Sports News - January 25-30
Wrestlers Sixth in Boone Central Tourney by Sarah Krohn
The Pierce wrestlers traveled to Albion for the Boone Central Invitational on Saturday Jan. 30th. Placing sixth out of fourteen schools, the team accomplished one of their goals with a strong finish for a very tough tournament.
The wrestlers’ sixth place followed Kearney High, Madison High, David City High, Cozad High, and O’Neill High. They beat Neligh-Oakdale High, David City Aquinas, High Plains Community, Elkhorn Valley High, Lexington High, York High, Platteview High, and Boone Central.
The Pierce boys had seven wrestlers place. Nick Ussery was sixth at 130, Kyle Eddy was third at 152, Mason Sudbeck was fourth at 160, Zach Neuhalfen was fourth at 171, Seth Eggerling was sixth at 189, Tanner Dickey was sixth at 215, and Stephan Johnson was fourth at 285.
The JV wrestlers also had a very productive day. The JV “worked hard and did the best we could” said Kennett Roberts, JV wrestler at 140. Shelton Dvorak, a varsity wrestler at 145, said, “We wrestled very tough, but we need to improve in areas. Also, we were facing some very tough teams that we had not really seen a whole lot or at all before.”
Schuyler defeats Warbirds by Laura Huff
The Pierce high wrestlers traveled to Schuyler on Tuesday, January 26, 2010. The Schuyler Warriors defeated the Pierce Warbirds with a final score of 12-55.
Tanner Dickey, in the 215 pound weight class, wrestled a very tough match, but he came out on top with a pin, giving the team six points. Stephan Johnson also gave the Pierce Warbirds six points as Schuyler was open in the 285 pound weight class. Coach Ryan Stusse said, “It seemed like we started every match strong but lost steam as the match wore on. We're going get back in the room, re-focus, and get ready for our triangular, then try to get a full head of steam going into conference.”
Pierce was open at the 103, 112, and 119 pound weight classes, giving the Warriors eighteen points. Nate Meier, 125 pound weight class, wrestled very tough but was defeated in the third period. Nick Ussery, 130 pound weight class, wrestled very well but fell short in the end. Logan Sudbeck, 135 pound weigh class, wrestled hard but also fell short. In the 140 pound weight class, Mason Zimmerer wrestled his best, but was pinned.
Shelton Dvorak, 145 pound weight class, wrestled very tough but was defeated in the third period by technical fall. Kyle Eddy, 152 pound weight class, was also defeated. Mason Sudbeck, 160 pound weight class, wrestled very tough but was defeated in overtime. Zach Neuhalfen, 171 pound weight class, wrestled strong but was defeated in the third period. Seth Eggerling, 189 pound weight class, wrestled tough but fell short and was pinned.
The Warbirds’ next meet is this Thursday, February 4 at home, a triangular with West Holt and Elgin Pope John.
Lady Jays Beat Blue Devils by Megan Gerteisen
The Pierce Lady Jays’ basketball team defeated Wayne 44-39 on the Lady Jays’ home court on Tuesday, January 26.
The Lady Jays got the tip-off, but they trailed behind Wayne during the first quarter. Pierce worked hard on defense in order to catch up. However, the first quarter ended with a score of 6-8. Continuing to show effort, Pierce started the second quarter by scoring. With two minutes left in the second quarter, Heather Wachter passed to Meghan Vogt on the inside to sink a 2-pointer, followed by a turnover and another 2-pointer by Wachter. The Lady Jays ended the second quarter leading 20-12. During the third quarter, Pierce racked up another 11 points, while Wayne scored 10 points. The third quarter came to an end with a score of 31-22. The Lady Jays scored 13 more points during the final quarter, while the Lady Devils came back and scored 17 more points. However, Pierce still came out 5 points ahead.
