Basketball season ends for the OHS Tigers
OSMOND — The 2020-21 basketball season came to a finish for the Osmond Tigers on March 1. The Tigers earned the seventh seed and hosted the No. 10 seed Central Valley Cougars in the district final.
The winner of the game would punch a ticket to the state tournament while the loser of the contest would play their last game of the season. Since Osmond was the higher seed and the two schools were located less than 120 miles apart, the Tigers had the option to host the district final instead of finding a neutral site. The team was excited about the opportunity, especially since Osmond had not lost a game at home since Jan. 13, 2018. Central Valley came in with a 16-6 record, boasting two 20-point-pergame scorers in Trevor Cargill and Ty Nekoliczak. The seniors had been a nice duo of guard play and dominating post play all season long.
The Tigers knew Trevor Cargill was their biggest challenge. Cargill stood 6 ft., 3 in. and weighed nearly 270 pounds, a strong body that would prove to be difficult to move all night. The Cougars fed Cargill early and often.
Osmond was sending a constant double-team at Cargill and at times even had three or four players on him when he had the ball, trying to steal it from him before he could get a shot off. That proved to be difficult because the Cougars also had shooters on the outside.
Zach Huwaldt got into early foul trouble for the Tigers, which made the task even more difficult for Osmond. Huwaldt stands about 6 ft., 3 in. and 225 pounds, while his replacement, Zach Reikofski, barely cracks the 6-ft. mark.
Noticing the mismatch, Central Valley fed the ball to the post every single time down the court, allowing the senior to either score an easy two, shoot free throws, or pass the ball out to open scorers. It was a great recipe for the Cougars but the Tigers were struggling offensively, taking good shots but just not seeing the ball fall in often enough in the first half.
Osmond went into the locker room down by 10. Certainly not where you want to be in the game but in a half where the Tigers battled foul trouble, poor shooting, and a lot of things going right for the Cougars, a 10-point deficit didn’t seem to be as bad as it could have been.
To begin the third quarter, Osmond implemented a 2-3 zone with constant attention given to the CV big man. This worked to slow down the post, but other players for Central Valley began to step up and score, taking some of the stress off Cargill. The Tigers’ scoring woke up a little in the third, getting points from four different players, but sadly, no Tigers would contribute more than four points in that quarter. This left the Tigers with an even larger margin to recover from, behind by 12 to start the fourth.
Most of the fourth quarter would see the Tigers in desperation mode. The Tigers left everything on the floor, hustling as they had all game but now using all the energy they had left in the tank, in an attempt to claw back into the game. The efforts fell short for Osmond.
The Cougars hit five of seven free throws in the quarter, improving to 13 of 21 in the game, to close out the Osmond season. Graysen Schultze led Osmond with 12 points, Ryan Schmit was right behind him with eight, while Spencer Hille and Bryan Solorzano scored six and five points, respectively.
For Osmond it wasn’t the ending that all had hoped for. The Tigers had a hard time building momentum. It just seemed to be one of those nights where the ball would take one extra bounce on the rim and fall to the side instead of dropping in the hoop.
The season for Osmond was another remarkable one. The Tigers finished 20-5 and added a conference tournament runner-up plaque, as well as a district runner-up plaque to its trophy case. It is certainly a season to be proud of and one that the players should look back on with a feeling of accomplishment.
“These seniors will certainly be missed,” said Coach Todd Schulze. “Zach Huwaldt, Graysen Schultze and Brady Stech were seniors who led the right way. They used their strengths to excel on not only game night but also day in and day out on the practice court. They competed with their teammates and against each other, helping the team experience the success we had this season and in recent seasons. In their four years, the seniors experienced a combined varsity record of 93-13 and played their part in some tremendous JV seasons as well. They all had dif ferent roles on our teams over those years; some were varsity players, while others earned playing time on the JV team, but their contributions were respected and appreciated. They were all great teammates and guys that will be missed when the 2021- 22 season begins. Graysen Schultze left his mark in the record books. The senior finished seventh in career points (1,141), fifth in assists (364), and 14th in rebounds (472).
“We owe a big thank you to all who helped our season be possible. In November, there were a lot of us, including myself, who expected us to miss out on several games over the course of the season because of COVID-19. I am very thankful to the schools and administrators in the area that made the necessary precautions to help us play a full 25 games. Thank you to the fans that supported us throughout the season, whether that meant watching the game from the bleachers or a couch, we very much appreciate all your support. Go Tigers!”
