Year in Review -Patefield decides two terms is enough drive -
Feb. 26, 2020
WISNER — The LCC Lady Bears finished the regular season with a 12-10 record after splitting their final games of the regular season.
The Lady Bears came from behind to win on the road at Wisner-Pilger, posting a 47-39 win over the Lady Gators. LCC trailed by six at the half, but made up that deficit in the third quarter and carried that momentum into the final period to come away with the victory. On Friday, LCC dropped a 57-49 decision to Summerland in action at Clearwater High School.
Feb. 26. 2020
LAUREL — Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School Board members will soon be making a decision whether to continue to operate their bus fleet locally or hand the keys to an out-of-town company.
It’s a decision many area school districts have found themselves in. Finding enough drivers to run the routes has been a huge factor for many schools to make the switch. LCC is currently searching for more bus drivers.
Running busses, managing the routes, and hiring and managing the bus drivers can be a daunting task for schools, said Dean Carroll, general manager of Mid States.
Feb. 26, 2020
LAUREL — Mark Patefield just felt it was time for something new. That decision, the current mayor of Laurel made, he believes, will also benefit the city moving forward as he finishes his second, four-year term at the end of 2020 and will move on to new ventures. “It’s one of those positions where you need some turnover,” he said. “I have enjoyed doing it and enjoy doing it, but after eight years sometimes you need someone to come in with different ideas.”
Patefield believes he could have run again and been supported, but he always looked at public service and that it is “not about me, but what I can do for the town.”
Feb. 26, 2020
LAUREL — Keith Knudsen decided, why not? Long-time Laurel City Council member Keith Knudsen has decided to run for the position of mayor to fill the void being left by current Mayor Mark Patefield. “I still have two years left on my term with the city council, but I decided to put my name in when our current mayor decided not to run again,” Knudsen said. Knudsen said he thinks Laurel is headed down the right path and wants to continue to help the community succeed. “ We have quite a few projects going on in Laurel over the next couple of years and I thought I could continue with the service and with my experience with the council, it made sense to put my name in and see if anyone else runs.” So far, no one else has filed to run against him for mayor.
He also believes that changing from the council to mayor will up the ante in what is expected of him. “As president of the council if the mayor couldn’t be at a meeting, I would run those meetings,” Knudsen said. “The biggest thing is that the mayor has some additional administrative responsibilities like oversight of the city administrator and city police. There are some supervision things that come with the mayor position.”
Feb. 26, 2020
WISNER — LCC students took part in the Wisner-Pilger Gab Fest last week. Several local students placed at the event.
London VanCleave--Serious Prose 2nd in Lumber Finals
Kaylee Hollandsworth--Poetry Champion in Lumber Finals
Feb. 26, 2020
BATTLE CREEK — At this point in the season, it’s all about winning your last six games . . . and the LCC Lady Bears are a third of the way to the goal. Competing in a tough D1-4 subdistrict last week, the Lady Bears defeated Neligh-Oakdale 51-35 and knocked off top-seeded Elkhorn Valley 52-47 to claim a spot in this weekend’s Class D1 Sweet 16, with the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament in Lincoln. On Tuesday, the Lady Bears pulled away after a sluggish start against the Lady Warriors, building a seven-point halftime lead and maintaining that momentum in the second half to claim the 16-point victory. Kinsey Hall scored a game-high 20 points to lead three Lady Bears in double figures. Delaney Ehlers added 15 points and Erica Wolfgram scored 11. Makayla Forsberg added three points and Haley Christensen put in two. Ehlers had a double-double with 12 rebounds while Hall grabbed eight and led the team in assists and steals with four each. Thursday’s subdistrict finale was a battle from start to finish, and the 13-11 Lady Bears needed to hit several clutch shots down the stretch to hold off a comeback by the top-seeded Lady Falcons. Ehlers led a balanced attack with 17 points for LCC, with Forsberg tossing in 16 and Hall adding 12. Wolfgram had six points and Jordynn Urwiler put in one. Hall had nine rebounds.
