PINE BLUFFS – To wrap up the regular season, Niobrara County High School traveled to the Hornet’s Nest last Friday night but didn’t look much like the team with 15 wins on the season already. The home team staked an early lead, and despite a Tiger trey from Aidan Mattheus, had a 14-8 lead after one. Mattheus knocked down two more three pointers as Lusk went on a 12-4 run. Bruegger went coast to coast in the final seconds as NCHS took a 25-23 lead into halftime.

The Hornets came out and blistered the nets with four triples and another 14 points, while the Tigers struggled on both ends of the court. The bewildered Lusk team found themselves in a 14 point deficit with one period to play. Late three pointers from Bruegger and Jackson Smith weren’t enough as NCHS took the 73-48 loss.

The junior varsity lost in their final game to complete a 14-2 season. 

NCHS will take the three seed into this weekend’s 2A East Regional tournament at Burns. Thursday night’s opening round opponent is Wright at 8:30 p.m. at Pine Bluffs High School. The Panthers defeated Lusk 100-80 at the 2A East Smackdown at Tiger Gym. All tournament brackets and ticket prices are available at whsaa.org.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 8-17-10-13--48

PBHS 14-9-26-24--73

TEAM STATS

NCHS 12/35 FG; 5/24 3PT; 9/12 FT; 29 REB; 6 AST; 9 STL; 14 TO; 22 PF

PBHS 19/29 FG; 8/18 3PT; 11/21 FT; 33 REB; 10 AST; 5 STL; 16 TO; 15 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Bruegger 19, Mattheus 14, Kupke 4, Miller 4, Smith 3, Brott 2, Bieri 2. Rebounds- Bruegger 7.

State brackets and ticket prices are available at  the Wyoming High School Activities Association’s website – www.whsaa.org.