Sports

The Sandy Creek contingent of fans sat on the edge of their seats during much of the C2-9 Sub-District final, as the Cougars and Hastings St. Cecilia Bluehawks duked it out for the opportunity to advance to district final play Thursday, Feb. 24 at St. Cecilia High School.

The opening couple of minutes would see the host Bluehawks jump out to a 4-0 lead before the Cougar offense woke up and scored the game’s next 15 points to give Sandy Creek a 15-4 lead halftway through the second quarter.

That 11-point lead, however, was trimmed to seven at the halftime break by the Bluehawks, as the Cougars held a 20-13 lead at intermission.

A big third quarter for St. Cecilia, outscoring Sandy Creek 10-4, cut the Cougar lead to just one point, 24-23 as the two teams headed into the fourth quarter.

A year ago, during the end of the 2020-21 basketball season, the Sutton Fillies were left with a sour taste in their mouths, coming just one game short of their first trip to the Class C-2 state tournament with a 49-46 overtime loss to the Centennial Broncos.

This season, however, the Fillies weren’t about let another group of Broncos dash their dreams of advancing to the big dance in Lincoln. Sutton fired on all cylinders, shooting just under 60-percent in the first-quarter to use a 19-7 first quarter scoring edge to power past the Amherst Broncos in the end, beating Amherst 57-44 in the C2-6 District Final in the Fillies Dome, Friday, Feb. 25.

Tuesday night’s start to the C2-9 Sub-District tournament showed a contrast in starts, as the Sandy Creek Cougars used a 14-3 first quarter lead, with Sutton’s offense starting as cold as the sub-zero temperatures were outside.

The Cougars, powered by seniors Hayden Shuck and Josh Shaw, gained their second win of the season over the Mustangs, taking down Sutton 59-39 in the end to advance to the C2-9 Sub-District Final against the host

Bluehawks of Hastings St. Cecilia.

The Bluehawks broke open a tight first-half challenge from Superior, with the Wildcats trailing 24-18 at halftime before St. Cecilia went on a 35-8 second-half run to win 59-26, setting up the title bout between the Cougars and Bluehawks.

Shuck paced Sandy Creek with 18 points, while Shaw added 12 in the win over the Mustangs. Junior Kaydyn Clark added nine and senior Micah Biltoft, seven, for the Cougars.

A low-scoring battle between Southern Nebraska Conference rivals Sutton and Superior headlined the C2-6 Sub-District championship tilt between the Fillies and Wildcats.

Junior Alivia Huxoll accounted for half of the Fillies 36 points in a game that would see the Fillies gain their second win of the season over Superior, as the Fillies netted a 36-28 win over the Wildcats to improve to 21-4.

The win also proves to be Sutton’s fourth straight win over Superior dating back to last season, where the Fillies earned a pair of wins over the Wildcats as well.

In a season-opening win, played Dec. 2 in the Sutton Dome, Sutton held on for a 53- 47 win. This go round, behind the big offensive night for Huxoll, Sutton held leads of 6-3 and 16-11 at the halftime break.

The Sutton Fillies will make a return trip to the Class C District Finals Friday night, as Sutton will play host to the Amherst Broncos from the Fort Kearny Conference in the C2-6 District final.

Tip-off for the game is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Sutton Dome.

The Fillies, who enter the game with a 21-4 record, will face the 19-6 Broncos. Sutton advanced to the district final round by winning the C2-6 Sub-District title Feb. 17 with a 36-28 win over Southern Nebraska Conference rival Superior. The Fillies opened the sub-district tournament with a 52-30 win over Fillmore Central.

Amherst’s run to Friday night’s game went through the C2-10 Sub-District tournament, gaining a 53-30 win over Hi-Line, a cooperative between Elwood and Eustis-Farnam Public Schools, in the first round and claimed a 56-40 win over Southern Valley High School.

Entering the 2022 Nebraska State Wrestling championships as the C-1 District runner-up in the 113-pound weight class, Sandy Creek freshman Rowan Jarosik got his first look at the big stage in Omaha as he stepped onto the mats at the CHI Center Thursday, Feb. 17.

By the time his run in the state meet had ended, the South Central Unified lightweight earned two wins in four matches, narrowly missing the medal round of the Class C 113-pound class by one point.

Jarosik opened his four-match run in Omaha with a come-from-behind pinfall win over Hershey’s Kaden Thompson. Jarosik held a 3-2 lead over Thompson at the end of the first period, but by the end of the second Jarosik faced a 4-3 deficit going into the final period where he scored a reversal and had a threepoint near fall, before advancing to the quarterfinal round with the 5:40 pin.

In the quarterfinals, Jarosik faced one of the best wrestlers in Class C, regardless of weight.

Three members of the Sutton football team signed letters of intent to play football next fall at Concordia University in Seward. Paxton Olson, Matthew Davis, and Jesse Herndon will all step on the field for the Bulldogs program. Pictured in the front, from the left is Dean Olson, Paxton Olson, Matthew Davis and his mother, Stephanie, along with Annette Herndon, Jesse Herndon, and Scott Herndon. In the back, from the left is Sutton head coach and athletic director Steve Ramer, along with Concordia assistant coach Grady Koch and Concordia defensive coordinator Corby Osten.

Rowan Jarosik’s run in the Class C, District-1 tournament this past weekend at Madison High School will live on as a memorable challenge for the Sandy Creek High School freshman on many levels.

The biggest of all will be the fact that Jarosik punched his first-ever ticket to the Nebraska State High School Championships at the CHI Center in Omaha, but the story of his run in the C-1 District was the success that Jarosik had on the mats in Madison.

Jarosik wrestled just three times in Madison. The first match was a quick win for the Red Raider, as Jarosik gained a first period pin over Elkhorn Valley’s Waylon Warneke, pinning the Falcon grappler in just one minute and 44 seconds to advance Jarosik to the semifinal round where a familiar foe awaited Jarosik.

Coming off of their first loss in over a month, a 56-51 setback at the hands of Milford in the semifinal round of the Southern Nebraska Conference tournament, the Sutton Fillies looked to right the ship during the tournament’s third-place game Feb. 5 in Utica.

Fairbury proved to be the challenger, after the Jeffs fell in the semifinal round to Superior in a 43-38 overtime battle with the Wildcats.

Sutton, after the Jeffs took the early 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, stepped up their play in the final three quarters to gain the much needed 39-27 win to improve to 17-4 on the year.

Sutton held an 18-15 halftime lead after outscoring Fairbury 9-5 in the second quarter.

A huge 15-5 third quarter run helped to secure the 11-point win. Fairbury held a 7-6 scoring edge in the fourth to produce the 39-27 Sutton win.

Sandy Creek senior Josh Shaw made it official Wednesday, Feb. 2 that he will be attending Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS to play football for the Tigers starting with 2022 season. Shown with Shaw is his family and high school coach Jack Shadley. From the left, in front is Shaw’s father Brian, his mother Julie at his right, along with his sister Delaney. In the back is Shadley, along Shaw’s brothers Charlie, Ethan and Christian.