OHS Lady Tigers kick off conference play with win
The Lady Tigers had a busy week, kicking off conference tournament play with a win after traveling to Laurel and hosting Niobrara-Verdigre.
Conference Tournament Win
(By Coach David Schmit)
OSMOND — We began our bracket of the conference tournament as the No. 10 seed taking on the No. 15 seed, the Lady Blujays of Walthill. This was a game that we anticipated being able to work on some of the things that have been thorns in our side at times this year and we were able to get some of the mistakes hammered out during this game.
We raced out to a 23-0 lead before Walthill made two three-point baskets in back-to-back possessions. Throughout the course of the game, we executed our full-court pressures fairly well and, most of the time, our half court defenses as well.
Offensively, we continued working on our ball movement and using cutters against a zone. It was an overall strange game with not many fans in attendance, a mostly quiet gym, and Walthill only having five players.
Probably the strangest part of the game was one of their players fouled out in the second half and so for a small part of the third and all of the fourth quarter, they played with four girls.
I can’t say I’ve coached in a game in which only four players finished the game but, to their credit, they still played hard with those four girls. I was pleased with the ability to get everyone in the game and give our varsity starters a much-deserved rest.
The Lady Tigers came out victorious 64-25. Leading us in the points department was Kiera Moes with 17, followed by Grace Gansebom and Bailey Schmit with 12 each.
Rebounding leaders for us were Grace Gansebom with 9, Cali Gutz with 7, Elisa Herrera with 5 and Caydence Krienert, Bailey Schmit, Macy Aschoff, Kiera Moes and Tessa Gardner, all with 4.
We advance to the bracket semifinals to play Hartington-Newcastle on Tuesday night, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Laurel.
Score by Quarter
Osmond 17 24 15 8 = 64
Walthill 0 6 6 13 = 25
BOX SCORE
FG FT Reb Pts
Gansebom 4-11 4-4 9 12
Herrera 1-3 0-0 5 2
Gutz 1-14 2-2 7 4
C. Krienert 3-6 0-2 4 6
Beacom 1-6 0-0 2 2
Vinson 0-4 0-0 3 0
Schmit 5-12 0-0 4 12
Aschoff 1-2 1-2 4 3
LADY TIGERS KICK OFF CONFERENCE WITH WIN
H. Krienert 1-1 0-0 1 2
Moes 7-11 3-3 4 17
Gardner 2-6 0-0 4 4
Osmond 26-76 10-13 47 64
Osmond 45, LCC 50
(Coach David Schmit)
LAUREL — Osmond took to the road again on Tuesday, Jan. 26, this time to face the Bears of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (LCC). In years past, LCC has had our number. However, we have definitely improved especially since last year thus setting the stage for a competitive matchup.
The first quarter saw a low scoring affair that was, in part, the result of both teams stifling the other’s offense. We’ve had great ball movement most of the season and in the first quarter we had some of that but couldn’t quite catch our rhythm.
In the second quarter, we started to really attack the gaps of their zone a bit more and this led to more scoring for us. We went into halftime down two, 21-19. We knew we would have to go into the second half a lot tougher on defense and get some stops.
Throughout the second half, things were pretty neck-and-neck until a fourth quarter that had most fans on the edge of their seats. With about five seconds to go in the fourth quarter, we committed a foul to put LCC on the line (we were up one at the time). LCC made both free throws to put them up one.
For some teams, this may have meant that the game slipped through and would be lost — but not us! We got the ball up the floor pretty quickly making a post entry to Macy Aschoff, who was then fouled with no time left on the clock.
Macy made one of two free throws that sent us into overtime. Despite new life with the coming of overtime, the Lady Tigers were unable to come out on top. LCC defeated the Lady Tigers 50-45 in overtime.
The competitiveness and “Never say die” attitude of this group is remarkable. Most teams would have packed it in down one that late in the fourth quarter, but our group knows that even with five seconds, we still have a chance.
Though we got out-rebounded and missed some free throws, there were a lot of things that we did well, such as attack their zone defense, play great help defense, and take care of the basketball a bit better. We got a lot of good looks on offense and just couldn’t get the shots to fall that we normally would get.
