Sports

In an edge-of-your-seat game against the Hampton Hawks during the annual holiday tournament Dec. 27, Harvard’s boy earned their first win of the season.

After a close-knit battle in the first half, where the two teams tied 13-13 at the end of the first, and a 16-13 run in the second for a narrow 29-26 Harvard lead.

Hampton grabbed the lead briefly with a 15-7 run in the third, before the Cards came back in the fourth, scoring 12 points over the Hawks two for the 48-43 win.

Drayden Whetstine-Jones and Cody Fishler had a big night at the net, scoring 32 of Harvard’s 48 points; Whetstine-Jones earned 17, and Fishler, 15.

Harvard was 17-35 from the floor, sinking nine 3-pointers, led by Whetstine-Jones with four, and earning five points at the foul line, again led by Whetstine-Jones with three. Fishler and Luis Rascon had one free-throw point each.

In a big early-season clash with the unbeaten Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals, Sandy Creek’s boys couldn’t hold off a strong offensive attack by the Cardinals in the second and third quarter. D-T outscored the Cougars 34-20 in the middle two quarters to run to a 62-48 win, handing the Cougars just their second loss of the new season, as the SC boys, stand at 5-2 on the year.

Sandy Creek held a narrow 8-7 first-quarter lead, before D-T went on a 15-9 second quarter run and outscored the Cougars 19-11 in the third to take a 41-28 lead into the final eight minutes, where the Cardinals held a 21-20 scoring edge to gain the 14-point win.

Three seniors accounted for 43 of Sandy Creek’s 48 points, led by Hayden Shuck with 15, while Micah Biltoft and Josh Shaw both hit for 14 points in the loss.

The Doniphan-Trumbull girls came into the Cougars Den Dec. 21 and took control from the onset of the game, outscoring the Cougars 14-4 in the opening quarter and coasted to a 29-point, 57-28 win, dropping Sandy Creek to 2-5 with the non-conference loss.

The Cardinals claimed a 33-10 halftime lead with a 19-6 second-quarter run and then outscored the Cougars 24-18 in the second half to gain the 29-point win.

A trio of Sandy Creek seniors led the offense for the Cougars, led by Leah Hatch with 11 points, while Caitlin Rempe and Kennedi Tripe finished with eight and seven points, respectively. Lexie League gained two points, as seven other Cougars were held scoreless by the Cardinals.

No additional statistics were available for the contest.

Sandy Creek will next host the Harvard girls in a girlsonly game with the Cardinals at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 4.

Low numbers and the injury bug left the Sutton wrestling team with just four grapplers available to do battle on the mats during the annual Sutton Duals meet Tuesday, Dec. 21.

Adrian Hernandez and Cason Peterson, finished the day with four wins, while Airan Hernandez won three of fou matches and Billy Marshall, one of four matches for the Mustangs.

Against Thayer Central, Sutton lost the dual 54-18. The Hernandez boys both earned wins, with Airan taking a 2:51 pinfall win over Ben Hammer in the 132-pound class, while Adrian pinned Dylan Williams in 4:19 in the 160-pound class.

Marshall, wrestling in the 170-pound class, fell to Gunner Mumford in 1:12, while Peterson drew a forfeit win.

Round two would see the Freeman Falcons edge Sutton 19-18 in the dual.

The Hernandez brothers and Peterson all drew forfeit wins, while Marshall fell to Mason Denzin in 19 seconds in the 182-pound class.

The Nebraska School Activities Association announced the 2021 Fall Sports Nebraska Chiropractic Association’s Academic All-State recipients last week, with 12 Clay County student-athletes being honored.

Six Sandy Creek students were honored in all. In girls cross country for the South Central Red Raiders was Teagan Jarosik. Football honors were earned by Josh Shaw and Karson Sherman, while in volleyball, Jenna Heinz and Kennedi Tripe were honored. Leiah Mueller earned the honor in play production.

Sutton had four students honored. Jesse Herndon and Paxton Olson were honored in football, while Julia George and Kate Griess earned the honor in volleyball.

