The Lusk boys faced a tough order when the 2A East Regional bracket was released last week, and certainly not ready to keep up with Wright at EWC Thursday night.
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The Lusk boys faced a tough order when the 2A East Regional bracket was released last week, and certainly not ready to keep up with Wright at EWC Thursday night. The top-seeded Panthers were also riding a wave of momentum with 11 wins in their past 12 games. The Tigers stayed within ten most of the period, but a late Panther three pointer pushed it to 27-14. The shot just sank Lusk’s hopes, as Wright forced ten turnovers in the second quarter. A Ryan Gilkey free throw was NCHS’s only point as the deficit moved to 40-15.
Jake Heil came to life after the break with six points and Teagan Tschacher nailed a triple. But the Panthers continued to score from all angles in bunches. After three the score was 56-30, and the Panthers advanced to the semi-finals in the 72-41 final score. In the second half NCHS played much better with just nine turnovers and a much more competitive count of 32-26.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
NCHS 14 1 15 11 41
WRIGHT 27 13 16 16 72
TEAM STATS
NCHS: 15/38 FG, 1/8 3PT, 8/18 FT, 31 REB, 25 TO, 18 PF
WRIGHT: 22/44 FG, 6/15 3PT, 10/19 FT, 39 REB, 16 TO, 15 PF
NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Gilkey 13, Heil 8, Tschacher 7, Alec Penfield 5, Dylan Miller 4, James Stone 2, Cole hart 1, Declan Jensen 1. Rebounds- Miller 7, Penfield 7.
Friday afternoon in a loser out game, the Tigers found Upton waiting and angry they were upset by Southeast the night before. Midway through the first frame the Bobcats held a slim 11-10 lead before a late run made it 22-14. Eight points-manageable for the Tigers despite Clayton Louderback having his way with 14 first half points. Gilkey drained a trey to get within 36-24, yet too many missed Tiger free throws cost them a chance to have it closer than 43-27 at the half.
All State player Payton Watt turned the lights out on Lusk’s tumultuous season early in the third. The scoring machine was held to just eight points in the first half but went off for 16 in the second half (including three straight trips with a long range trey). What began as a difficult uphill fight to get back became despair in the 68-35 third quarter score. Penfield and Heil (first one ever!) made three pointers but it was too little late before the teams emptied their benches in the 83-47 final.
While NCHS finishes with a 9-14 record, it may be of some consolation years down the road that both the very talented Bobcats and Panthers fought back through the losers bracket to claim tickets to state.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
UPTON 22 21 25 15 83
NCHS 14 13 8 12 47
TEAM STATS
UPTON: 20/32 FG, 10/22 3PT, 13/23 FT, 41 REB, 17 TO, 17 PF
NCHS: 16/50 FG, 3/7 3PT, 7/19 FT, 30 REB, 16 TO, 17 PF
NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring Heil 16, Gilkey 13, Penfield 8, Ryan Bruegger 6, Stone 2, Wyatt Stauffer 2, Tschacher 1. Rebounds- Bruegger 6, Tschacher 5.