Feb. 26, 2020
OMAHA — Quad County’s first year under the LCC-Randolph co-op ended with one state qualifier making it to the Nebraska State Wrestling Championship. Freshman Kolby Casey represented the Blaze at state, wrestling in the Class C, 195-pound division and going 0-2 in the 16-man bracket. Casey opened the tournament Thursday with a matchup against Ethan Gabriel of Ord, who pinned Casey in 44 seconds to send him to the consolation bracket. Friday, Casey got into the second before he was pinned by Aiden Worthey of HTRS, ending his run at the state tournament. Casey ended the year with a 32-16 record.
Feb. 26, 2020
LAUREL — Noah Schutte’s last regular-season game in an LCC uniform was one to remember. The senior hit an astounding 14-of-17 from the field and matched Wynot’s point total to help the Bears move into the postseason on an upbeat note with a 75-38 blowout over the Blue Devils Friday at LCC High School. Schutte was nearly perfect from two-point range, hitting 13-of-14 from the floor, and was 7-of-7 from the charity stripe in leading the Bears to the easy win. Evan Haisch finished in double figures with 14 points for the 20-5 Bears. Austin Hall added eight points, Evan Schmitt had six, Cael Hartung scored four, Landen Boysen had three and Ty Erwin scored two. Schutte had another double-double with 16 rebounds and Hartung grabbed seven boards. Erwin handed out six assists and shared high honors in steals (4) with Schmitt and Schutte.
March 4, 2020
LAUREL — An area Emergency Medical Services team is struggling to find additional help.
Five Dixon Emergency Medical Services personnel handle all the calls for the Dixon and Concord fire districts. Pat Bathke and Rozanne Hintz, both of Dixon, are planning to retire Jan. 1, 2021, which will put the crew below the minimum staffing requirements to provide services. “We need them,’’ Bathke said of the plea for more emergency responders. “If you don’t have them in a community, it is going to take longer for others to get there. The current staffing shortages in EMS have taxed the response system, increased response times and left patients without adequate levels of care. This problem will continue until everyone is made aware of the problem and measures are taken to stave off impending disaster, national research shows.
March 4, 2020
LINCOLN — Jim and Jan Miller were inducted into the Nebraska Pork Producer’s Check-off Hall of Fame
The Millers have a farrow-to-finish operation in Belden. They also raise corn and soybeans.
March 4, 2020
LAUREL — The LCC Lady Bears put together a strong finish to their 2019-20 girls basketball season by earning the District runner-up trophy. The Lady Bears settled for runner-up after almost knocking off state-rated Pleasanton in Friday’s District title game.
See 2020, Page 2
Coach Patti Cunningham, Mollie
Schutte, Delaney Hall, Kinsey Hall, Reggan Kuhlman, Erica Wolfgram, Berniece McCorkindale, Paige
Cook, head coach Marcus Messersmith, Ella Hartung, Haley Christensen, Cassie Grandquist,
Jordynn Urwiler, Megan Forsberg, Delaney Ehlers, and Makayla Forsberg.
March 4, 2020
LAUREL-Kyle Knudsen and Drew Lunz recently placed red flags on the fire hydrants around town for
a project the Laurel Fire Department and the City of Laurel worked together on. Red flags were bought by the fire department and then city workers installed them on fire hydrants around town. Knudsen and Lunz placed these red flags on the 83 fire hydrants around Laurel. The goal of this project was to make sure the fire hydrants remain visible, especially during winter when snow gets piled up.
March 4, 2020
COLERIDGE — The Feb. 17 LifeServe Blood Center blood drive sponsored by the Coleridge
Community had a fantastic turn-out, with 19 donors registered and 23 life-saving units of
blood donated. The units donated at the blood drive can help save up to 69 lives. There was a milestone donor, Susan Kurtzhals, three gallons.
