O-C Knights Beat T-H Tigers 48-0!
October 20, 2016 Leave a comment
The Oakland-Craig Knights soundly defeated the Tekamah-Herman Tigers 48-0 last Friday evening in Tekamah. All photos credit of Denise Gilliland/Editor and Chief, Kat Country Hub.
Illness and Injuries Hamper Cougars at EHC Track Meet
May 3, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
Points were hard to come by in the EHC Track and Field meet held at Wisner on May 2. The Boys team scored 18 points and placed 13th while the Girls had 6 points and ended up in 14th place.
Illness and injury cost the Cougars several potential placers. Marcus Hegy’s season ended with surgery to repair damage to a knee. The girls’ weight throwers both missed the meet. Libby Henneman and Abby Peterson were highly seeded in their events, but stayed home because of illness. Tessie Collins suffered the same fate and was scratched from the 3200 run.
Jon Christiansen was the top scorer, but had a sub-par day in the jumps. He had a 19 foot 4.5 inch leap in the long jump and 40 foot 8 inch effort in the triple jump. Both placed fourth. He added a seventh in the 100M dash with a 11.72 clocking.
Benny Estrada moved up after coming off the curve to place third in the 200M dash. His 23.96 made him the sixth qualifier in the prelims.
Brandi Simonsen and Sophia Henneman were the only girls to score. Brandi took fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet 1 inch. Sophia had a season best 2:45.18 in the 800 for an eighth place. The 400 relay was disqualified for an exchange violation.
The sixteen team meet saw North Bend Central edge out Stanton in the Girls division 99 to 91. The Oakland Craig boys used wins in the last two relays to overtake Stanton for the championship.
Some non scoring efforts were: Brandi Simonsen, 9th 100M dash (13.85) 11th Long Jump (15′ 0.75″); Kelley Wakeley, 14th Long Jump (14′ 2″) ; Benny Estrada. 9th 400 M (54.68); Cole Christoffersen, 11th Shot Put (41′ 6″); Joey O’Connor 3200M, 10th (11:53.13) 1600M, 20th (5:38); Reid Preston, 3200M, 11th (12:02.4) 1600M, 13th (5:24); Alec Anderson, 800M, 16th (2:20.63) 1600M 16th, (5:27); Brianne Haskell, 400M, 10th (1:06.46), 200 M, 12th (29.81); Tyler Hardeman, 27th Shot Put (37′ 0″); Nick Ronnfeldt, 25th, Shot Put (37′ 7.5″).
Christiansen Earns Only Gold Medal For Northeast Track Team
April 14, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
After weather cancelled the Stanton meet the Cougars finally got to compete in the outdoors at the Tiger-Cadet Invitational held at West Point on April 5. The boys were shorthanded but ‘came in eighth with 25 points. The Ladies took fifth with 44 points.
Jon Christiansen was the lone Gold medalist for Northeast. He took first in the triple jump with a leap of 43 feet 2 inches. He added a fourth in the long jump. His distance was 19 feet six inches. In the 100 meter dash Jon placed third in 11.86.
The boys scored five points in the shot put. Cole Christoffersen took fourth in his debut as a track weight man. He heaved the 12 pound ball 45 feet. Marcus Hegy gained a sixth place with a 43 foot 5 inch toss.
Although the girls had no event winners they had two silver medalist. Tessie Collins took second in the 3200 run. She was five seconds behind the winner with her 13:43.93 clocking. Brianne Haskell ran 1:06.1 in the 400 meter dash for a second place.
Sophia Henneman added a third place finish in the 800 run. She did the two laps in 2:47.58 Brandi Simonsen’s 13.81 in the 100 dash also took third. Brandi teamed with Brianne Haskell, Sophia Henneman and Kelly Wakeley for a third in the 4×100 relay. Their time was 54.60.
In the field Simonsen and Wakeley took fourth and sixth in the long jump respectively. Brandi leaped 15 feet 10.5 inches and Kelly soared 15 feet 3 inches. Brandi added a fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 32 feet 4 inches. Kelly missed scoring with a seven place.
Libby Henneman took sixth in the shot. Her best throw was 33 feet 3 inches. In the discus she came up with no points for an eighth place, but Abby Peterson took fifth was a 110 foot toss.
Lady Cougars First-Ever Basketball Game at State!
March 9, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
Northeast faced a tall order as they played in the first ever State Tournament for the Lady Cougars. They took on a Sandhills/Thedford team that had three 6′ 1″ starters who helped them to a 22-4 record.
The Cougars made a valiant effort. They had a three point lead at half time, but the size advantage turned the tide in the second half. Down by two at the end of three quarters, LDNE ran out of gas in the final four minutes and lost 49-36.
