Sports

A weekend split with the Wilber-Clatonia Wolverines and the Kearney Catholic Stars left the Sandy Creek boys basketball team with a 2-5 record as the Cougars are set to enter the Blizzard Battle at Fort Calhoun High School Dec. 29-30.

The Cougars used strong runs in the second and fourth quarters to take down Southern Nebraska Conference foe, Wilber-Clatonia 43-37. Twelve hours after thw win over the Wolverines, Kearney Catholic, paced by a 16-11 halftime lead, held off a late Sandy Creek rally to upend the Cougars 35-34 in the first game of the Heartland Hoops Holiday Classic at Hastings College, Saturday, Dec. 17.

Friday night’s bout with the Wolverines would see W-C open with a 16-11 first quarter lead before the Cougars heated up and outscored the Wolverines 14-7 in the second frame to claim a 25-23 halftime lead.

As the Sutton Fillies headed into week three of the 2022-23 basketball season, the Fillies were looking at a big rebound to the season, but a Sutton 42-38 loss at Bruning-Davenport/Shickly started the week off in a rough way, falling to 1-4 with the Dec. 13 loss in Davenport.

Week three challenges would get no easier after the loss to the unbeaten BDS girls, as Class D-1 top -anked Hastings St. Cecilia, and Class D-1 ninth-ranked Nebraska Christian paid a visit to the Fillies in the dome Friday, Dec. 16, and Saturday, Dec. 17, respectively.

The Fillies after the tough road loss to BDS took their own will into their own hands Friday, Dec. 16, as the St. Cecilia Hawkettes, unbeaten at 6-0 coming in would see their unbeaten string come to an end, as senior Alivia Huxoll pulled her fourth double-double of the young season, scoring 16 points and pulling down 13 rebounds to help Sutton stomp the Hawkettes 34-32.

Harvard’s boys earned wins over Dorchester and Heartland Lutheran Dec. 13 and 16, while losing to Riverside Dec. 17.

The Cardinals first win of the week came on their home court Dec. 13 against Dorchester.

Harvard gained leads of 11-9 and 14-11 in the first half for a 25-20 advantage heading into the second half.

Runs of 16-13 in the third quarter and 11-7 in the fourth gave way to a 52-40 win for the Cardinals.

Harvard (2-2).....................11 14 16 11 -52

Dorchester........................ 9 11 13 7 -40

Riverside was a force to be reckoned with Dec. 16, as they wasted little time taking a 26-8 first-quarter lead, and then a 22-2 second scoring edge.

A 48-10 lead heading into the second half gave a boost to the Chargers, as they scored another 29 points over Harvard’s five, ending the night with a 77-15 win.

Cody Fishler and Xavier Marburger led the Cardinals in points with five and four, each.

A two-game split for Sandy Creek’s girls basketball team, following a 52-10 win over Elba, would set the Cougars up with a 2-3 record as they head into week three of the 2022-23 season.

Centennial, behind a 25-13 first-half run would down the Cougars 45-31 in Southern Nebraska Conference play, meanwhile, Sandy Creek bounced back following the loss to the Broncos to get past the Shelby-Rising City Huskies, behind a 20-11 fourth-quarter rally to beat the Huskies 51-47.

The bout with Centennial, which was originally slated for Thursday, Dec. 8, was moved to Friday, Dec. 9 after a winter weather episode moved the SNC game.

The Broncos, behind the 12-point first-half run, went on to hold off the Cougars, as the SC girls outscored Centennial 12-7 in the third quarter, cutting the Bronco lead to seven at 32-25, before outscoring Sandy Creek 13-6 in the fourth frame to post the 45-31 win.

Coming off of a pair of tough losses at the hands of Superior and Freeman, the Sutton Fillies broke into the win column with a 64-29 win over Heartland this past week, before falling to 1-3 on the season after a 5733 set back at the hands of Class C-1, unbeaten Lincoln Christian.

In the win over the Huskies Tuesday, Dec. 6, senior Alivia Huxoll pulled off a double-double for the Fillies, scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to pace Sutton in the 35-point win.

