Tough week for Indians ends with lopsided loss at home to Eagles

BROKEN BOW - A tough night on both ends of the floor resulted in the most lopsided loss of the season for Broken Bow, as they fell to Wood River at home on Jan. 15 by a final of 59-34.

“Our defense was not good,” Nathan Olson said. “We did not buy into the things we need to have every night to be successful. Wood River played well, but we have got to be better. That starts with me and making sure we are getting those things done.”

The game started with Broken Bow taking a 2-0 lead early with a driving layup by Blake Denson.

The Eagles responded by knocking down a three-pointer and then Austin Buettner hit a three. When everything was said and done, Wood River went on a 9-0 scoring run.

Later on, in the quarter, Frazier Kaelin was able to drive to hoop, and make a layup while being fouled. After missing the free throw the score was 11-5.

After one-quarter of play, the Eagles had an eight-point advantage at 13-5.

Wood River continued to put the pedal to the metal on the offensive side of the ball to begin the second with a layup while being fouled by Caleb Paulk. Easton Graves made a three-pointer the next time down to extend the lead out to 20-7.

After falling behind by 13, the Indians started to make a dent in the lead at the end of the second quarter.

Daine Wardyn was able to get a shot to go in underneath after a miss on the first attempt by Broken Bow. A drive to the hoop by Austin Harvey resulted in a layup while being fouled.

The last points of the quarter came by Dylon Baum underneath. He gave the crowd his best Kareem Abdul-Jabbar impression, knocking down a one-handed hook shot and cutting the deficit to 27-17 at the half.

Similar to the first, things did not start smoothly for the Indians in the second. They were outscored 13-3 to begin the half.

Finally, Broken Bow was able to string some points together as Wardyn made a three and Denson made one of two free throws at the line. All of a sudden the Indians were creeping closer to making the game single digits at 40-26.

Any chances of Broken Bow making a comeback were quickly put to rest by another run by the Eagles. This time it was Buettner making a three-pointer and then Cade Huxtable turned a steal into a layup.

Baum ended the third with a layup and the Indians trailed 4526 heading to the fourth.

It was another tough quarter for Broken Bow, as they were outscored 14-6 the rest of the way out.

Leading the Indians in scoring was Wardyn with eight points, Harvey with seven points, and Baum with six points. Kaelin and Baum each had six rebounds.

Broken Bow looks to recover from their two-game skid with a home game vs Gothenburg. They will play the 2-11 Swedes at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 21.

At left: Dylon Baum of Broken Bow puts up a hook shot against Wood River on Jan. 15. He finished the contest with six points and six rebounds on the inside.

Top right: Eli Coble controls the ball for Broken Bow during their home game with Wood River on Jan. 15. He came off the bench in the second half of the game and gave the Indians some solid playing time.

Photos by Alex Eller At right: Daine Wardyn of Broken Bow drives to the hoop against a Wood River player in their game last Friday. He led the team in scoring with eight points.