State tournament nerves showed up for both teams in the first quarter. It took four minutes for the Cougars to score. Brianne Haskell sank one of two free shots to make it 1-2. Sandhills/Thedford made its opening shot, but missed on their next three tries. After the Knight’s Rebecca Higgins knocked down a three Northeast went to the 1:01 mark before Brianne Haskell matched her. With 20 seconds left Mariah Jessen put Northeast on top with a trey. Sandhills/Thedford managed a basket in the closing seconds to tie the score at 7-7.
LDNE made only 2 of 14 shots, but hustled to retain possession with 4 offensive boards. The Knights made three of nine shots.
Northeast retook the lead in the second quarter. Brianne Haskell sank two free shots two minutes into the period. The Knights got a pair of baskets before Haskell made her second three. With 2:31 left in the half Lexie Bacon scored for 14-11 lead.
Once again the shooting was sub-par for both teams. Lyons-Decatur made 2 of 10 While Thedford was 2 of 11. Northeast was 2 for 2 from the line and Sandhills was 0-2. The shorter Cougar team had a 16-15 advantage in rebounding.
After intermission the Knights made a determined effort to use their size advantage and get the ball down low. The Taylor twins each banged in a basket to give Sandhills/Thedford a 15-14 advantage before Kelly Wakeley was able to drive the baseline and score. Higgins made a three and with 6:00 left in the period Abby Peterson tied the score at 18-18.
The Knights put in the next nine points. They had three baskets in the paint, but the back breaker was two offensive rebounds which drew fouls on the put backs. Brianne Haskell ended the run with a basket to cut the lead to 27-20. In the last three minutes Northeast made five free throws and Wakeley drove the lane and scored.. The Cougars were back in the game trailing by only two points. 29-27.
The team traded points to start the fourth quarter. The Knights made four free throws. Kelly Wakeley continued to find a hole in the Knight’s defense as she got into the lane for another score at the start of the fourth quarter. Lexie Bacon got a short jumper to fall and the score stood at 33-31 with 6:33 to play.
The Taylors got five points to jump the Knight’s lead to 38-31. With 4:23 left in the game Brianne Haskell cut he deficit to five with a pair of free throws. Twenty seconds later Kelly Wakeley was at the line, but the basketball gods were not shining on LDNE as she missed both shots. Sandhills ran off six points before Abby Peterson made a free throw with 2:01. LDNE trailed by ten points, 44-34.
The Knights added five more free throws to bring their score to 49. They made 14 of 17 tries in the fourth period. Abby Peterson closed out the Cougar scoring with a basket with 20 seconds left.
For the game Northeast shot a season low 23%. They made 11 of 48 shots. Sandhills’ height had a big roll in the misses. Coach Haskell said, “We like to face man-to-man defenses because our offense likes to penetrate the lane. We could get around the first defender, but there would be a big body in the way and another coming from the side.” The Knights had nine blocked shots. They were aware of Lexie Bacon’s shooting at the District Championship game and did not give her any good looks from outside the arc.
The Cougar defense was able to hold the Knights to 28% shooting. They made only 15 of 49 shots.
After out rebounding the taller Knight team in the first half, the Cougars were muscled out in the second half. Sandhills/Thedford had a 22 to 8 advantage in the second half. They had eight offensive boards. “We had problems getting backside help and it seemed the long rebounds all caromed their way,” said Haskell.
Coach Haskell said he was really proud of his team. This group of girls gave it their all. They have set the team record for wins. The seniors have come a long way and worked to improve their game. The underclassmen were great teammates and should play a key roll next year for BRLD.
LDNE finishes the year with a 16-8 record. Brianne Haskell was the top scorer for Northeast with 17 points. Kelly Wakeley had six points. Mariah Jessen had seven rebounds.
LDNE 7 7 13 9 -36
S/Thedford 7 4 18 20 -49
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
S. Henneman 0 0 0 0 0 0
Simonsen 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wakeley 3 0 0/4 2 1 6
Haskell 1 2 9/10 4 5 17
Collins 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bacon 2 0 1/2 6 5 5
L. Henneman 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jessen 0 1 0 7 2 3
Peterson 2 0 1/2 5 0 5
LDNE 8/31 3/17 11/18 24 13 36
S/Thedford 13/43 2/10 17/24 37 13 49
The Northeast basketball team may not have won their game, but Lyons-Decatur Northeast did win an award from the NSAA. LDNE claimed the Sportsmanship Award for D-2.
Northeast had a large following of students, family, and alumni fill their side of the court. The students celebrated the affair with costumes from super-heroes and other characters. The pep band provided some great music. The whole crowd cheered for their team with the best of sportsmanship.
Cougars Enter Last Week of Season With 14-7 Record
February 18, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
The Cougars are going into the final week of the regular season with a 14-7 record. With one non-conference opponent to go their EHC showing is 8 wins and 6 losses. A road game at (8-12) Emerson-Hubbard is their final contest before sub-districts.
