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Denn scores 1,000th point in Ewing game; Tigers defeat Homer 74-28 in conference first round

The Osmond Tigers suffered their first loss of the season at Laurel on Tuesday night, then followed up with a big win over Ewing on Thursday.

In the first round of conference play, Osmond defeated Homer 74-28. That game will be reported in next week’s issue of the Republican.

Osmond will now play Winnebago at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31, at Plainview.

Laurel 80, Osmond 54

LAUREL — Osmond headed to Laurel on Tuesday night, Jan. 22, to deal with the Bears of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge. The C2 Number 2-ranked Bears touted a 15-1 record as they welcomed the undefeated Tigers into their fan-packed gymnasium. The two teams competed back and forth in a nearly evenly-played first half. Osmond got rolling early with junior Keaton Timmerman scoring seven of the team’s 14 points in the first eight minutes. Merrix Denn scored five in each period and Justus Maertins added four to help the Tigers stay within four at halftime.

The third quarter would prove to be the deciding factor in the outcome of the contest. A disciplined “Triangle and 2” defense implemented by the Bears held Osmond’s top scorers (Merrix and Keaton) to a combined 10 second-half points, including just two in the third. That defense, compiled with the Bears hitting a trio of threes in the quarter and an emphatic baseline dunk by LCC’s Noah Schutte, seized all the momentum and made the task too difficult on the road for the Tigers, pushing the lead to 22 going into the fourth quarter. Despite the large deficit, the Tigers competed until the finish and gave themselves a chance to improve in the final eight minutes.

“This game is exactly what we needed; we’d been anxiously awaiting high-level competition and got everything we could ask for and then some out of LCC,” summarized Coach Todd Schulze. “Our guys were challenged in a fashion they hadn’t experience yet this season and I know our team will be better because of it.”

Osmond 14 14 9 17 = 54

LCC 13 19 27 21 = 80

BOX SCORE

FG FT Reb. Pts.

Chishiba 4-10 0-0 0 9

Denn 8-15 1-1 3 20

Reikofski 1-3 0-0 3 2

Heiman 1-4 0-0 1 2

Timmerman 3-8 2-3 5 8

Schultze 1-9 1-2 6 3

D Schmit 1-1 0-1 0 3

J Maertins 3-6 0-3 3 7

Osmond 21-56 4-10 21 54

Osmond 62, Ewing 18

OSMOND — Osmond hosted the Tigers of Ewing on Thursday evening, Jan. 24. The Tigers already had one win over Ewing earlier this season, a dominating 73-16 victory in the Wausa Post-holiday Tournament. This game would end in similar fashion for the two Tiger squads, with Osmond capturing a 62-18 win.

Osmond took control of the contest right away, outscoring Ewing by a combined 26 points in the first two quarters. Merrix Denn did the bulk of that scoring, but got six points and four points worth of help from Keaton and Graysen, respectively. Osmond continued controlling the contest in the third and into the fourth. Denn had a special night in his 16th game as a Tiger. The senior scored a game-high 33 points! With his 33rd point, he reached 1,000 points in his career with plenty of room for more!

Coach Schulze stated, “I know I can speak for Merrix when I say he was incredibly thankful and grateful for all the cheers and kind gestures he received after reaching the milestone (even if he didn’t know either of the two ladies who ran down the sideline to present him with a handmade sign congratulating him on his accomplishment) The kid was all smiles and couldn’t help but show his excitement for the moment that he was able to experience and share with his teammates.”

The victory marked the 15th for Osmond so far this season, leaving them at 15-1 and a No. 1 overall seed as they enter the Lewis and Clark Conference Tournament. Osmond was set to host the Knights from Homer in first-round tournament action.

Osmond 13 19 18 12 = 62

Ewing 2 4 9 3 = 18

BOX SCORE

FG FT Reb. Pts.

Chishiba 2-7 0-0 2 4

Denn 12-19 5-6 2 33

Reikofski 0-3 0-0 3 0

Heiman 0-3 0-0 0 0

Timmerman 3-6 4-4 5 10

Schultze 1-6 4-4 3 6

Gansebom 0-1 0-0 2 0

D Schmit 0-0 0-0 3 0

Alderson 1-5 1-2 4 3

R Schmit 0-4 1-2 3 1

J Maertins 1-5 0-0 7 2

Huwaldt 0-0 0-0 2 0

Stech 1-1 0-0 1 3

Osmond 21-60 15-18 37 62

 

 

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