Tigers fall in subdistrict play
NIOBRARA — The Osmond boys began post-season play Tuesday night, Feb. 23, in Niobrara. The D1-5 subdistrict consisted of No. 5 seed Boyd County, No. 4 seed Niobrara-Verdigre, No. 3 seed Bloomfield, No. 2 seed Creighton, and No. 1 seed Osmond. Niobrara-Verdigre bested the Spartans on Monday night and earned one more game against the Tigers the following evening.
Osmond vs. Niobrara-Verdigre
Osmond played a great game from start to finish, getting stops on defense and shooting the ball extremely well from all over the floor. As a team, the Tigers shot 47%, including converting 11 of 22 three point attempts.
Graysen Schultze led the way for the Tigers. The senior finished with another double-double with 11 rebounds to go with his 25 points. Schultze made an efficient 9/14 shot attempts, including five made three pointers.
Ryan Schmit tallied 14 points on the night, making five of his 10 attempts to go along with his team-high six assists. Bryan Solorzano was right behind him, finishing with 11 points while sinking three of four shot attempts behind the arc.
Osmond vs. Creighton
Thursday night, Feb. 25, Osmond would take on the Creighton Bulldogs. Creighton was the winner of their Tuesday matchup against Bloomfield. Despite being behind by five and having their leading scorer go down with a season-ending knee injury just before half, the Bulldogs managed to rally together and defeat the Bees 38-32. When Osmond faced Creighton,
When Osmond faced Creighton, they knew the Bulldogs would be without John Mitchell, a player that averaged 33 points per game this season.
Without Mitchell, Creighton was a severe underdog and both teams knew it. This seemed to work to Creighton’s mental advantage. They played with confidence all game long, shot efficiently, played tremendous defense and made a high percentage of free throws in the fourth quarter to close out the game. For the Tigers, they were perhaps a little unsure of what Creighton would do on offense.
All season long, the Bulldogs had run their offense through Mitchell and, now that he was out, it was a bit of an unknown of how they would try to attack the Osmond defense. Defensively, Creighton dedicated themselves to plugging up the middle and not allowing the Tigers to drive the paint and get the ball moving.
Several Tigers had plenty of open shots, but couldn’t come close to matching their shooting from Tuesday night. Osmond shot 35% from the floor, including an abysmal 3/19 behind the arc.
With Osmond tied or trailing most of the game, the Tigers went on a run midway through the fourth quarter. Schultze finally found room to drive and Stevin Hasler sacrificed his body and took a big charge on a fast break. It seemed like the Tigers had
It seemed like the Tigers had momentum and were finally taking over, prepared to closeout the game. However, Creighton responded and kept playing with confidence.
The Bulldogs answered with a three of their own and a pair of made free throws. Free throw shooting was crucial for Creighton, shooting an incredible 13 for 16 at the line, eight of those makes coming in the final quarter.
Osmond had open looks at the hoop to tie the game or cut it within one in the final minute of the game, but those shots fell short and the final buzzer sounded, leaving Osmond in disbelief as they looked up at the scoreboard.
Fortunately for the Tigers, they had a great regular season that afforded them the third wildcard spot to be entered into a “district” final. Osmond is the No. 7 seed and will host the No. 10 seed Central Valley Cougars, a team that is 16-6 on the season. It’s win or go home for the remaining 16 teams left in class D1.
The Tigers have advanced to the state tournament the last three seasons and were looking to make that four in a row when they hosted the Cougars Monday night.
Unfortunately, the Tigers ended their season Monday with a loss to Central Valley. A report on that game will be printed next week.
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