Coyotes and Rebels split double header in Loup City
LOUP CITY - AnselmoMerna and Arcadia-Loup City met up in a battle of two area teams on Dec. 8 in Loup City. The Rebel boys won by a final of 5543 and the Coyotes pulled away 57-34 in the girl’s game.
The boys took the floor first in the doubleheader. Late in the second quarter, A-LC was able to build a double-digit lead at 23-11.
A-M cut into that lead before the break with two easy baskets. The first was a bucket inside by Garrett Porter and then Wyat Lambertson
converted a steal into a layup to make it 26-15 at the break.
“I thought our team did well in every aspect of the game, except for fullcourt transition offense,” A-M head coach Brent Myers said. “We let their pressure get to us and we made bad decisions which always turns into momentum for the other team.”
The Rebels started the second half off with a jumper around the freethrow line from Jadyn Scott. Dalton Duryea answered right back with a turnaround shot for the Coyotes.
Knocking down a big three for A-LC midway through the quarter was Prestyn Rogers on the right side. Later on, Trey VanSlyke converted a turnover into points with a layup extending the Rebel’s advantage to 36-21.
VanSlyke was able to convert another turnover into easy points for A-LC with the clock winding down in the third.
With twenty seconds in the quarter, the Rebels decided to hold on for the last shot. It turned out to be a good idea, as Rogers was able to draw a foul on a three as the buzzer sounded.
At the line, he was able to knock down one of three free throws. Heading into the fourth quarter, A-LC had their biggest lead of the game at 44-26.
Despite a big deficit, A-M fought back in the fourth. The comeback started with an easy basket inside by Duryea.
Layups inside by Carter Johnson and Lambertson got the Coyotes within twelve.
Garret Porter connected on a three the next time down from the right side to make the score 50-41. This was the first time since the first half the lead was single digits.
In the end, the Rebels were able to hold off the rally and extend their lead back to double digits with a three by Vince Eurek.
“Up by 21 I subbed in too early and A-M made some plays to make the game close again,” A-LC head coach Aaron Habe said. “The starters did a good job once they got back in
the game of calming the storm.”
Leading the Rebels in scoring in the game was Drew Lewandowski with 15 points and Clayton Dehlefs had six rebounds. Duryea had 17 points to pace the Coyotes and Lambertson was able to pull down 14 boards.
In the girl’s game, it was all A-M from the start.
Jaide Chandlers hot shooting got the Coyotes started with a deep two up top. She followed that up with a three to put A-M ahead 8-0.
A-LC finally got on the board when Halie Kaslon converted a steal into a layup. She added a three the next time down to pull the Rebels back to one possession at 8-5.
To finish off the quarter the Coyotes were able to string more points together with a 7-0 run. It was capped off by a three in the corner by Claire Cooksley.
At the end of the first, A-M clung to a 15-9 advantage.
Hadlee Safranek had the first points of the second with a jumper around the free-throw line. This was followed up with baskets underneath by Kaitlyn Jacquot and Hadlee Safranek to stretch the Coyote lead to 13.
At the free-throw line, Jessica Stieb made two free throws after being fouled and Jessi Heyen made one of two at the line for A-LC.
Heading into the half, A-M built a 29-16 advantage. A big reason for this was secondchance points off rebounds. In the offensive board category, the Coyotes had 13 compared to the Rebels 7.
“That was huge for us,” A-M girls head coach Trenton Kirchmann said. “Against Mullen, we were outscored on second-chance points 13-2. We put a major emphasis on it during practice on Monday and on the scouting report that we need to team rebound. It makes a huge difference for us when we can get second chance opportunities and then hold them to one shot. Then we got out in transition where we felt we had the advantage.”
A-LC was able to keep the game close in the third with baskets by freshman Chloe Carkoski and Hailey Rademacher. The Rebels ended up getting outscored 7-5, which was the closest the teams were on the scoreboard in any of the quarters.
Unfortunately for A-LC, A-M finished off with their best quarter outscoring the Rebels 21-13 in the final frame. This was in large part due to the hot shooting by Hadlee Safranek who ended with 12 points and Chandler who had 17.
According to, A-LC girls coach Jason Bott, he was happy with his team’s effort in the contest. He knows moving forward the key to their success will be the defense.
“Defense will be the most important part to improve as we move forward through the season,” Bott said. “All the little things that make teams more competitive will be a focus each day and running our offense to put ourselves in an opportunity to score more points.”
Leading the Rebels in scoring in the contest was Kaslon with 13 points. Pulling down four rebounds was Stieb.