Sports

Action in the three-team Grand Island Central Catholic Holiday tournament proved to be an up and down challenge for the Sutton boys basketball team.

As the round-robin tournament kicked off Monday, Dec. 28, the host Crusaders used a five-point run in the first quarter and a 32-23 second-half run to secure their unbeaten and top-ranked status in Class C-2 to down the Mustangs 51-37.

Two nights later, a sluggish first half start for Sutton quickly changed in the second half as Sutton, after leading 27-20 at halftime outscored the Fullerton Warriors 38-5 in the second half to secure their fifth win of the season, gaining a 65-25 victory to improve to 5-3 overall.

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After trudging through three straight tough losses the Sandy Creek boys finally got back into the winning column on Tuesday, Dec. 22, with a come-from-behind victory on the road over Southern Nebraska Conference foe David City.

The Cougars, trailing 24-22 at halftime, after the Scouts outscored the Cougars 12-11 in each of the first two quarters, rallied for the win in the second half, outscoring David City 19-11 in the third quarter and 14-11 in the fourth quarter to chart a 55-46 win, improving Sandy Creek to 2-4 on the year.

Juniors Josh Shaw and Micah Biltoft helped to deliver the much needed win, as the duo combined for 37 points, with Shaw hitting for 19 points and Biltoft for 18.

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The Sutton Duals marked the end of the first phase of the Sutton wrestling season this past week, as the Mustangs hosted five other teams in action on Tuesday, Dec. 22.

Overall, Sutton’s five wrestlers earned 16 wins in 21 total matches during their five duals on the day.

Senior Joe Hinrichs went 5-0 in the meet, running his season record to 17-0 and his career mark as a Mustang to 141-18. Myles Jones and Vance Smith both collected four wins in five matches, while Scott Marshall went 2-3 and Cason Peterson 1-0.

CENTENNIAL 60-SUTTON 6

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Holiday tournament schedules have been set for all three Clay County Schools, as Harvard will travel to Wilcox for the four-team Wilcox-Hildreth holiday tournament on Dec. 29 and 30. Sandy Creek once again takes part in the eightteam Runza Holiday Hoops Classic with Central City playing as the host. Sutton will venture into a round-robin set of games at Grand Island Central Catholic, also on Dec. 29 and 30.

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A total of 12 Clay County football players were honored this past weekend by the Lincoln Journal-Star for their play during the 2020 season.

Topping the classes for Clay County athletes proved to be Sutton senior Joe Hinrichs and junior Matthew Davis, along with Harvard senior Ben Okraska, as all three were tabbed as first-team selections.

Hinrichs and Davis were both named to the Class C-2 first team defense, as the 5-11, 195 pound Hinrichs was tabbed for his play on the defensive line, while the 6-1, 235 pound Davis earned honors at linebacker.

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With the big win over Bruning-Davenport/Shickley earlier in the week, the Sutton Mustangs continued their winning ways this past Friday and Saturday, claiming a 58-49 win over Hastings St. Cecilia, before blowing past the Eagles of Nebraska Christian in a Saturday matinee bout, 72-39, to hand the Eagles their first loss of the 2020-21 season.

In Friday’s win over the Bluehawks, Sutton jumped out to a 2-14 first-quarter lead, and then behind a 12-7 second-quarter run, led 34- 21 at the break.

St. Cecilia cut the Mustang lead to 42-34 with a 13-8 third-quarter rally before Sutton held on with a 16-15 fourth-quarter run to gain the nine-point win and improve to 3-2.

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The Sutton Mustangs opened week two with yet two more big challenges facing them, with both the Heartland Huskies and the Lincoln Christian Crusaders on tap for games two and three.

The Mustangs held off a strong surge by the Huskies to come from behind and down Heartland 59-57 on Dec. 8. A red hot shooting Crusaders ball club on Dec. 12 proved to be too much, as Lincoln Christian, who shot nearly 67 percent from the floor gained a 64-48 win over the Mustangs, dropping Sutton to 1-2 on the season.

Sutton held leads of 17-16 and 30-27 after each of the first two quarters against Heartland in Southern Nebraska Conference play, but the Huskies outscored Sutton 16-12 in the third ton 16-12 in the third period to claim a 43-42 lead going into the final eight minutes of play.

The Harvard Cardinals logged a ton of miles in week two of the basketball season, taking the near 180-mile trip to Santee to take on the Warriors Dec. 8, before heading nearly 80 miles to Franklin for Twin Valley Conference action with the Flyers Dec. 10.

Finally, on Saturday, Dec. 12, the Cardinals returned home to host the Axtell Wildcats and log their first win of the season, beating Axtell 39-31. Santee ran past the Cards 56-48, while Franklin squeaked out a 38-36 win over Harvard.

At Santee, the host Warriors broke open a 7-7 tie after the first quarter to go on a 24-9 second-quarter run and claim a 31-16 halftime lead.

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The Sutton Fillies accomplished a feat that hadn’t been reached since the 2010-11 basketball season, they made it past week two of the season with a perfect record.

After a dominant 57-28 win over Heartland Dec. 8, the Fillies knocked off the Lincoln Christian Crusaders this past Saturday for the first time since a 48-46 win the Fillies gained over the Crusaders during the 2010-11 season. This year’s team gained a 52- 46 win over the Crusaders to improve to 4-0 on the year.

Tuesday’s 29-point win over Heartland would see 10 Fillies score against the Huskies, led by junior Gracie Nuss who tallied 14 points while hitting on six of seven shots (85.7%). Xytlaly Bautista and Kate Griess added eight points each, while Julia George hit for seven.

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For the first time since the 2016 basketball season, the Harvard girls basketball team began a season with an opening game win, beating the Giltner Hornets in convincing fashion, recording a 53-15 win in the Birdcage at Harvard High School.

Harvard’s last opening game win over Giltner proved to be a 52-41 win on Dec. 1, 2016. This year, the Cardinals removed the stinger of the Hornets early and throughout Thursday night’s win, as Harvard opened the game with a 10-2 first quarter run, then held Giltner scoreless in the second quarter, while scoring nine points to own a 19-2 halftime lead.

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