The Cougars have earned the number one seed in D-1 Sub-district #3. They will play the winner of Omaha Christian Academy versus Omaha Nation on February 23 at Fremont Middle School.
The final game for Cougar basketball on the Lyons court was a memorable one. Northeast had to overcome feisty group from Wisner-Pilger and the loss of their leading scorer before claiming a 47-42 win.
Wisner-Pilger had the Cougar’s number in the first quarter. Combining some sharp out side shooting with a high-low attack in the paint the Gator claimed a 17-10 first quarter lead. They buried three bombs and caught a confused zone defense napping for three lay-ins.
Alec Anderson had scored the last two baskets for LDNE when he took a feed at the elbow and headed to basket with 18 seconds left in the quarter. Northeast’s leading scorer took a finger to the eye and collapsed to the floor. He would not return to the game.
Northeast needed someone to step up to replace Anderson and his 20 points average. In the second quarter Tyler Hardeman quietly scored four times. His ten points in the game was four times his 2.5 average.
Hunter Ferguson also gave the team a boost. His trey at the 6:40 mark of the second period tied the score at 17. With less than three minutes left another trey gave Northeast a 24-23 lead.
The Cougars had figured the high-low attack and took a 27-23 half time lead.
Wisner-Pilger had a strong start in the third quarter. The opened with six unanswered points. With 4:55 LDNE got its first score as Cole Christoffersen banged in a bucket to tie the score at 29. Scores by Christoffersen and Hardeman were all Northeast could add to their total but they led 33-32 with eight minutes to play.
Northeast got some breathing room as Marcus Hegy got four points and Hunter Ferguson got his third trey of the night. With 5:10 to play Northeast held a 40-32 lead.
After six straight missed shots the Gators got on a roll and scored seven points to pull to within three points, 42-39. Hunter Ferguson snuck behind their full court press to real a long pass and score a lay-in to keep Northeast up by five at the one minute warning.
A pair of misses on one-and-one opportunities kept Wisner-Pilger ‘s hopes alive when Logan Godbersen nailed a trifecta to make it a 44-42 game with 17seconds left. Montana Riecken closed out the game by converting on a one-and-one, making a timely rebound, and sinking the 47th point with 8 seconds left.
Two bench players would be the high scorers for Northeast. Tyler Hardeman had ten points. Hunter Ferguson had a team-high eleven points.
The Cougars shot a nifty 64% for the game. They made 16 of 24 two-pointers and were successful on 3 of 5 from behind the arc.
Wisner-Pilger 17 6 9 10 -42
LDNE 10 17 6 14 -47
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
Riecken 1 0 3/4 2 0 5
O’Connor 0 0 0 1 0 0
Christiansen 0 0 0 2 0 0
Hegy 3 0 3/4 2 1 9
Ferguson 1 3 0/1 1 1 11
Anderson 2 0 0 2 0 4
Hardeman 5 0 0 3 2 10
Christoffersen 3 0 2/3 8 2 8
LDNE 16/23 3/5 6/10 22 6 47
Wisner-Pilger 8/24 7/20 5/6 17 16 42
A road trip to Scribner put the Cougars up against the Logan View/Scribner-Snyder combined team. The Raiders had a turn-around year with 13-8 record.
A triangle-and-two defense was LV/SS’s plan to nullify Alec Anderson and point guard Montana Riecken. Riecken had a guard in his face at all times and LV/SS did not want Anderson to touch the ball. The plan worked well in the first quarter as the Raiders scored three times off of six turnovers and Anderson got only one shot. LV/SS led 15-3 after one quarter.
Anderson got his only points of the night with a make at the 6:05 mark of the second period. LDNE was down 13-7. Four Raider treys made for a 25-14 half time score.
A change of baskets did the Cougar good. They outscored LV/SS 14-6. Using Anderson a decoy gave Christoffersen and Hardeman open shots and Marcus Hegy came alive with 10 points. with two threes and a pair of drives past the taller Raiders. Northeast found themselves back in the game, 31-28.
Jon Christiansen’s basket brought Northeast to within one point of the lead before the Raiders ran off five straight points. Hegy maneuvered through the Raider zone for a deuce and Christiansen got a trey from the corner as LDNE had a 36-35 deficit. A pair of bombs by LV/SS were countered by a pair of baskets by Hegy. The second score was pure “Michael Jordanish” as he switched hands in midair and spun the ball off the glass on a reverse lay-up. Northeast found themselves down 42-39 with 2:05 to play.
After Cole Christoffersen made one of two free shots Northeast had ninety seconds left in a 42-40 game. Northeast had a couple of chances to tie the score before a free shot by the Raiders boosted the lead to three with 1:11 left. Hegy made one of two with 36 seconds left and the Raiders missed on a one-and-one at the 29.6 mark.
