Bobcats and Spartans compete in pair of competitive games in Arnold
CALLAWAY - When the South Loup and Ansley-Litchfield basketball teams get together to play, you can almost bet on there being a good competition between the two former MNAC rivals. That is exactly what fans got as the Bobcat girls defeated the Spartans 50-38 and the D1 No. 7 A-L boys basketball team earned a 43-32 win over South Loup.
In the girl’s game, South Loup Girls Coach Abe Hinman was proud of his team for getting the win but wanted to see more consistency out of his group of players.
“The first we played pretty well, the second and fourth quarter we did not play well, and the third quarter we played great,” Hinman said. “You look at those two quarters we played good, and that’s what we’re capable of.
We just need to be a little more consistent.”
The Bobcats used a suffocating defense and were able to get their jump shots to fall early on in the first. As a result, they led 15-5 after one-quarter of play.
In the second, the Spartans were able to reverse roles to get back in the game. After a layup by Audrey Hogg A-L trailed 19-16 at halftime.
“South Loup has a great team and they really like to get out and go,” A-L Girls Coach Travis Olson said. “We slowed their offense down by deliberately slowing down our offense. We ran through plays multiple times. It did a few things for us. It took time off the clock, it allowed us to work for better shots, and by getting better shots and not turning the ball over, we were able to keep them from running. Our defense that we have been using has come along as well.”
After a dismal second, South Loup woke up and came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter.
Bailey Schwarz started the scoring off with a three up top and Landyn Cole converted a layup inside. This was followed up by Bailey Schwarz and Megan Donegan knocking down back to back three-pointers to go up 3018.
Late in the quarter, Kaylee Rohde did her best to get the Spartans back in the game. She made back-to-back threes, which was apart of a tenpoint run.
Despite the late comeback, the Bobcats still led 40-27 heading to the fourth.
In the final quarter, South Loup was content to run as much clock as they could. Especially, because A-L was in foul trouble throughout most of the quarter.
Taylor Haines made a layup off a turnover for the Spartans and Cole had a layup underneath for the Bobcats to close the game out.
South Loup’s leading scorer in the contest was Megan Donegan with 16 points and three assists and Bailey Schwarz added 15 points with four rebounds.
Kaylee Rohde finished with a good game for the Spartans, with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Both Haines and Harley Myers chipped in with six points.
Next up were the A-L boys vs the Bobcats. Coming into the game, the Spartans were coming off a nine-point victory over a 5-11 Wilcox-Hildreth squad and South Loup a 25 point defeat vs Arcadia-Loup City.
To begin the game, it was Caden Holm scoring a layup to give A-L an early lead. After another basket inside by Holm, The Spartans were up 6-3.
Tycen Bailey made a basket underneath and Holm fought inside for his third basket of the quarter to give the Spartans a 12-7 edge at the end of the first.
Bailey started the second quarter off in high flying fashion for A-L with a dunk on a fast break off a turnover by the Bobcats.
After only scoring seven points in the first, South Loup was able to make the game competitive in the second with 11 points. Lance Jones made a three up top to close the gap to under ten points at halftime at 25-18.
“We had to rebound tonight,” South Loup Boys Coach Jeff Cole said. “We couldn’t feel sorry for ourselves or the same result would have occurred from the Arcadia-Loup City game.”
Keeping South Loup in the game in the first half was the play of freshman Cache Gracey. He made big shot after big shot in the first to keep the game close.
“He really grew up tonight for us and that’s probably the best game he’s had all year,” Jeff Cole said. “He’s been in the starting lineup the last two or three games with some guys out. He’s played really well and I’m going to enjoy having him for the next three years.”
A jumper by Gracey and a driving layup by Trey Connell helped cut into the Spartans lead at the beginning of the third. One free-throw by Gracey made it 29-25.
When the game got close, A-L’s leaders came to play. Jeff Cunningham and Holm made back to back buckets for the Spartans to put them up 35-26 after three.
It was a defensive struggle in the fourth, with A-L only scoring eight and the Bobcats scoring six.
“I thought our man defense was okay, but we were struggling so much offensively that we needed to convert to a zone because of the foul trouble and we needed to create turnovers,” A-L Boys Coach Matt Drew said. “We’re capable of so much more on offense, and it’s been frustrating because I think we’re in our own heads.”
Leading the Spartans with 15 points and six rebounds was Holm, followed by Bailey with ten points and four assists.
Freshman Gracey led South Loup with eight points and four rebounds and Alex Shown had six points and five rebounds.
South Loup is taking part in the MNAC Conference Tournament this week and Ansley-Litchfield takes part in the Fort Kearney Conference Tournament starting on February 1st.