Sophomore Jacee Haight added 11 points to the cause, while Carly Skalka and Kyla Griess chipped in with seven points each.

The Fillies took command of the game early, outscoring Heartland 23-6 in the opening quarter, before holding leads of 34-13 at the half and 49-24 after three-quarters of play.

In the final eight minutes, Sutton went on a 15-5 scoring spree to post the 64-29 victory.

A program that was essential to the Sutton Fillies basketball program under the direction of legendary head coach, the late John Schoneberg, was reborn this past summer for the current Fillies program.

Schoneberg, who passed away this past summer following a lengthy battle with cancer, was honored by the current Fillies coaches and former players Tuesday, Dec. 6, during Sutton’s home contest with Heartland for his enduring and lasting love for the Fillies basketball program.

Schonebergs’ legacy with the program was his 30-year coaching career with the girls basketball program and his record of 515-147 during his tenure as the head coach.

Kyle Knueven led the 2022-23 version of Harvard Wrestling during action in the Cardinals home invitational Saturday, Dec. 3, as Knueven scored 15 of the Cardinals’ 27 team points, while earning a third-place finish in the 152-pound weight class.

Overall, Harvard finished 15th in the 17team meet, with Republic County, KS claiming an overwhelming team title, outscoring second-place Red Cloud/Blue Hill 171-114.

Knueven won three of five matches in the 152-pound weight class to gain third place, defeating Kyle Burns of Hastings St. Cecilia with a 1:11 pinfall win, Coby Huls of Meridian, in 2:53, and Eli Pistulka of Wilcox-Hildreth in 4:50.

The win over Pistulka by Knueven avenged a first-round 10-6 loss to the Wilcox-Hildreth wrestler, while Brooks Armstrong of Red Cloud/Blue Hill gained a 48-second pinfall win over the Harvard grappler.

In action that was dominated by Republic County, KS, the South Central Red Raider wrestling team took on a field of 17 teams at the Harvard Invitational Saturday, Dec. 3.

Sophomore Rowan Jarosik proved to be the lone medalist for the Red Raiders, as South Central placed in a two-way tie for 13th place with the Shelton Bulldogs, as the Red Raiders and Bulldogs both tallied 32 team points.

Republic County outscored second-place Red Cloud/Blue Hill by 57 points to claim a 171-114 team title win over the Warcats.

Jarosik, wrestling in the 132-pound weight class, ran his early season record to 7-1, winning four of five matches in Harvard.

Tough offensive outings have left the Sutton Fillies 0-2 after week one of the 2022-23 basketball season. Sutton shot just over 19 percent from the floor in a 43-30 loss at Superior, while hitting on just over 31 percent from the floor at Freeman, in a 30-29 loss to the Falcons.

The trip to Superior for the Fillies traditional season-opener would see the Wildcats own leads of 15-6 after the first quarter and 26-10 at the half, before Sutton would match Superior’s offense in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 20-17 in the final two quarters, suffering the 13-point Southern Nebraska Conference loss.

Avery Robinson and Alivia Huxoll led the offense for Sutton, with Robinson scoring eight and Huxoll, six, while Jacee Haight added five points.

Sutton was just 9-47 from the floor in the loss (19.1%).

The Fillies were 8-31 from two-point range (25.8%) and made just one of 16 three-point shots (6.3%). At the foul line, Sutton was a strong 11-16 (68.8%).

A variety of fun, educational events are scheduled throughout December in Nebraska’s Venture Parks. These events cover an array of interests for all age groups.

Venture Parks, Nebraska’s four state parks and recreation areas along the Platte River—Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, Platte River State Park, Schramm Park State Recreation Area, and Louisville State Recreation Area—are where unique experiences and enhanced camping opportunities have been created in response to demand.

Park entry permits are required on vehicles entering the state parks and recreation areas. Get yours at the park entrance or at OutdoorNebraska. gov.

SCHRAMM EDUCATION CENTER