Northeast came out of a timeout with 9.6 left, but a trey by Hegy came up short. Christoffersen fouled with 1.2 second left. LV/SS missed the free shot, but Northeast could not get a shot off as the 43-41 lead held.
After the game Coach Lahm commented about closing minutes of the game. “We had a couple of chances to take the lead, but failed to take care of the ball and get the score. With tournament ball coming up we need to be aware of how important each possession is at the end of the game. With only one game next week this one of the things we are going to work at during practice.”
This was a career-high game for Marcus Hegy. He had 27 points with seventeen coming in the second half.
Northeast had four more two pointers than the Raiders. LV/SS had 9 three-pointers to LDNE’s 5. Northeast made only 6 of 12 free shots.
LDNE 5 9 14 13 -41
LV/SS 13 12 6 12 -43
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
Riecken 0 0 0 5 1 0
O’Connor 0 0 0 1 1 0
Christiansen 1 1 0 0 3 5
Hegy 5 4 5/10 6 3 27
Ferguson 0 0 0 1 2 0
Anderson 1 0 0 5 1 2
Hardeman 1 0 0 1 1 2
Christoffersen 2 0 1/2 3 5 5
LDNE 10/19 5/12 6/12 24 17 41
LV/SS 6/17 9/18 4/8 20 15 43
Lady Cougars Close Out Regular Season Victorious
February 16, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
The Lady Cougars closed the regular season with two wins. Victories over Wisner-Pilger and Logan View/Scribner-Snyder provided the power points to move LDNE up to the number one seed in the D-2-3 sub-district. They will play (7-13) Bancroft-Rosalie in the first round.
With the 50-48 victory over (13-9) Wisner-Pilger and 48-29 conquest of (4-18) LV/SS the girls raised their record to 13-7. The finished with a 6-6 record against EHC opponents. Their two losses in the EHC tournament were countered with regular game wins over Tekamah-Herman and Wisner-Pilger.
After a slow start doomed them in the EHC tournament against W-P, the Northeast girls played steady first quarter and took a lead into the second quarter. They led 12-7 after Brandi Simonsen scored. The quarter closed at 13-9.
Lexie Bacon scored the first points of the second period, but Wisner-Pilger went on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 15. After Brianne Haskell scored five points, the Lady Gator used a pair of threes to move to a 23-20 lead. A basket by Abby Peterson and two free throws by Lexie made it 24-23. The Lady Gators got a score at the buzzer to take a 25-24 lead.
It took two minutes for the Cougars to get a score in the second half. W-P scored twice before Brianne Haskell converted two free shots. Tessie Collins tied the game at 29 with a bomb from the point. Abby Peterson matched a score by Wisner before they ran off four with two stick backs. Northeast continued to battle as the got a pair of free throws from Haskell. Wakeley followed with a trey. Mariah Jessen sank her first trifecta shot of the season. Wisner-Pilger lead 41-39.
Haskell made her sixth straight free throw at the started the fourth quarter to tie the score. A three pointer by Lexie Bacon put LDNE on top, 44-42, with 4:43 to play. After one make and one miss by Haskell at the charity strip Northeast was up 45-42. The Gators came back to take a two point lead on a pair of free throws by Heller and a trey by Knust.
Northeast patiently worked the ball around until Bacon found an opening a made her second trey of the quarter and boosted the Cougars back to a 48-47 lead with 2:40 to play.
The next two minutes saw each team fail on two offensive possessions. Heller would tie the score with a free throw at :35 second mark. The Cougars settled for a final shot. With the Gators closing guarding the “shooters” Abby Peterson got the ball at the left baseline and sank a ten footer at the buzzer for a 50-48 win.
Lexie Bacon paced the team with 17 points. She had three treys to bring her total to 40 for the season. Brianne Haskell added 12 points
Wis-Pil 9 16 16 7 -48
LDNE 13 11 15 11 -50
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
Simonsen 1 0 0 2 0 2
Wakeley 1 1 0 5 3 5
Haskell 1 1 7/8 2 2 12
Collins 0 1 0 2 0 3
Bacon 2 3 4/5 2 2 17
L Henneman 0 0 0 1 0 0
Jessen 0 1 0/1 5 4 3
Peterson 4 0 0/1 6 1 8
LDNE 9/18 7/18 11/15 25 12 50
Wisner-Pilger 13/41 3/10 13/17 28 13 48
Northeast closed out the season with a ragged 48-29 win over Logan View/Scribner-Snyder.
“We just could not hit our shots tonight.” said Coach Haskell. The team hit a season low 29% from the field. They had combined 18 of 51 two point shots and 0 for 11 from behind the arc. Free throws did not fall either as the team made just 12 of 23 from the charity stripe. For the season the team has been shooting 40% from the field and 64% from the line. Northeast opened he game with 2 for 12 shooting he first period and 3 for six from the line. Peterson and Wakeley scored goals as LDNE led 7-3.
