Vikes claim Holiday Tourney title
CREIGHTON — The Wausa boys basketball team continues its winning ways and that includes a new championship trophy for the trophy case.
Last week, the Vikings moved to 7-2 overall when they captured the Creighton Holiday Tournament title with a win over Bloomfield, 47-44 in the final after beating the host 55-47 in the previous round.
“We beat Creighton in a hardfought game,” Wausa coach Tim Schindler said. “Both games our guys played scrappy defense and were able to execute things down the stretch to win.”
In the championship, Jon Nissen made two huge free throws to take the lead back late. Then the Vikes were able to get the defensive stop for the win.
Devin Rosberg (17 points) Jon Nissen (15 points) and Jaxon Claussen (12 points) led the way against Creighton while Addison Smith exploded for 18 points in the final while Claussen and Nissen chipped in with nine points each.
Schindler said that despite taking some time off for the holidays, the Vikings were impressive in the area of ball control.
“Usually, you see rust coming out of the break, but we did a good job of limiting our turnovers for the most part,” Schindler said.
The season reconvenes at 7 p.m. Thursday against Lutheran Northeast in Norfolk.
Nissen said the title in Creighton is a big boost for the Vikings as they haven’t won the holiday event in a long time if ever.
“It’s pretty huge,” Nissen said. “It just proves how good we are doing. It’s not just that we are playing teams that aren’t as good. We are playing good teams and we are able to beat them. We have chemistry with each other. We have played with each other for three years now.
“The chemistry is finally starting to build. We always work together. If someone is having a good game, we give them the most opportunities to score – like Jaxon. If they want the ball, we know how to get it there.”
Nissen said the Vikings could do a better job physically as they sometimes get beaten in that aspect.
“We have to practice more physical and then it will result more in the games,” he said. “Our offense is about where it needs to be – but it can always be better. But we are doing good things on that end and that’s what winning us games.
“We listen to coach he gives us the right plays and we execute what he tells us. It just works.”
Wausa 10 17 14 14 — 55
Creighton 11 13 12 11 — 47
SCORING Wausa – Devin Rosberg, 17; Jon Nissen, 15; Jaxon Claussen, 12; Brandon Kristensen, 4; Josh Wattier, 4; Cashe Carlson, 3.
Wausa 8 8 14 17 — 47
Bloomfield 10 8 11 15 — 44
SCORING Wausa – Addison Smith, 18; Jaxon Claussen, 9; Jon Nissen, 9; Devin Rosberg, 7; Josh Wattier, 4. Bloomfield – Cody Bruegman, 16; Layne Warrior, 14; Dalton Gieselman, 13; Logan Doerr, 1.
