Bluejay Basketball
Bluejays Defeat GACC
by Kailey Marks
The boys varsity Bluejays played Guardian Angels Central Catholic on Saturday, January 26, on the Pierce court for the Mid-State Conference tournament play-in game. The Bluejays sealed the win 44-24.
Gavin Larson started off the game with a bang by scoring a three, followed by Carson Oestreich making both of his free throws. Larson got to the hoop again to score a two for Pierce, along with making his free throw after getting fouled. Logan Moeller did the same with nicking in a two, along with his free throw resulting from a foul. To end the first quarter, Jadon Magdanz knocked in a two, leaving the Bluejays ahead 13-5.
Before halftime, Dawson Watts got fouled and made his two free throws for Pierce. Larson hit a three on the arc, and Magdanz tossed in both of his free throws. Oestreich scored one free throw for the Jays, and heading into the locker room, the score was 21-11.
To start off second half, Larson was on fire and swished both of his threes. Watts was back at the free throw line, where he scored both of his free throws. Watts also scored a two, followed by another free throw. After that, Moeller banked in a two, and finishing off the quarter, Oestreich got one of his two free throws. The Jays’ defense held strong once again and allowed GACC just five points. To end the third quarter, the Bluejays were owning the game 35-16.
In the final quarter of the game, Watts scored a two-pointer, and Larson made a free throw. The last part of the game was all about the two-pointers. The chain started with Oestreich, then Dalton Freeman, and lastly Chaden Roth. Even with GACC putting up eight more points in the fourth, the Bluejays got the victory 44-24.
Coach Mike Emory said, “I thought we played a complete game on the defensive end, taking them out of everything they wanted to do.” He went on to say how they need to work a little more on the offensive side by making better decisions against their opponents.
The Bluejays will continue conference tournament play on Friday, February 1, in Norfolk. After that, they will take on Wynot for their next game on Tuesday, February 5, on the Pierce court.
Varsity Jays Soar Over Crofton
by Angelica Volquardsen
The Pierce varsity boys’ basketball team played the Crofton Warriors at Crofton on Thursday, January 24. The Jays returned home victorious by a score of 61-38.
In the first quarter, the Jays fell slightly behind but were close to the Warriors, scoring 10 points to Crofton’s 12. Logan Moeller scored a two-pointer, Dawson Watts scored a two-pointer, Carson Oestreich scored two two-pointers, and Dalton Freeman scored a two-pointer to aid the Jays.
In the second quarter, the Jays were able to get ahead, scoring 16 points while allowing only nine points for the Warriors. Gavin Larson scored two three-pointers, Watts scored a two-pointer, Jadon Magdanz scored two free throws, Oestreich scored two two-pointers, and Freeman scored a two-pointer. The Jays ended the quarter ahead with a score of 26-21.
In the third quarter, the Jays were on a roll, scoring 23 points and holding the Warriors to 14. Larson scored three three-pointers and a free throw. Watts scored two free throws, Magdanz scored a two-pointer, and Freeman added on two three-pointers, a two-pointer, and a free throw. The Jays headed into the fourth quarter with a lead of 49-35.
In the final quarter, the Warriors scored only three points as the Jays’ defense held strong. Pierce’s offense pushed through and finished with 12 more points. Moeller scored a two-pointer, Larson made a free throw, Watts made two free throws, Magdanz made two free throws, Weston Neitzke scored a three-pointer, and Freeman made a two-pointer to end the game 61-38.
Coach Mike Emory said, “We played four solid quarters of basketball on both ends of the floor. Offensively, we were attacking and getting the ball into the paint, which led to easy baskets or wide open kick out threes. Our defensive transition was much better, and our on-ball screen defense was solid the whole game. The kids went out and executed the game plan at a very high level.”
The varsity boys’ next game will be played in the Mid-State tournament on Friday, February 1.
JV Bluejays Outplay Warriors
by Autumn Hanna
The junior varsity basketball Bluejays conquered the Crofton Warriors Thursday, January 24, at Crofton High school with a final score of 53-37.
Starting off the game, Chaden Roth made a whopping three three-point shots. Tyler Race threw up a layup for two more points. David Dale made another two shots, adding four more points. The Warriors fell behind, with the Jays leading 15-6 after one.
In the second quarter, Logan Moeller made both a two-pointer and a three for the boys. Luke Collison matched Moeller with another two and three. Crofton didn’t quite match the Bluejays’ offensive efforts and were still trailing at halftime with the score being 25-14.
Coming out after halftime, Roth made an additional three points. Dale did the same by adding three more points. The Warriors outscored the Jays and put up 12, making the third quarter score 31-26, the Jays still with a strong lead.