The second period went better with 14 points on 5 for 12 shooting., but they made only 4 of 8 from the line. Wakeley and Bacon were saddled with three fouls and spent time on the bench. Mariah Jessen scored seven points. Northeast led 31-14.
The Cougars got six points from Wakeley and five from ;Haskell as they moved to a 36-17 lead in the third quarter.
Both teams score 14 points in the fourth quarter. Lexie Bacon scored twice before fouling out. Wakeley had a pair of scores .
Mariah Jessen was the team leader with a game-high 12 points and 16 rebounds plus she had 4 blocked shots. Kelley Wakeley had 11 points.
LDNE 7 14 15 12 -48
LV/SS 3 11 3 12 -29
\ 2pt 3pot FT Rb F TP
Simonsen 0 0 0 0 2 0
Wakeley 5 0 1/1 6 3 11
Haskell 2 9 3/6 4 2 7
Collins 1 0 0 6 0 2
Bacon 3 0 1/2 3 5 7
L. Henneman 0 0 0 1 0 0
Jessen 3 0 6/8 16 4 12
Peterson 4 0 1/3 9 4 9
LDNE 18/51 0/11 12/23 46 20 48
LV/SS 9/32 0/5 11/17 25 17 29
Cougars Win Two and Lose Two at EHC Tournament
February 11, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
The Cougar boys went 2-2 in the EHC Basketball Tournament. After a first round 66-53 win over Madison they moved on with a 65-61 conquest of Clarkson/Leigh. In the semi-finals North Bend Central overpowered Northeast 58-29. The third place consolation game went Stanton 58-47.
The Northeast Cougars had to tell the 2016 Cinderella of the EHC tournament, Clarkson /Leigh, that it was midnight and she did not want to leave the dance. It took a comeback in the fourth quarter comeback for the Cougar to eliminate the Patriots 65-61.
Clarkson/Leigh was a thirteenth seed with a 3-15 record when they played fourth seed Loganview/Scribner-Snyder. They hung close the Raiders and made their shots in the fourth quarter to force over time. In OT they dominated and won 64-58.
The Cougars had played the Patriots in December and had won 51-47. C/L took advantage of free throw misses to stay in the game. This time free throw makes would provide points for the Cougar win.
The game opened with the two teams trading points. Alec Anderson’s three point play gave the a 5-4 lead. His three-point shot made it 8-7. After a three-pointer by Montana Riecken the Patriots pulled away for a 16-13 first quarter lead.
Northeast had a strong start to the second period. Anderson’s goal and a conversion by Riecken tied the score. Riecken’s three point play put them in the lead 19-18 and Christiansen’s score kept LDNE on top. The Patriot went on an eleven point spurt as they made three trifectas to move to a 31-23 lead. After two baskets by Anderson and a trey and free shot by Hegy C/L had a 36-31 lead.
In the third quarter the Patriots kept their lead A Tyler Hardeman basket cut the lead to just two points, but Clarkson led 45-41 at quarter’s end.
Alec Anderson set the tone in the fourth quarter. The senior forward opened with a three point play. He followed with three makes from the line on shooting foul outside the arc. Northeast now had the lead, 47-46, with 6:47 to play.
Marcus Hegy added to the lead with a basket, The Cougars went man-to-man defense for the first time which took away their main shooters. Their post man stepped outside the arc and put up a pair of treys before Coach Lahm corrected a mismatch by inserting Jon Christiansen to guard him.
On the offensive side, Cole Christoffersen scored a goal and followed a Hegy trey with by hitting both sides of a one-and-one for a 56-53 lead. A Patriot three point play tied the score with 2:37 to play.
Marcus Hegy took over he game at this point. He scored a basket with 1:21 left and converted two pressure free throws nine seconds later. With 48 seconds left his free throw lifted Northeast to a 61-56 lead.
Clarkson /Leigh continued to foul. Northeast ‘maintained their lead as Christoffersen and Christiansen made one shot and Hegy closed out scoring with a pair of makes. During he fourth quarter Northeast made 13 of 16 free shots.
Alec Anderson led the team with 24 points. Marcus Hegy was close behind with 19 points, twelve coming in the fourth period.
Clarkson/Leigh 16 20 9 16 -61
LDNE 13 18 10 24 -65
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
Riecken 1 1 1/2 8 1 6
O’Connor 0 0 0 1 0 0
Christiansen 2 0 1/2 4 2 5
Ferguson 0 0 0 0 2 0
Anderson 6 2 6/8 8 2 24
Hardeman 2 0 0 3 2 4
Christoffersen 2 0 3/4 10 3 7
LDNE 16/26 5/12 18/26 37 12 65
C/L 13/23 10/30 5/6 25 20 61
The Semi-final game against (19-1)North Bend Central started poorly and snowballed from there. The Cougars opened the game with 1 for 11 shooting from the field and 1 for 3 at the line. They trailed 14 to 3 at the quarter.