Nonetheless, I’m very proud of our team and know that we have opportunities ahead of us to get better before subdistricts come around.
We were led in points by Kiera Moes (17) and Grace Gansebom (11) and in rebounds by Grace Gansebom (5) and Macy Aschoff (4).
Score by Quarter
Osmond 7 12 12 10 4 = 45
LCC 8 13 10 10 9 = 50
BOX SCORE
FG FT Reb Pts
Gansebom 4-12 1-3 5 11
Herrera 0-0 0-0 3 0
Gutz 3-13 2-2 1 9
Schmit 0-1 0-1 1 0
Aschoff 2-6 1-3 4 5
H. Krienert 1-2 1-2 2 3
Moes 6-27 2-8 3 17
Osmond 16-61 7-19 19 45
Junior Varsity Wins 18-16
(By Coach Kim Miller)
The Lady Tiger Reserves battled with the LCC Bears on Tuesday, winning a tough game 18-16. The girls had what is becoming to be a trend — a slow start.
They scored three points in the first quarter and followed that up with a 15-point onslaught of points and defensive stops in the last quarter. It was just enough to get the hardfought victory.
Tessa Gardner led the way on the offensive side with four points, followed by Caydence Kreinert, Juliana Kumm and Belle Vinson all with three.
Osmond 56, Niobrara-Verdigre 62
OSMOND — The Lady Tigers returned home on Thursday, Jan. 28, to face a familiar foe, the Cougars of Niobrara-Verdigre. This was a rematch of the third-place game from the Wausa Post-Holiday Tournament which saw the Lady Tigers shoot an impressive 46% (11-24) from the three-point line.
We knew full well that this would not likely repeat itself but we were going to give it our best shot. Ironically, the first quarter of the game mirrored the first quarter of the consolation game with its high octane, shot-forshot type of pace.
Though we matched or came close to matching their point value each of the first two quarters, we were not able to get over the figurative hump because of some 17 first-half turnovers and a few other mistakes.
The third quarter saw the Cougars stretch their five-point halftime lead to a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Once again, our resiliency and refusal to quit showed in this fourth quarter as we mounted a furious comeback cutting the Cougars’ lead to four points late in the game.
It was quite impressive to see the fight and intensity our girls had. Lexi Beacom put together a few clutch free throws and a timely bucket to help chip into the lead. Unfortunately, we were unable to overcome our early-game miscues and fell to the Cougars 62-56.
Leading us in points was Kiera Moes with 25, followed by Cali Gutz with 9. On the rebounding front, Kiera Moes led us with 9, followed by Grace Gansebom, Hayle Krienert, and Macy Aschoff with 7 each.
One of our highlights from the night was going 13 for 19 (68%) as a team from the free throw line. This has been a big emphasis for us all season as we shoot about 30 free throws each practice in hopes of continuously improving that percentage.
Though the game did not go the way we had hoped, we clearly saw what we are capable of with our last four minutes of the game. We look forward to building momentum going into the conference tournament game vs. Walthill on Saturday.
Score by Quarter
Osmond 16 12 10 11 = 49
Nio-Verd 5 11 17 6 = 39
BOX SCORE
FG FT Reb Pts
Gansebom 2-10 2-4 7 7
Herrera 1-2 0-0 2 2
Gutz 4-8 0-0 4 9
Beacom 1-2 3-3 1 5
Schmit 1-2 0-0 3 2
Aschoff 1-3 0-0 7 2
H. Krienert 0-6 4-8 7 4
Moes 9-28 4-4 9 25
Osmond 19-61 13-19 40 56
Junior Varsity Falls
The junior varsity team took on the N/V Cougars and lost 14-16. Unfortunately, it was another slow start for the Tiger Reserves, scoring only four points in the first quarter. The girls picked up the pace and the aggressiveness for the second quarter, continuing to make a case for how tough these girls are and making it a very tight game but just weren’t able to overcome.
Cali Gutz led the team in scoring with four, followed by Caydence Kreinert and Juliana Kumm with three.
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