March 4, 2020
WISNER — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Speech Team competed in a dual with Wisner-Pilger. The results are as follows:
Persuasive: Mikayla Walker third; Glenda Vance fourth
Humorous: Katie Schutte Champion; Tyler Lubberstedt Runner-Up
Entertainment: Delaney Hall Runner-Up
Extemporaneous: Ethan Cross Champion
Poetry: Cody Martin Champion; Izabella Kock fourth; Trevin
Boysen fifth
Serious Prose: Maddy Graham third; Izabella Kock fourth; London
Van Cleave fifth
Duet: Jadyn Kinkaid and Kalin Olson Runner-Up
OID: Ethan Cross, Megan Forsberg, Kalin Olson, Jadyn Kinkaid,
Katie Schutte Runner-Up; Maddy Graham, Izabella Kock, Tyler Lubberstedt,
London Van Cleave third.
March 4, 2020
O’NEILL — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Lady Bears put a huge scare in Class D1’s only undefeated team before falling at the end of their District title game Friday. The Lady Bears won their SubDistrict
to earn a shot at the state tournament and went into the Class D-1 Sweet 16 as the No. 14 seed, earning them a shot at third-seeded and undefeated Pleasanton in the D1-3 district final Friday. The Lady Bears gave Pleasanton all it wanted, but the Lady Bulldogs mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to end LCC’s
hopes in a 44-38 decision.“The key to the game for us was transition defense which we did a really good job on,” said LCC Coach Marcus Mesersmith. “The other key was rebounding which they out-rebounded us 32-23. LCC’s late-season effort was something to be proud of, said head coach Marcus Messersmith.
“Overall our girls played an amazing game. We were up one with 2:30 left in the game and pushed (a top seed).” Overall, it was a solid way to wrap a strong campaign. “The way we finished the season was a great
success for us,” Messersmith said. “We had a 13-12 final record which is LCCs first winning record since 2014. We also learned how hard and how consistent you have to play to beat great teams and I think that is going to be a huge boost for us moving forward.” The LCC girls hung with the third ranked Lady Bulldogs throughout a defensive-minded first half, going into the locker room trailing by four at 20-16.
The Lady Bears came out and shot the ball well in the third quarter, rallying to take a 29-27 lead into the fourth quarter, and had their chances to put the game away in the final period, only to see Pleasanton
come back and make key plays at the end to thwart the Lady Bears upset hopes and advance to this week’s state tournament. Erica Wolfgram had a game-high 16 points to lead the Lady Bears. Delaney Ehlers led the team in rebounds with eight, Hall added six. Hall had three assists and Christensen
and Ehlers had four and three steals, respectively.
March 4, 2020
PONCA — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge boys were set to play for a shot at the Class D1 state tournament Tuesday after claiming the D1-4 Sub District title last week. Last Tuesday, the Bears opened with an easy 66-26 win over Homer, jumping out to a 42-13 halftime lead on their way to the opening-round win
in Ponca. Four Bears finished in double figures, led by Ty Erwin’s 16 points. Evan Haisch and Noah Schutte both had 14 points and Cael Hartung tossed in 12. Also scoring were Wilton Roberts with four and Dillon Olson, Jake Rath and Austin Hall with two apiece. Schutte finished with 13 rebounds, Hartung had eight and Haisch and Hall each had four. Erwin recorded three assists and Roberts and Hartung
each had three steals. In Thursday’s Sub-District final, the Bears rolled to a 73-40 win over Hartington-Newcastle, using a strong second half to pull away with the big win. The Orange and Black defense caused all kinds of trouble for the Wildcats. “Laurel, I just think their full-court pressure really affected
us and got us out of sorts,” said HNS coach Nick Haselhorst. “They are a really talented team and we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities around the rim. Schutte really took over in the second
half.” Schutte dropped a game high 29 points and Haisch added 14 for the Bears. Also, scoring were Erwin with nine, Hartung with eight, Schmitt and Hall with three each, Rath, Landen Boysen and Lucas
Rasmussen each had two and Deagan Puppe kicked in a free throw. Schutte led the team with 13 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Hartung had nine boards and two steals and Schmitt had three assists.
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