Knights clutch down the stretch in wins over Wolves
SARGENT/TAYLOR - The Sandhills-Thedford basketball teams were ultimately scrappier and more physical on the boards Dec. 5 in two victories over their MNAC rivals Twin Loup on the road. The Lady Knights gutted out a 33-28 win with clutch shots down the stretch, and the Knights used their strength and size inside to get a 60-28 win.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, the Twin Loup basketball teams used both of their high schools to play the games. The girls’ game was held at Sargent High School and the boys played down the road at Loup County High School.
The girls’ game started with the Wolves playing some inspired and good basketball after their tough defeat to South Loup, the prior day.
At the free-throw line, Kathryn Folkers was able to knock down one shot and then on the next possession, Abi Lewis was able to connect on a three pointer. Folkers continued to cause problems inside for the Lady Knights with her 6’3” frame and was able to muscle inside for a layup and give Twin Loup a 6-2 lead.
S-T was to erase that early deficit, thanks to inspired play by Tenley Rasmussen. The sophomore first was able to get a reverse layup to go in, and then she scored on a drive-by to the hoop.
Right before the end of the quarter, Madison Marten recorded a steal for the Lady Knights and converted a layup to make it 8-7 in favor of S-T at the end of the first quarter.
The game stayed close in the second, with the Lady Knights picking up a three from Charisie Teahon. The basket extended the lead out to 11-7 for S-T.
As the Lady Knights were trying to separate themselves on the scoreboard, the Wolves had different plans. Cassidy Grint was able to fight through contact underneath to make a layup. The free throw attempt by the freshman was also good, cutting the deficit to one.
Heading into halftime, the Lady Knights clung to their one-point advantage at 15-14.
In the second half, S-T was finally able to create some separation for themselves between them and Twin Loup. An early free throw by Branic for the Lady Knights increased their lead to 26-21.
Down the stretch in the fourth, the Wolves got layups from Kathryn Folkers and Madison Barker that cut the lead down to three points. Each time S-T was able to answer back with a crucial basket.
The dagger came with under two minutes to play when Branic was able to connect on a deep corner two to put the game out of reach.
“We were able to battle with them down to the end,” Twin Loup girls coach Ken Wright said. “The lead changed a few times, but we just couldn’t get a major advantage. Down the stretch, they hit some big threes, and we couldn’t finish.”
Coach Josh Deines stated that the S-T girls are very excited to be off to such a good start and matching their entire win total from last season already.
“Being able to win the first two games of the year was a real good start for us,” Deines said. “The girls were really excited coming out of the weekend and you can tell they’re a little more confident with themselves and what we’re doing. Everything this year is new for them so hopefully with each game we can continue to build more confidence and improve our overall play.”
The leading scorer for Twin Loup in the game was Barker with nine points and Kathryn Folkers with eight. The leading rebounder was Kathryn Folkers with nine, Grint with eight, and Lewis with six.
Leading the Lady Knights in the fourth quarter was Marten with 10 points, Jameson with nine points, and Rasmussen with seven points.
In the boy’s contest, it was all S-T from the start of the game.
On the first possession, Dayne Pokorny found his way into the lane for a layup. A jumper by Grant Ahlstrom and two free throws by Tyson Stengel put the Knights ahead 101.
A three-up top by Tory Dockweiler and a layup inside by Daniel Folkers for the Wolves trimmed the deficit to 14-8.
At the end of the first, S-T was able to open their lead out to 23-8, thanks to a 9-0 run to end the quarter.
With Quade Young in foul trouble underneath, Twin Loup struggled, even more, to be able to match the play of the Knights underneath. This resulted in S-T taking a 41-14 halftime lead after Pokorny made a basket inside.
Out of halftime, the Wolves were able to outscore the Knights 11-6 in the third. This was in large part due to a three-pointer by Dockweiler and baskets by Quincey Ryker and Daniel Folkers.
In the end, it was S-T who threw the last punch with 11 points in the fourth. Kaden Haake and Zeb Wilde both made layups to close out the game.
With the win, the Knights move to 1-1 on the year. Head coach Andrew Christen liked the team’s ability to play much more under control in this game, something that was a struggle in their loss to Maxwell.
“We’re used to usually being the more physical team,” Christen said. “We’re still trying to wean them out of being more like a football team and
fouling too much. Overall, I was pleased with how we were able to control ourselves tonight.”
Twin Loup is looking continue to grow from this loss. It’s going to be slow development for the Wolves, according to head coach Chris Beran.
“Our guys played hard and really tried to finish the game out strong,” Beran said. “We’re improving and we got a long ways to go. Our boys are trying
hard and that’s all you can ask them to do.”
The leading scorer for Twin Loup in the game was freshman Ryker with eleven points. Underneath, Dockweiler had six rebounds and Daniel Folkers had four.
The Knights were paced by their big men underneath who created second chance opportunities. They were Pokorny and 6’3” Tyson Stengel.