Harvard landed two on the post-season honors list, including Alyssa Ferguson in girls cross country and Zahna Reutzel in volleyball.

The Lincoln Journal-Star daily newspaper mirrored the Omaha World Herald’s 2021 all-state football honors, announced last week for eight Clay County football players, with two being named first-team Class C-2 all-state honors.

Sandy Creek senior Josh Shaw and Sutton senior Paxton Olson were named to the Omaha World-Herald’s Class C-2 All-State first team, as announced on Sunday, Dec. 12.

Shaw was named to the LJS honor as an offensive lineman, while Olson was named as a running back.

Honorable mention picks for the Mustangs included seniors Matthew Davis and Jesse Herndon, while juniors Vance Smith and Alvino Sanchez were also tabbed as honorable mention selections.

Sandy Creek seniors Karson Sherman and Micah Biltoft earned honorable mention accolades for their play this past season.

It didn’t take long for the Sutton Fillies to set the tone in their annual battle with Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, as Sutton raced out to a 10-3 first quarter lead and continued to pour it on from there in a 53-29 blitzing of the Eagles Tuesday, Dec. 14.

Sutton sank 14 two-point shots and another six threepoint buckets and shot 20-48 overall in the win (41.7%).

The Fillies were 7-8 from the foul line (87.5%), thanks in part to a perfect 6-6 outing by freshman Jacee Haight.

Seniors Gracie Nuss and Kate Griess combined for 24 points in the win, with Nuss netting 13 points and Griess, 11, while Haight added 10, and junior Alivia Huxoll, eight in the victory.

Following the 10-3 first-quarter scoring burst, Sutton held a 28-11 lead at the half, behind an 18-8 second-quarter run.

In all, eight Clay County football players earned additional post-season honors this past weekend, with two being named first-team Class C-2 all-state honors, as Sandy Creek senior Josh Shaw and Sutton senior Paxton Olson were named to the Omaha World-Herald’s Class C-2 All-State first team, as announced on Sunday, Dec. 12.

Shaw was named to the OWH honor as an offensive lineman. The 6-4, 265-pound Shaw led the Cougars defense this past season with a team-high 68 tackles, of which 38 tackles were solo stops. In addition, he had 10 and a half tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks.

Olson, named as a running back, capped his senior season with 1,597 total yards on the ground, averaging 159.7 yards per game and 7.1 yards per carry. He capped his Mustang career with 2,703 total rushing yards and was a member of four straight Sutton teams that advanced to the Class C-2 state playoffs.

A narrow miss and a muchneeded win headlined the Sandy Creek girls week on the hardwood, as the Cougars fell short of the Centennial Broncos, Dec. 9, falling 38-33 on the road, before returning home for a matinee win over the Huskies of Shelby-Rising City Dec. 11, downing the Huskies 42-30 for the Cougars’ first win of the new season.

The trip to Centennial for their second Southern Nebraska Conference tangle produced an early 10-5 Cougar lead after the first period, but a 15-8 run in the second gave Centennial a 20-18 halftime lead.

Centennial extended their lead to four points after the third period with a 10-8 run to take a 30-26 lead into the final eight minutes of play, where the Broncos held an 8-7 scoring edge to gain the 38-33 win.

Sandy Creek shot at a 30.8 percent clip, sinking 12 of 39 shots from the floor, while making seven of 15 foul shots (46.7%).

Sutton volleyball players Alivia Huxoll and Kate Griess both picked up some high honors this past weekend, as the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star tabbed both of the Fillies for all-state teams.

Huxoll landed on the first-team in Class C-2 as a hitter, while Griess was a second-team selection as a setter.

Huxoll recorded 345 kills during her junior season, setting a new school record that had stood for 16 seasons. She also tied the school record for kills in a match with 22 kills. Huxoll also had a team-high 92 blocks during the season past.

Griess, who also a record breaker at Sutton, put up 913 assists to break a 6-year-old record of 901.

ADDITIONAL HONORS