Anselmo-Merna Boys Basketball
2020-2021 Coyotes Boys Basketball
Paxton- 30-29 L *Mullen- 44-20 L A-LC- 55-43 L Burwell- 69-34 L Pleasanton- 59-47 L Cambridge- 57-37 L Brady- 62-53 W M-HC- 52-47 L Overton- 50-32 W *NP St. Pat’s- 65-18 L *St. Mary’s- 82-42 L S-T- 43-39 L *Central Valley- 74-48 L
S-E-M- 60-51 W North Central- 54-47 L
After experiencing success over the last several years, this year’s Anselmo-Merna boys basketball team was plagued by injuries and inexperience. Despite these issues, the Coyotes continued to fight and compete the best they could throughout the season.
South Loup- 50-45 W Sand. Valley- 53-47 L S-T- 46-39 L Spalding Aca. 56-47 L Twin Loup- 59-38 W South Loup- 64-55 L
D1-10 Subdistrict *Burwell-68-29 L
- Finished the year with a record of 6-17 overall.
- Finsihed 4th in the MNAC Conference Tournament this year.
- Have a good core of scorers returning next year.
A-M gains needed experience
“I thought with the injuries we were dealing with I thought we all continued to improve and played as a team,” A-M Coach Brent Myers said. “Obviously we would have had liked to have a few more victories but we learned from our mistakes for the most part and continued to
get better. I also thought we played ok considering the schedule we play. The team knew we were up against some really good teams and took each game as a challenge and knew we would be better for playing that type of schedule.”
A perfect example of injuries limiting players playing time was Kade Safranek. When playing Safranek was a good post presence, but a nagging injury from football
forced him to sit out to start the season.
Despite the record, the Coyotes have a lot to be excited about in the future. They return some of their leading scorers in Dalton Duryea, Wyat Lambertson, Garrett Porter, and Quinten Myers. This should only continue to help them as they look to make a push at the district finals and state next year.
This year’s seniors were Carson Leibhart, Safranek,
Joel Finney, and Seth Chandler. They all put their mark on the program this season and continued to be good leaders even when things didn’t always go their way.
According to Myers what he will remember the most about this group is the team’s willingness to adapt to new and different roles due to injuries. They never complained about the situation and took each game in stride.
“Looking back on the
season I will remember that every practice, game, and road trip was a good atmosphere with a focus on team basketball,” Myers said. “I also will remember continually working around injuries and players just took their new role in stride and were all willing to move to whatever spot they needed.”