Zach Huwaldt grabs some air in block against LCC player last Tuesday night

Boys win two games, prepare for conference tournament

The Osmond Tigers played against Laurel-Concord-Colerdige on Tuesday of last week, then hosted Niobrara-Verdigre on Thursday.

The Tigers defeated Bloomfield 54-53 Monday night to move on in conference play. That game will be covered in next week’s issue.

Osmond vs. LCC

LAUREL — Despite the winter weather that rolled through on Monday, the Tigers were still able to travel to Laurel to take on the Bears.

“Tuesday was somewhat of a perfect day if you’re a high school athlete,” said Coach Todd Schulze. “School gets cancelled because of the weather, but you’re still able to play your game.”

This was a game Osmond was looking forward to as it was yet another test against a quality opponent. LCC came into the game 10-6 with losses against several C1 and C2 opponents. The conference matchup didn’t disappoint, seeing a tightly contested game throughout the 32 minutes of action. Neither team held more than a twopossession lead for nearly the entire game until the Tigers opened things up in the fourth quarter, claiming a nine-point advantage.

Things started a little sloppy in the first quarter on the offensive end for the Tigers. They seemed to be forcing a few things early on and playing a little rushed, resulting in several first-quarter turnovers. In the second quarter, the three-point shots began to fall for Osmond. Graysen Schultze, Ryan Schmit, and Spencer Hille all converted from behind the arc to help the Tigers even things up at 22 points apiece at the half.

The second half was played much like the first. Both teams playing well on defense and forcing the opposing offenses to be patient and make contested shots. Osmond was having to deal with their size disadvantage around the basket, trying to keep the LCC big men in check.

This proved to be a difficult task as LCC scored 12 points around the basket with their post players in the second half. Meanwhile, Osmond was hitting jump shots and scoring around the basket. Seniors Graysen Schultze and Zach Huwaldt put in 8 and 12 points, respectively, in the second half, helping to carry the Tigers scoring load.

The Tigers began to go on a little bit of a run in the fourth quarter, seizing the momentum when Ryan Schmit buried a corner three-pointer, forcing the Bears to call a timeout, down by 9 with 4:30 left on the clock.

The game stayed between seven and nine points until a couple minutes left in the game. At the point LCC used a variation of their press and half court trap to force the Tigers into some turnovers that led to points for the Bears.

In fact, the lead was cut to one point before Osmond got a critical defensive stop. Following the stop, Graysen Schultze was fouled and hit both free throws to bump the Osmond lead back to three points with 10.8 seconds left.

LCC ran a play that saw the ball unintentionally bounce off the rim when LCC’s Ethan Haisch was attempting to pass the ball across the court. The ball found its way into the hands of Evan Schmitt, who took and missed on open three as the final buzzer sounded, allowing Osmond to escape with a gritty 48-45 victory.

Schultze finished the contest with another double-double (23 points and 12 rebounds). Zach Huwaldt played a great game overall, working hard to take away easy buckets around the basket and finishing with an efficient 12 points and five rebounds.

Score by Quarter

Osmond 10 12 13 13 = 48

LCC 11 11 11 12 = 45

BOX SCORE

FG FT Reb. Pts.

Schmit 2-9 1-3 2 7

Solorzano 0-1 0-0 1 0

Hille 1-3 0-0 6 3

Hasler 0-3 0-2 1 0

Schultze 8-14 6-10 11 23

Huwaldt 5-8 2-4 3 12

Reikofski 0-2 0-0 1 0

Wingert 1-2 0-0 0 3

Osmond 17-42 9-19 25 48

Osmond vs. Niobrara-Verdigre

OSMOND — Thursday night would see the Tigers host the 6-8 Niobrara-Verdigre Cougars. The offensive for Osmond jumped out to a fast start, with four players scoring in the first quarter, including six points from both Ryan Schmit and Graysen Schultze. All game long, the Tigers would execute well on offense, but the defense would go through phases of high and low intensity. Osmond claimed control in the first half, leading 30-16 at halftime.

In the second half, the Tigers relaxed a bit much on defense, especially in the third quarter, getting outscored 16-12 by the Cougars in that quarter, as Preston Crosley got hot and scored eight points in the quarter. Osmond woke up again in the fourth, seeing their lead dwindle to just seven points before putting their foot back on the gas and pulling away with a 17-point home victory.

Ryan Schmit played a balanced game, finishing with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Schultze went for a double-double yet again, but this time doing it with points (19) and assists (10). Spencer Hille and Stevin Hasler both helped ice the game with 3s in the fourth quarter, finishing with seven and five points, respectively.

“We’ll need to be more consistent in our effort and execution if we plan on advancing in the conference tournament. I know our boys are a little disappointed in their overall performance tonight but I’m not worried. We have shown up to compete in every big game this season and we’ll have three of those next week in the tournament,” summarized Coach Todd Schulze.

Score by Quarter

Osmond 18 12 12 20 = 62

Nio-Verd 11 5 16 13 = 45

BOX SCORE

FG FT Reb. Pts.

Schmit 8-14 0-0 5 19

Solorzano 1-2 0-0 3 2

Hille 3-5 0-0 4 7

Hasler 2-3 0-0 1 5

Schultze 8-12 2-2 5 19

Huwaldt 3-8 0-0 3 6

Reikofski 2-8 0-0 4 4