV lost to the Cyclones 47-41 as Tschacher led with a dozen points while Krejci added ten and Tanner Carpenter nine.

Last Saturday’s games at Pine Bluffs were postponed to Jan 23, due to the foot of snow that came in over the weekend. The varsity and JV played Tuesday evening but results were not available at press time.

This weekend Glenrock comes to Tiger Gym for games at 4 and 7:30 p.m. before the Tigers go to Guernsey on Saturday.