Sports News - February 22-27
Jays Beat Warriors by Tom Uher
Pierce’s varsity boys played their first-round sub-district game against the Crofton Warriors on Tuesday, February 23. After a long defensive game, Pierce secured a 53-37 victory.
In the beginning of the game, both teams were focusing on their defensive efforts with neither scoring many points. At the end of the first, Pierce had a one-point lead 7-6. Pierce started to pull away in the second quarter as they doubled Crofton’s 10 points. At the end of the first half Pierce had a 27-16 lead.
Pierce added to their lead in the third quarter as they put up 13 points to Crofton’s 7. At the end of the third, Pierce led 40-23. In the final quarter, Pierce continued to use their defensive strategies and held Crofton to 16 points while making 14 of their own and securing the 16-point win.
Pierce’s leading scorers of this game were Kenley Silhacek and Connor Schultz with 14 points each, followed by Brock Schroder with 9. Coach Mike Emory said, “We shot the ball extremely well and did a good job of mixing up our defense.” Kenley Sihacek said, “We played well. This was a good game to get us ready for the next round.”
Pierce Suffers Sub-District Loss to Knights by Caleb Erickson
The Pierce High Bluejay varsity boys’ basketball team went to Norfolk Public High School to face the Norfolk Catholic Knights on Thursday, February 25 in the class C1-9 sub-district final. The Knights won the game with a score of 40 to 67. The Knights went on to the next round in district competition, while the Pierce boys ended their season with the loss. Pierce had won the district championship for four years in a row before relinquishing their crown this year to the rival Knights. The Jays finished their season with a record of 13 wins and 8 losses.
Pierce came out with a strong start with Kenley Silhacek and Brock Schroder scoring back-to-back 3-point shots. They held Norfolk Catholic back to build a 7-1 lead. But after the Bluejays kept the lead for a short time, the Knights fought back hard and gained the lead over the Jays. The Bluejays gave the Knights a run for the win up until early in the fourth quarter. Behind, Pierce put up 25 three-point attempts and 17 two-point attempts, but the shooting percentage was low, and the Knights held their lead. Brock Schroder said, “We could’ve done a lot of things better. Our defensive positioning was bad, we couldn’t rebound, we had too many turnovers, and we didn’t shoot the ball well.” Overall the Bluejays fought hard but couldn’t prevail.
Connor Schultz led the Bluejays in points, scoring 12 in the game. Seniors Kenley Silhacek and Derek Wiedenfeld scored the second most points with 9 and 8, respectively. Coach Mike Emory said about the game: “We got off to the start we wanted but did not play well on the defensive end all night. I am very proud of this team. They improved throughout the year and turned into a good basketball team.” The Pierce basketball team ended a good season on a good note, determined to come back next year and start a new four-year lock down of the sub-district final.
Freshmen/Sophomores Third in Tourney by Sarah Krohn
The freshman and sophomore boys’ basketball placed third in the Stanton tournament on Saturday, February 27. This was the last part of the tournament that the boys had played the week before when they won one and lost one game. This week they played West Point for third place and won 50-30. Each player brought home a third-place medal. Trent Spieker was Pierce’s top scorer with 17 points.
“After a slow start the boys picked it up and really played great the rest of the game. I was impressed with their defense and the way they frustrated West Point. It was a great way to finish the year,” said Coach Tim Waldner. “It was a great game for the last of the year,” said player Trent Spieker.