The Lady Jays made one 3-pointer, while the Lady Devils made none. Pierce also hit fifteen 2-point shots to Wayne’s thirteen 2-pointers. The Lady Jays out-rebounded Wayne 34-29 and had a better shooting percentage than the Lady Devils, 36 percent to 30 percent. Pierce had 12 assists to Wayne’s 5 assists. The Lady Devils made 13 free throws to Pierce’s 11 free throws. However, the Lady Jays had 14 steals, while Wayne had 10 steals.
Skyler Lippman led Pierce’s team by scoring 9 points; Meghan Vogt and Heather Wachter followed with 8 points each. Morgan Buckendahl made 7 points, while Laura Retzlaff and Joey Koehn each made 6 points. Wachter led the defense with 6 rebounds, followed by Buckendahl and Lippman with 4 apiece.
Coach Sindelar said, “I thought the girls did a great job of playing team defense. They hustled and communicated. For the most part, we were able to control the boards.” Skyler Lippman said, “Every single girl on the team had fun, and we were laughing the whole game. We really communicated with each other.”
The Pierce High Lady Jays are playing in the Mid-State Conference tournament this week.
Varsity Girls Lose to Crofton by Tom Uher
Pierce’s varsity girls’ basketball team played a game against the Crofton Warriors on Thursday, January 28. Despite their efforts, Pierce lost 41-27.
At the start of the game, it was obvious that Crofton came to play. By the end of the quarter the score was 3-18 with Pierce trailing. Pierce was not to be counted out though as they outscored Crofton in the second quarter 11-8 to make the score 14-26 at the half.
The beginning of the second half was a very even game. At the end of the third quarter Pierce had scored 10 points, while Crofton scored 9 to make the score 24-35. In the fourth quarter, the scoring weakened, and Pierce scored only 3 to Crofton’s 6; Pierce lost by 14.
Joey Koehn was Pierce’s leading scorer with 7 points, followed by Ellie Pytleski and Heather Wachter with 5 each. Shooting percentages were not exciting for either team as Pierce managed an overall 25 percent, and Crofton, 38 percent. The Lady Jays had a better three-point shot success at 50 percent than two-pointers: 17 percent. Meghan Vogt pulled down 6 rebounds to lead the defense. Pierce had 21 rebounds to Crofton’s 25. Pierce committed 23 turnovers to Crofton’s 17, but the Lady Jays stole the ball 11 times to Crofton’s 10.
Coach Darren Sindelar said, “Throughout most of the game, we didn’t attack the basket. We were a little tentative in our play at times on the offensive end, and that hurt us. At the beginning of the game, Crofton shot the ball from the field better than we did. When you get down early, it is hard to climb back into a game against the good teams.”
Pierce Boys Beat Crofton Warriors by Caleb Erickson
The Pierce High varsity boys’ team faced off against the Crofton Warriors at Pierce High gym on Thursday, January 28. The Bluejays’ good defense and team playing led to a victory over the Warriors with the final score being 39 to 34.
In the first quarter the Bluejays came out with a solid defense and determined to win. The boys came into the first quarter prepared and it showed. They sank a quick 11 points and held the Warriors to seven points. In the second quarter the game slowed down and the Bluejays scored only five points with Crofton scoring seven again. The score going into halftime was Bluejays 16 Warriors 14.
Coming into the second half the Bluejays got the edge back. The Pierce boys scored 12 points in the third quarter and allowed just eight from Crofton. In the fourth quarter the Bluejays scored 11 points and their defense slowed a little bit and allowed the Warriors to score 12 points but that didn’t keep the Bluejays from a victory over the Warriors.
Brady Bretschneider said, “We played well as a team.” The team did play well with a 67% 2-point field goal hit rate, 42% hit rate for all field goals, and a 62% free throw hit rate. The team also had 13 total rebounds on the game and only three turnovers compared to Crofton’s 11.
Head coach, Mike Emory stated, “We put four solid quarters together and played well on the defensive end. On offense we shared the ball well, and we can still shoot the ball better as a team.”