The up-tempo Tigers blew the game open in the second quarter. They had a 33-12 lead at the half. A discouraged group of Cougars had no answer after intermission and were out scored 25-17
Constant pressure took its toll on the Cougars as they could never get their game going in half court game while the Tigers ran their trapping defense. The one bright spot for Northeast was Cole Christoffersen who attacked their pressure and scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
LDNE 3 9 6 11 -29
NBC 14 19 13 12 -58
Riecken 0 0 0 2 2 0
O’Connor 0 0 0 0 2 0
Christiansen 1 0 0 1 2 2
Whitaker 1 0 0 0 0 2
Ferguson 0 0 2/2 0 1 2
Ronnfeldt 1 0 0 0 0 2
Anderson 1 0 0/1 5 0 2
Hardeman 1 0 0/1 4 0 2
Christoffersen 3 0 6/14 11 4 12
LDNE 10/30 0/4 9/18 26 11 29
NBC 24/48 4/16 6/11 42 19 58
The Cougars had a big question when they faced (17-6) Stanton in the consolation third place game. Which team would show up? They got their answer in the first quarter. The offense scored points and the man-to-man defense held the Mustangs in check.
Joey O’Connor had an offensive burst as he scored the first two baskets of the game on drives to the lane. Alec Anderson got two baskets and Cole Christoffersen and Marcus closed out the scoring on a 13-6 quarter.
The action continued to favor the Cougars in the second quarter as they built a 28-18 half time lead. Alec Anderson scored the first eight points for the Cougars. Marcus Hegy had a trey and basket while Cole Christoffersen added goal.
Hegy continued his offensive thrust with eight straight points in the third quarter. Northeast held a 36-26 lead before Stanton went on a 9-2 run to close out the period.
The Mustangs knotted up the score with a three bomb by Nickolite with 7:15 to play. A
Cougar turnover against their press gave them their go-ahead points.. Alec Anderson had a chance to tie the score at the 6:03 mark, but made only one of two free shots leaving LDNE trailing 40-39.
A charging call cost the Northeast a basket, but the Cougar defense held he Mustangs a second error against the press resulted in a three point play for Stanton. That proved to be a momentum changer as Cougars did not get a defensive stop for the rest of the game. Stanton scored seven straight times they had the ball.
“Stanton stared to figure out our defense in the third period,” said Coach Lahm. “They started to drive the lane and we couldn’t stop them.”
Northeast would score only one basket in the fourth quarter. One for six shooting and two more turnover slowed the offensive output Alec Anderson got a score in the later minutes Free throws by Christoffersen, Hardeman, and Riecken accounted for the other points.
Anderson and Hegy continued to lead the Cougar scoring. Anderson scored 17 and Hegy had 16 points.
The Cougars have a 13-6 record with three games remaining on the schedule
LDNE 13 15 10 9 -47
Stanton 6 12 17 23 -58
.
Riecken 0 0 1/2 1 2 1
O’Connor 2 0 0 3 3 4
Christiansen 0 0 0 0 2 0
Hegy 5 1 3/5 3 1 16
Ferguson 0 0 0 0 0 0
Anderson 6 0 5/10 11 1 17
Hardeman 0 0 2/2 3 2 2
Christoffersen 2 0 3/5 5 3 7
LDNE 15/28 1/4 14/23 26 14 47
Stanton 16/26 6/16 8/13 25 18 58
Lady Cougars Drop Two in EHC Play
February 10, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
The Lady Cougars finished 0-2 in the EHC Basketball Tournament. After losing to Tekamah-Herman 65-56 in the first round they lost to Wisner-Pilger in the consolation bracket. The Lady Gators won by twelve, 61-49 on their home court.
A fast start by Wisner-Pilger was the undoing of the Cougars. The Gators opened the game with three behind the arc and jumped to a 9-2 lead and Northeast played catch up the whole game.
“We used a zone against Wisner-Pilger,” said Coach Haskell “and for the most part we did a good job defending the first shot, but we did not rebound well. They got way too many second chance points.”
The shots did not fall for LDNE in the first half and the Maroon trailed by fifteen, 34-19 when they went to the lockers.
In the second half Northeast got in a good rhythm and cut the lead to just eight points in the third period. An 11-4 run got the score to 38-30. W-P closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run to restore their fifteen point margin.
Northeast outscored Wisner-Pilger by three in the fourth quarter for a 61-49 final.
The two teams will have a rematch on the Lyons court on February 9. LDNE has an 11-7 record and W-P has a 11-8 mark. The girls’ final regular season game is Friday at Loganview.
