Sports News - February 13-18
Lady Jays End Season by Timaree Reed
The Lady Jays ended their season against rival Norfolk Catholic 32-44 on February 16 at the Norfolk Sr. High gymnasium in the final game of the sub-district C1-7 tournament.
The first quarter kept both the Lady Jays and Lady Knights to low scoring. The Lady Jays were able to score on layups. At the end of the first quarter the game was at a low score of 6-7 with the Lady Jays trailing.
During the second quarter the Lady Knights began to drive in. The Lady Jays’ defense was not as tight, allowing the Lady Knights to outscore the Lady Jays 4-10. At the end of the half the Lady Jays trailed 10-17.
Opening up the third quarter the Lady Jays began to play tighter defense. This kept the Lady Knights from outscoring them. Ellie Pytleski was able to drain a 3 pointer to help the Lady Jays stay within close range of the Lady Knights’ score. At the end of the third quarter the Lady Jays trailed by a close 19-22.
At the start of the fourth both teams began to drive in and shoot around the perimeter. Unfortunately the Lady Knights were able to outscore the Lady Jays 13-22 to end the Lady Jays’ season.
Ellie Pytleski led the Lady Jays in points with 12, followed with 9 by Rachel Wiedenfeld, and close behind was Morgan Buckendahl with 6.
Coach Darren Sindelar said,”I thought the team did very well this season. We made conference tournament final for the first time since 2003, and that was a great accomplishment. The game against Norfolk Catholic really came down to two major things: rebounding and freethrows. They were aggressive on the boards. The team did a good job of doing their job and believing their teammates would do the same.”
The Lady Jays ended their season with a record of 13-9.
Jays Beat Wayne in Overtime by Ty Lindsay
The Bluejays beat Wayne in overtime 43-42 on Friday, February 17 at the Wayne High gymnasium. In the first quarter, the Jays outscored the Blue Devils 15-11. Tyler Lindsay connected from long range on a 3-pointer. Connor Reed also drained a 3-pointer. Bronson Stonacek was able to have a few lay ups along with Eddie Francois, who was fouled on a lay up.
In the second quarter the Bluejays scored only 7 points from Bronson Stonacek and Connor Reed. At half time, the score was tied 22-all. In the third quarter, Devin West was able to hit a 3-pointer, but the Blue Devils matched everything the Bluejays had to offer. At the end of the third quarter, the score was tied 31-31.
At the end of a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Connor Reed shot a very contested 3-pointer that swooshed through the hoop and put the game into overtime. The score was 4- all. The story on defense the whole night was trying to shut down Gage Rethwisch, who had 27 of Wayne’s 42 points. The Bluejays did just that in overtime. The Bluejays held the Blue Devils to no points, Brandon Freeman had the only point scored in overtime on a free throw; he was able to get fouled on a lay up in the last seconds of the game. The Bluejays won the game by one point.
The Jays were 31.6% from 3-point range and 50.0% for 2-point field goals. Connor Reed led the team with 17 points, followed by Brandon Freeman and Bronson Stonacek had 6 each.
The Bluejays played Wayne again on February 21 in sub-districts.
Frosh Boys Beat Wayne by Ty Lindsay
The Pierce freshmen beat Wayne 23-18 on February 17. In the first quarter, the Jays were outscored 1-5. Noah Fisher had the lone 1-point off a free throw when he was fouled on a layup. In the second quarter the Jays did better, scoring 5 points and holding Wayne to 0 points. At half time the score was 6-5, the Jays’ advantage.
In the third quarter the Bluejays again outscored Wayne. Noah Fisher had 2 points. In an exciting fourth quarter the Jays scored 10 points including Noah Fisher’s 4 made free throws and Jared Chaney’s 3 points. The Jays won in a defensive battle 23-18.
Fr/So Boys Play at Stanton by Alisha White
Pierce’s freshman and sophomore boys’ basketball team traveled to Stanton this past Saturday, February 18 to compete in the first half of a tournament in which they played Stanton and Schuyler.
Their first game was against Stanton. Pierce lost 42 to 43. The Pierce boys came out strong in the first quarter, outscoring Stanton by 3 but was then outscored by 4 in the second quarter, so Pierce led at the half by 1.
Noah Fisher started off the second half by scoring a basket and then sinking a 3. Pierce was outscored 5 to 13 in the third quarter but Nate Murray sank two 3 pointers in a row helping Pierce gain back their momentum. With the score tied at 42 and only seconds left, a foul sent a Stanton player to the free throw line with two shots. He missed the first but made the second to give Stanton a one-point lead. Pierce called a time out and set up a play but was unsuccessful and ended up losing to Stanton by one. Noah Fisher led all scorers with 12 points.
Pierce’s second game was against Schuyler. They lost 16 to 33. By the end of the first quarter, the Jays were behind by only 3, and Pierce managed to outscore Schuyler by 3 in the second to tie the game at the half 12 to 12. Unable to score in the third quarter the Jays were down by 8. Noah Fisher scored a 3 pointer in the fourth quarter and was fouled to send him to the free throw line, where he sank another basket. The boys ended up losing the game by 17. Nate Murray led Pierce’s scorers with 7 points.
The freshman/sophomore boys’ basketball team will play the second half of this tournament this coming Saturday, February 25, in Stanton.
Lady Jays Advance in Sub-District by Morgan Hoferer
The varsity Lady Jays played the Wayne Blue Devils on Tuesday, February 14 at Norfolk High School in the first round of the sub-district basketball tournament. The Lady Jays were the victors in a game of swinging momentum with a score of 51-39.
