Osmond Tigers claim holiday tournament championship

RANDOLPH — The Tigers closed out 2020 with a pair of wins in the Randolph Holiday Tournament.

Osmond vs. Stuart

On opening night, Osmond matched up against the 7-1 Stuart Broncos. The Tigers hadn’t played a game since Dec. 15, and knew a game against a solid Stuart team wouldn’t be easy coming off a two-week lapse between competition.

However, Osmond came out firing on all cylinders early in the game. The Tigers raced to an early 10-2 lead after a corner three by Caden Wingert influenced Stuart to take a timeout.

After the timeout, Stuart settled in and outplayed the Tigers for the next six minutes of the game, going on an impressive 16-0 run and claiming a 18-10 lead over the Tigers. Osmond answered with a couple made 3s by Stevin Hasler and a Spencer Hille bucket off an offensive rebound. Both teams seemed to have weathered the storm as they entered halftime with the Broncos edging the Tigers 22-21.

In the third quarter, Osmond began to take over. Graysen Schultze scored six of his game-high 15 points in the quarter, but it was the Tiger defense that created problems for the Broncos. In the third, Osmond relied heavily on its rarely-used 2-3 zone defense.

The boys defended well out of the zone, holding Stuart to just one made field goal in the quarter and holding them to five points, as the Tigers took the momentum and a 31-27 lead heading into the final quarter.

Osmond kept on rolling in the fourth, holding Stuart to zero points until a shot fell in just before the final buzzer sounded. In total, Osmond only allowed seven Stuart points in the second half, outscoring the Broncos by 16 points in the final two quarters to advance to the championship with a 44-29 victory.

Score by Quarter

Osmond 10 11 10 13 = 44

Stuart 13 9 5 2 = 29

BOX SCORE

FG FT Reb. Pts.

Schmit 3-8 0-0 1 7

Solorzano 1-2 0-0 2 2

Hille 2-2 0-0 2 4

Hasler 2-3 0-0 0 6

Schultze 6-11 3-7 7 15

Huwaldt 1-4 0-0 9 2

Reikofski 0-1 0-0 2 0

Wingert 3-4 0-0 1 8

Osmond 18-35 3-7 24 44

Osmond vs. Randolph

On New Year’s Eve, the Tigers would have a rematch with their first opponent of the season, the Randolph Cardinals. This time around would go much like the first, seeing Osmond dominate and win by 40 points.

Ryan Schmit got things rolling for the Tigers early, knocking down a pair of triples to help him score eight of Osmond’s 16 first-quarter points. Schultze and Wingert got rolling in the second quarter, each adding six points in the period. In total, seven Tigers scored in the first half as they took a commanding 33-15 lead.

The second half was much of the same. Osmond continued to have a balanced scoring attack and forced Randolph into turnovers and poor shot attempts. The Tigers would stretch their lead to 40 shortly before the game ended, coming away with a 66-26 victory and second consecutive championship at the Randolph Holiday Tournament.

All nine varsity players scored for the Tigers, including a game-high 19 points from Graysen Schultze. Ryan Schmit and Zach Huwaldt found double-figures with 11 and 10, respectively. Additionally, Caden Wingert and Spencer Hille each added six points, while Zach Reikofski put up five.

“I’m proud of how our guys kept their composure in the Stuart game and battled back to come away with a blowout victory in that one and tonight we shared the ball exceptionally well and got it done on defense again, holding our opponents to less than 30 points two nights in a row,” summarized Coach Todd Schulze.

Score by Quarter

Osmond 16 19 19 12 = 66

Randolph 4 11 2 9 = 26

BOX SCORE

FG FT Reb. Pts.

Schmit 4-9 0-0 6 11

Solorzano 1-4 0-0 1 2

Hille 4-7 0-0 5 8

Stech 1-4 0-0 1 2

Hasler 1-2 0-0 3 3

Schultze 7-9 1-1 7 19

Huwaldt 4-7 2-2 4 10