LDNE 9 10 13 17 -49
W-P 18 16 13 14 -612pt 3pt FT Rb TP
Simonsen 3 0 1/5 1 7
Wakeley 1 1 0/2 3 5
Haskell 4 0 7/9 5 15
Collins 0 1 0 3 3
Bacon 0 2 0 0 6
L.Henneman 0 1 0 1 3
Jessen 3 0 0 4 6
Peterson 2 0 0 13 4
LDNE 13/34 5/18 8/16 30 49
2016 Last Season for Cougar Basketball, Last Game vs. Rival OC Knights
February 4, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
2016 is the last season for Cougar Basketball. For Lyons-Decatur Northeast this will be the last meeting against their rivals from seven mile to the south, Oakland-Craig. The final games against the Knights were classics as both the boys and girls did not decide the winner until the final buzzer went off. The Lady Cougars finished off a comeback with a 57-55 win. The boys had the ball and three seconds to score, but their attempt rimmed off in a 58-57 loss.
The Lady Cougars had a two game losing streak which brought their record to 10-5. The Lady Knights, having one of their best years, had a 13-3 mark. Both are two of the better teams in the EHC.
The Lady Cougar drew first blood with a trey by Kelly Wakeley. Baskets in the paint established a five point lead for Northeast. Abby Peterson and Mariah Jessen each had a pair of goals as LDNE led 11-6. Two free throws by Brianne Haskell brought the quarter to an end with L-D on top 13-6. O-C had hit only 2 of their 15 shots while Northeast put up 13 shots and converted 5.
The Cougars continued to control the game in the second period. They stretched their lead to ten points, 26-16 with 2:30 left in the half. After Tessie Collins’s basket the Knights went on a 9-1 to make a 27-25 half time score. O-C got four points in the closing seconds when Dacey Nelson was fouled on a made shot, retrieved her missed foul shot and scored as the buzzer sounded.
The Lady Knights bolted to the lead in the third period with two quick scores. A bucket by Peterson and a free shot by Jessen gave Northeast a 30-29 lead at the 5:55 mark. O-C got some timely scoring from the Charling twins to regain the lead and move out to a 42-37 advantage. A late basket by Jessen made it a three point game going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter got started with Brianne Haskell and Lexie Bacon scoring to put LDNE on top 43-42. The last 6:45 of game saw eight lead changes and three ties.
Brianne Haskell scored a basket and followed with a pair of free shots to maintain a Cougar lead. Abby Peterson stepped it up to a two point difference with a three point play. Kelly Wakeley countered a Bailey Charling score to give LDNE a 52-50 lead with 2:27 to play. Free throws by Bacon at the 1:16 mark and Peterson with 30 seconds left kept the Cougars on top until Shannon Pille tied the score at 55 with 18 seconds to play. Northeast went for the final shot. Kelly Wakeley was able to drive the left baseline and put up a floater for the winning score as the buzzer sounded.
It was a balanced scoring attack for the Cougars. Four were in double figures for Northeast with Brianne Haskell and Abby Peterson finishing with 11 points. Mariah Jessen added 12 and Lexie Bacon topped he team with 13 points,.
The Lady Cougars controlled the boards with eleven more rebounds that Oakland-Craig. They tallied 35 with Jessen and Haskell each getting 9. Jessen was a defensive force in the lane as she had 7 blocked shots in the game.
O-C 6 19 17 13 -55
LDNE 13 14 12 16 -57
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
Wakeley 2 1 0/2 3 1 7
Haskell 2 1 4/4 9 2 11
Collins 1 0 1/2 0 3 3
Bacon 4 1 2/2 8 0 13
Jessen 5 0 2/5 9 4 12
Peterson 4 0 3/5 6 1 11
LDNE 18/40 3/11 12/20 35 11 57
O-C 19-51 2/6 11/14 24 17 55
One things is certain when the Oakland (or O-C) and Lyons or (LDNE)boys square off you had better’ bring your A-Game. The underdog can really bite hard when it comes to a rivalry type game. Jon Heideman’s midcourt heave sank Vikings in 1967 and Adam Anderson drained a three to topple the 1999 Knights. The Lions took it on the chin when James Schrock lit up the scoreboard and the Northeast State Qualifiers of 1994 could not overcome the upstarts from O-C led by Danny Landholm and Gus Ray.
The final O-C/LDNE clash looked like a sure win for the Cougars. Riding high on an 11-3 record the (6-11) Knights did not appear to have a chance.
The Cougars scored first, but the Knights dominated the first period. After Marcus Hegy scored O-C had a 10-2 run. A diamond-and-one held Alec Anderson in check until 2:00 as the Cougars were down 12-8. A basket by Christoffersen and a three point play by Hegy made it 13-16 at the quarter.