The first quarter started off very well. The Lady Jays used a 2-3 zone defense that worked very well for them. Their defense caused Wayne’s post to take low-percentage shots. With the Lady Jays’ speedy transition game, they were able to beat the Wayne girls down the court many times. Pierce jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but by the end of the first quarter, they led 11-5.
Keeping a consistent pace, Pierce started the second quarter off strong. The Lady Jays were full of stealing action and drove the ball to the hoop. Both teams’ defenses and offenses were very aggressive, but momentum swung in the Lady Blue Devils’ favor. They went on a scoring streak, but at the half, Pierce was still in the lead with a score of 23-20.
The second half started out with Payton Wragge assisting Morgan Buckendahl to make a two-point field goal to put the score at 25-20. Pierce’s powerful defense did not let Wayne get to the basket. Trying to fight back, Wayne committed costly fouls that sent the Lady Jays to make many free throws. The Lady Jays made 11 points for the third quarter and held Wayne to two. The score was 34-22 for the start of the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter looked like a comeback for Wayne. Rachel Wiedenfeld scored first on a free throw and then a three-pointer, and Pierce was up 37-22. But fifteen points with five minutes left didn’t look like enough as the Wayne girls used a full-court press, and Pierce had some unfortunate foul calls. In the process, Wiedenfeld fouled out of the game. Turnovers hurt the Lady Jays as well. Wayne went on an 11-0 scoring run to come within four points, 40-36, but their leading player was in foul trouble, and Morgan Buckendahl was invincible at the free throw line. She hit six for six in the closing minutes. Wayne’s three-point shots weren’t hitting the mark, and there were a number a turnovers to add to their desperation. A pushing foul gave Ellie Pytleski a turn at the foul line, where she sank Pierce’s point number 51 for a 12-point victory.
Buckendahl was Pierce’s top scorer with 13 points. Along with 13 points, Buckendahl had 8 rebounds. The second top scorer of the night was Rachel Wiedenfeld with 9 points. Haley Hoffman had a total of ten rebounds for the game. Overall, Pierce had a total of 30 rebounds to Wayne’s 16 rebounds.
For field goals, Pierce more than doubled Wayne’s percentage. Pierce made 62.5% to Wayne’s 31.1%.
Coach Darren Sindelar said the girls played aggressively on the offensive side of the floor, and when shots were there, they took them.
The varsity Lady Jays played Norfolk Catholic in the sub-district finals on Thursday, February 16 at Norfolk Public.
Freshman Boys Lose to Norfolk Public by Morgan Hoferer
Pierce’s freshman boys played Norfolk Public on Monday, February 13 in Pierce. The Bluejays got defeated with a score of 35-46.
For the first quarter, the Jays started with a slow defense. Zach Brenden and Braden Taylor made two points apiece for the Jays. Noah Fisher made a free throw, and the Jays behind with a score of 5-19 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Jays stepped up their offense. Taylor and Brenden each made 4 more points. Jared Cheney made one free throw. Pierce make 9 points total in the second quarter to Norfolk’s 7. The nine points did not put the Jays ahead; the score at the half was 14-26.
The Jays’ pace stayed consistent for the third quarter. Cheney, Fisher and Brenden put in two points apiece, and the Jays were down by 20-37 at the end of the third quarter.
The Jays started shooting better in the fourth quarter. Fisher connected for 9 points, including a three-pointer. Taylor made 5 points for the team, including one three-point field goal. Matt Penne earned one point for the team. The Jays, now eleven behind, finished the game 35-46. Fisher was Pierce’s top scorer with 12 points. Taylor was the team’s second top scorer with 11 points.
Coach Gary Shada said the highlight of the game was that in the fourth quarter the team stepped up their defensive pressure and converted turnovers into points.
Pierce JV Boys Rattle Wayne by Timaree Reed
The JV boys’ basketball team traveled to Wayne to upset a very talented Wayne JV team 49-40 on February 17.
The Blue Devils were able to outscore the Bluejays 9-7 in the first quarter. Eddie Francois had two lay ups and Theron Thornton had two points.
During the second quarter, both teams went on a scoring rampage. Chance Larsen had a lay up and two free throws. Noah Fisher was able to drain two 3-pointers. Zach Fehringer and Theron Thornton both had 4 points. At half, the Jays were down 25-27.
In the third quarter, the mighty Bluejay defense held Wayne to only 3 points, while the Jays had 10. Nate Murray had a long triple that swayed the momentum to Pierce’s side. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 35-30, the Jays’ advantage.
The Jays were able to outscore the Devils again in the fourth quarter. Noah Fisher had 7 points from free throws. Nate Murray had another deep 3-pointer and added two free throws. Chance Larsen also had a nice post move to score 2 points.
Pierce was 16 of 18 from the free throw line and connected on 4 three pointers. Noah Fisher led the Jays with 13 points, followed by Eddie Francois and Nate Murray with 8 points apiece. Theron Thornton, Chance Larsen, and Zach Fehringer all had 6 points. This game ended the JV boys’ season on a high note.
Coach Tim Waldner said, ”At times we played good, fun basketball in the overall season. Against Wayne offensively we executed really well and found a way to score points. On defense we didn’t let them run much of their plays. Our strategy that helped us win was to play hard.”
The Jays were 8-5 overall for the season. Eddie Francois led the JV team with a total of 137 points for the year
