LINGLE – Friday night the Tiger boys’ basketball team halted their losing streak with a win at Lingle-Fort Laramie, in a game that was tight all the way. Jayce Cummins buried a pair of 3-pointers, and Niobrara County High School took the 12-7 first quarter upper hand.

Ryan Bruegger scored a layup and the free toss to maintain a six-point lead, but the Doggers closed the first half with a 9-1 run. The home team led 22-20, a 13-point turnaround from when the teams met in Lusk three weeks ago.

Bruegger dropped a trey as the lead grew to seven points but the Doggers made another run to close within 35-33 when the third quarter expired.

A Dogger triple gave them the lead, but from there NCHS was steady and made every free throw count. Bruegger sank all three, and Cummins gained his hat trick from deep for the four-point Tiger lead. As the clock wound down, Walker Kupke, Bruegger and Molzahn went 10 of 11 from the charity line as Lusk eased out to the 52-43 win.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 12 9 15 16 – 52

LFLHS 7 15 11 10 – 43

TEAM STATS

NCHS: 13/35 FG; 4/16 3PT; 14/18 FT; 35 REB; 12 AST; 9 STL; 11 TO; 14 PF

LFLHS: 12/24 FG; 3/22 3PT; 10/15 FT; 30 REB; 10 AST; 6 STL; 16 TO; 14 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- R. Bruegger 17; Molzahn 15; Cummins 9; Kupke 5; C. Bruegger 4; Wells 2. Rebounds- Molzahn 11; R. Bruegger 7; Cummins 6; Wells 5.

Saturday was a chance to start a winning streak, but the upstart Moorcroft boys had other plans. They held an 11-10 lead after one period, but a pair of triples from Ryan Bruegger helped push the Tigers to a 23-17 lead at halftime.

The offense stagnated in the third period as the Wolves closed within one point. After Bruegger picked up his fifth foul early in the final frame, Moorcroft used three straight possessions to bury treys and overtake the Tigers. Despite a three pointer from Kupke, the home team’s momentum carried them to the 49-37 win.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 10 13 3 11 – 37

MHS 11 6 8 24 – 49

TEAM STATS

NCHS: 11/35 FG; 3/16 3PT; 6/12 FT; 33 REB; 12 AST; 9 STL; 18 TO; 17 PF

MHS: 10/23 FG; 7/19 3PT; 8/13 FT; 33 REB; 11 AST; 10 STL; 22 TO; 16 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- R. Bruegger 17; Molzahn 10; Kupke 5; Wells 5. Rebounds- Wells 10; Molzahn 10; R. Bruegger 6.

On Monday night, Guernsey-Sunrise visited Lusk, and the Tigers wasted little time taking the 6-1 lead behind a pair of long rangers from Kupke. The Vikings battled back to a 10-7 edge after one period. Cory Bruegger scored an old-fashioned three-point play and Ryan drained a long one, as Lusk found themselves in a dogfight knotted at 21 at the midpoint.

Ryan, Kupke and Cummins each made three pointers to give NCHS some breathing room with an 11-point lead entering the final stanza. The visitors tried to get back in, but when Cummins splashed another trey it was enough to hold off the pesky Vikings. NCHS won 57-45 and improved to 6-9 with regionals right around the corner.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GSHS 10 11 9 15 – 45

NCHS 7 14 20 16 – 57

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring R. Bruegger 22; Wells 11; Cummins 9; Kupke 9; C. Bruegger 3; Molzahn 3.

The JV lost to L-FL 19-14, Moorcroft 42-22 before beating G-S 24-18.

This week Glenrock (4:15 and 7 p.m.) visits Tiger Gym on Friday and Southeast (1:15 and 4 p.m.) comes to town on Saturday afternoon.