With Anderson held in check the Cougars turned to their other big man for points in the second quarter . Cole Christoffersen scored thee times along with a free throw. ;His score with 18 seconds left send the Cougars to the lockers with a 27-26 lead.
Christoffersen opened the second half with a basket and Northeast enjoyed a short-lived three point lead. The Knights came storming back with eight straight points before Christoffersen made two free shots with 4:00 to play. Alec Anderson denied the ball in the paint so he moved to the point and sank a trey to pull LDNE back into a tie,34-34. The Knights put on another spurt and ran off nine points in three possessions. Free throws by Riecken and another trey by Anderson made 43-39. Christoffersen closed out the third period scoring. Northeast trailed 43-41.
After two scored by O-C, the Cougars went to Anderson to start the fourth quarter. The 6′ 4″ senior drew a foul on his three-point attempt and sank three from the stripe for a 47-44 score. He followed up with a goal and two makes from the stripe and the Cougars retook the lead with 5:12 to play.
The teams traded baskets. O-C got a three by Reinert and a deuce by Seagren while Hegy and Christoffersen scored a pair buckets for a 52-52 score. Cole got the lead for Northeast on a free shot with 4:38 left. Seagren put the Knights back on top and a basket by Mitchell made it 56-53 with 1:10 to play.
The Cougars went to Hunter Ferguson and pulled to within one point, 56-55. A foul with 35 seconds left put Seagren on the line. He missed the one the one-and-one and Cougars got the lead again, 57-56 with 13 seconds to play. Marcus Hegy dribbled through Knight defense for a lay-in.
O-C went to Seagren one more time and the sophomore was able to dribble the length of the court and score the go ahead basket with 3 seconds left. The Cougars came out of a timeout with a plan which almost worked. Alec Anderson came off a screen at midcourt and took a full length court inbounds pass from O’Connor. After out leaping Seagren for the ball, he spun to put up a five shot which caught the rim and spun out.
Cole Christoffersen had a career-high 20 points to lead Northeast . Oakland-Craig was led by Garret Seagren with 24. Alec Anderson scored a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Marcus Hegy added 11 points.
O-C 16 10 17 15 -58
LDNE 13 14 14 16 -57
2pt 3pt FT Rb F TP
Riecken 0 0 2/2 3 2 2
O’Connor 0 0 0 1 1 0
Christiansen 1 0 0 1 2 2
Hegy 4 0 3/3 2 4 11
Ferguson 1 3 0 2 2 5
Anderson 2 2 5/6 13 1 15
Hardeman 1 0 0 2 0 2
Christoffersen 8 0 4/9 7 1 20
LDNE 16/24 3/11 14/20 30 13 57
O-C 13/22 9/31 5/13 20 18 58
Cougars Down Madison in First Round of EHC
February 4, 2016 Leave a comment
By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor
The Northeast boys raised their record to 12-4 with a first round win over (6-11) Madison in the East Husker Conference Tournament. The fifth seeded Cougars will take on (4-15) Clarkson/Leigh after they upset the fourth seed Loganview/ Scribner-Snyder team.
The height challenged Madison team was not afraid to shoot the long ball. They put up 31 shots from behind the arc. They made 13.
The Dragons made three of four to start the game and held a 9-7 lead. They closed out the period with seven straight misses and Northeast took an 18-9 lead. Alec Anderson had ten points including a three. Marcus Hegy had four free throws and a goal.
Northeast blew the game wide open in the second period. They led 39-15 at the half. Anderson scored another twelve points as he controlled the paint and made five of six in the paint and added another three.
Northeast struggled on offense in the third period. They managed only two baskets and two free-throws. Madison found the range again and put in three from down town. The quarter ended with Northeast up 45-28.
Joey O’Connor started of the fourth quarter with a basket. The Cougars put up 21 points with Montana Riecken getting 7 from the free throw line and six by Anderson. The Dragons made it interesting with seven three pointers. Their platoon system paid off as Coach Lahm had to pull out the reserves when Ulises Hernandez made five NBA range three pointers. The final score was 66-53.
Alec Anderson scored 32 points with 7 rebounds. Marcus Hegy had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Montana Riecken added 12 points.
Madison 9 6 13 25 -53
LDNE 18 21 6 21 -66
2Pt pt FT Rb F Tp
Riecken 2 0 8/11 2 1 12
O’Connor 1 0 0 2 0 2
Christiansen 1 0 0 2 1 2
Hegy 1 1 5/7 11 1 1
Ferguson 0 1 1/2 0 0 4
Anderson 11 2 4/7 7 0 32
Hardeman 1 0 1/4 6 0 3
Christoffersen 0 0 1/3 8 3 1
LDNE 17/26 4/7 20/34 39 6 66
Madison 6 13 2/5 18 28 53
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