During the last quarter, Roth made his fifth three-pointer of the night. Moeller added six points to the scoreboard by shooting two threes, and Race threw up his second layup of the night. Tallying up eight more points for the team was Weston Neitzke, with two three-point shots and one two-point shot. Luke Collison drained a final three. The Warriors just couldn’t keep up with the Jays, with the final score being 53-37, the Jays taking the win.
Coach Tim Waldner said, “We shot really well from the perimeter, but we didn’t have good on ball defense. But we keep competing to get things done.”
The next JV game will be played at Pierce High when they play the Wynot Blue Devils Tuesday, February 5.
C-Team Bluejays Take Gold in GACC Tournament
by Faith Lubischer
The C-Team basketball boys traveled to West Point on Saturday, January 26, and won the Guardian Angels Central Catholic tournament by defeating the Wayne Blue Devils in their first game and the Norfolk Catholic Knights in the championship game.
In their first game, the boys took on Wayne. The Jays put up only six points on the Blue Devils, who put up nine in the first quarter. Bringing together these six points were Tyler Race with two free throws, and Luke Collison and Ritter Oestreich each with a two-point shot. The Jays fought back during the second quarter as Race, David Dale, Max Cooper, L. Collison, and Trevor Pettitt each scored one two-point shot, and Oestreich had one three-pointer to make up the Jays’ 13 points scored in the second quarter. Going into half, the Jays and Blue Devils were all tied up at 19. Once again, during the third quarter the Jays were outscored, but by only three points. L. Collison had two free throws, and Pettitt scored one two-point shot to end the third quarter with the Jays down 23-26. The Jays came to life in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Blue Devils by eight points. The leading scorer in the fourth quarter was Dale with four two-point shots and one free throw. Also contributing to the Jays’ 16 points this quarter were Race with three free throws and L. Collison with two two-point shots. The game ended with a score of 39-34 to send the Jays to the championship game.
After the game against Wayne, coach Zach Weber said, “We played well enough to win, but we struggled a little defensively. We showed a lot of toughness in the 4 quarter.”
To begin the championship game, the Jays outscored the Norfolk Catholic Knights 16-13 in the first quarter. The leading scorer in the first quarter was L. Collison with two two-point shots and one three-pointer, but following close behind him was his brother, Zach Collison, with one two-point shot and one three-pointer. Also adding to the 16 points this quarter were Ritter Oestreich with a three-pointer and Race with one free throw. Although the Jays led at the end of the first quarter, this was not the case by the end of the second. Chaden Roth had one three-pointer and one free throw and Oestreich had one two-point shots, but the Knights handled the Bluejay defense to go into halftime with a lead of 22-27. Throughout the third quarter, both teams put up 14 points to keep the Knights in the lead by the end of the fourth. Oestreich and Roth each had one three-pointer. Scoring two-point shots were Roth and Z. Collison. Also contributing to the score were Race and Pettitt, who each had two free throws to proceed to the fourth quarter with the Jays down 36-41. During the fourth quarter, the Jays caught up as Roth hit two three-pointers, Z. Collison had one two-point shot, and Race had a two-point shot and two free throws. The score by the end of the fourth quarter was all tied up, sending the game into overtime, when Race scored one two-point shots and one free throw, and to win the championship game, Roth hit a buzzer-beater three to defeat the Knights 52-50.
“We played really well,” said Coach Weber. “I’m extremely proud of our effort and how we handled adversity late in the game.”
The C-Team will play their next game at Norfolk High School on Monday, February 4, at 7:30 p.m.
C-Team Defeats Knights
by Sarah Miller
On Monday, January 21, the C-team basketball boys took on the Norfolk Catholic Knights home in a 52-32 victory over the Knights.
In the first quarter, the Bluejays fell behind with a score of 4-12 with Luke Collison and David Dale each scoring a bucket for the Bluejays. In the second quarter, the Bluejays turned things around, outscoring the Knights 15-6 before the half. Logan Moeller had two two-pointers and a three, along with Ritter Oestreich and Luke Collison scoring threes. Mason Sindelar also ended the quarter with a two-pointer. The score leading into the half was 19-18 with the Jays taking the lead.
In the third quarter, the Bluejays outscored the Knights once again, this time 18-12 to extend their lead. Moeller, Chaden Roth, and Dale each had one two-pointer. Mason Sindelar had two two pointers and two free throws. Dale ended the quarter with two threes.
In the fourth quarter, the Bluejays continued the trend, putting up 13 points to the Knights’ four. Scoring the points for the Bluejays were Moeller scoring two two-pointers and a free throw, along with Shawn Rinkel scoring one free throw and Dale scoring two free throws. Sindelar and Lucas Gnat each finished with a two-pointer. The final of the game was 52-32.
Coach Zach Weber said, “We played really well. The first quarter we weren’t very assertive, but the last three, I was very proud of our toughness.”
The Bluejays head to Norfolk on Monday, February 4, for their next game.