Vikes roll together two more big wins
WAUSA — The new and improved Wausa Vikings basketball program proved once again why this might not be the team your big brothers remember.
After a rough week of defeats only a few days earlier, the Vikings bounced back with wins over Santee (83-73 in overtime) and rival Randolph 55-35 to head into upcoming action with a 9-4 record.
The Vikings needed the boost of adrenaline and also a sense of retribution over two teams that held the edge on Wausa a year ago. Santee eliminated Wausa from SubDistricts last winter and the Vikings were able to get one back as Jaxon Claussen’s insane scoring tear continued with 33 points while Devin Rosberg (15 points) and Jon Nissen (14 points) also contributed in the victory.
Wausa rallied from a 43-29 halftime deficit to force overtime and take over from there.
Against Randolph, the Vikings slowly pulled away after a tight first quarter saw them lead the Cardinals 7-6.
Claussen went off for 25 points and during his onslaught he surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark and the junior still has plenty of time left to add to his resume. Nissen and Addison Smith added 13 and eight points apiece in the win over Randolph.
“Santee was a exciting game that we were down in the first half and came back in the third,” Wausa head coach Tim Schindler said. “Santee pressed the whole game, and we were able to get them in foul trouble.
“When we broke the press we got a lot of good looks early. Jaxon had a block at the end of regulation to send it to overtime.
“Jaxon fouled out late in overtime, but the other guys stepped up and played great defense and took care of the ball to get the win.”
Schindler noted Smith’s 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line in the extra session.
He added that Randolph once again caused havoc with its 1-3-1 zone.
“In the second half, we played with a little more defensive pressure and came away with the win,” Schindler said.
Claussen, who surpassed the 1,000-point milestone on a halfcourt buzzer beater to wrap up the third quarter said doing it in his junior year could help him get to 1,300 by the end of the campaign and then make a run for 2,000 next season.
“I did the math on it and I have to average 27 the rest of this year and about 20 next year,” Claussen said. “I just got to make all the shots that I shoot. I wanted to get the shot on a dunk, but this was three times cooler. When I let it go, I said ‘it’s on.’ When it went in, it was the craziest feeling. It took a second for my body to react.”
Claussen said the two-game sweep helped get the Vikings equilibrium back in order.
“After we played in our tournament, we probably shot the worst any high school team has ever shot – it was awful,” Claussen said. “Last year, districts, Santee came out and destroyed us and this was more-or-less payback. We came out there to prove we were better.
“Randolph beat us twice last year, and like when we beat them in football to get into the playoffs, this was nice. They may have been 0-11, but they hung around for most of their games, so we knew we had to show we were the better team.”
Claussen said coming off consecutive losses to beat a solid Santee team definitely doesn’t hurt a team’s ego.
“We got a few big games coming up this week,” Claussen said. “We know we are going to have to play really hard or we could be upset. The end goal is that we get good enough that we beat Wynot at sub-districts.”
Wausa played Elkhorn Valley Tuesday and will travel to Tri County Northeast on Thursday and host Winside Friday.
“It’s a big week with two C2 schools on the schedule,” Schindler said. “We need to take care of the ball and play great defense. We need to be better at checking out down the stretch and taking care of the ball.”
Wausa 7 19 17 12 — 55
Randolph 6 12 10 7 — 35
SCORING Wausa – Jaxon Claussen, 25; Jon Nissen, 13; Addison Smith, 8; Brandon Kristensen, 5; Josh Wattier, 4. Randolph – Collyn Beal, 15; Jacob Calder, 11; Shaw Backer, 3; Tom Korth, 2; Isaiah Salmon, 2; Brayden Shearer, 2.
REBOUNDS Randolph – Collyn Beal, 7; Jake Harder, 7; Brayden Shearer, 5; Jacob Calder, 3; Shaw Backer, 1; Isaiah Salmon, 1.
ASSISTS Randolph – Collyn Beal, 1; Jake Harder, 1.
STEALS Randolph – Shaw Backer, 1; Collyn Beal, 1; Jacob Calder, 1.
Santee 18 25 14 9 7 — 73
Wausa 8 21 26 11 17 —83
SCORING Wausa – Jaxon Claussen, 33; Devin Rosberg, 15; Jon Nissen, 14; Addison Smith, 8; Cashe Carlson, 6; Josh Wattier, 4; Brandon Kristensen, 3.