Crofton Defeats JV Bluejays by Eva Chavez
The JV boys struggled during their basketball game against the Crofton Warriors in Pierce on January 28, and lost 29-47. The Bluejays were outscored by the Warriors in quarters one, two, and four, but in the third quarter both teams scored 8 points. The game with the big Crofton guys was very athletic and competitive, although the score does not show the level of challenge each team gave the other.
Pierce started the game out by falling behind Crofton 12-14 at the end of the first quarter. Crofton more than doubled Pierce’s points in the second quarter 19-7 and the score was 19-33 when halftime was called. Free throws helped Pierce in the first half with the team making 5 of their 6. The game resumed with Pierce and Crofton each adding 8 points to their totals in the third quarter. The fourth quarter ended with Crofton scoring 6 and Pierce 2.
The Bluejays’ leading scorers were Tyler Lindsay and Michael Hoffmann with 8 points each, and Trent Spieker with 5 points. Connor Reed followed with 4 points. Devin West and Tyler Pettitt added to Pierce’s final score with 2 apiece.
The JV Boys’ next game will be Thursday, February 11 against West Point CC in Pierce.
JV Girls Defeat Wayne by Morgan Mattson
The JV Lady Jays beat Wayne 41-36 at Pierce on Tuesday, January 26. The girls started the game off great. Ellie Pytleski scored 2 points, Morgan Buckendahl sank in 2, and Briana Adams landed the last 4 of the first quarter, putting the Lady Jays ahead by 2 points.
In the second quarter, Branigan Stonacek added 2 points, Alyssa Blair made 2 free throws for 2 more points, and Rachel Wiedenfeld added 7. The score of the first half was 19-9.
In the second half, Rachel Wiedenfeld added 3. Ellie Pytleski and Briana Adams added 2 points each. Branigan Stonocek added 4 points, and the Lady Jays were ahead by 6.
Moving into the last quarter, the girls started and ended strong. Alyssa Blair sank in 2. Briana Adams added a free throw, and Blair added another 2 points. Rachel Wiedenfeld came along with 2. Katie Atkins and Payton Wragge added 2 free throws. Both teams scored 11 points in the final quarter, but the Lady Jays were up by 5 to win the game 41-36.
Leading scorers were Rachel Wiedenfeld with 12 points, Briana Adams with 7, and Branigan Stonacek and Alyssa Blair with 6 each. Ellie Pytleski added 4 points. Payton Wragge, Katie Atkins, and Morgan Buckendahl added 2 points.
Coach Scheer said, “They did a really good job of getting themselves in good positions to rebound and got the ball clean. We just keep working on the little things like fundamentals to better ourselves.”
Freshmen Branigan Stonacek and Rachel Wiedenfeld said, “Our shots were in and our defense was tough!”
JV Girls Beat Crofton by Linse De Grez
The Pierce JV girls’ basketball team played Crofton at Pierce on January 28. The JV Lady Jays defeated Crofton 33-26.
The Lady Jays started off very well and scored 9 points in the first quarter. Crofton scored 2. In the second quarter Crofton scored 6 points but Pierce could score 10 because of Haley Hoffman’s scoring 8 points. The Pierce girls had doubled Crofton’s score at half-time, 19-8.
In the third quarter Pierce scored 8 points and Crofton 6. Crofton fought back the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points while Pierce scored 6. But Pierce was far enough to win by seven.
Haley Hoffman scored the most points for the Lady Jays, 12 points. Briana Adams scored 7. Branigan Stonacek and Rachel Wiedenfeld, 4; and Ellie Pytleski, Payton Wragge and Morgan Buckendahl scored 2 points each.
The JV girls have two more games to play now, and their coach Jenn Scheer is very pleased with her team: “They always give every effort they have. I thought this game was a big game for us, but the girls went out and played like it was any other game, confident, patient and disciplined. We have two more JV games this season, both of which I expect to be tough games. Defense will be crucial. I expect the girls to come out and play as they have been all season… very well.”
Next JV GBB game will be played at Creighton on Tuesday, February 9.
