Vikings hoping for better results at Creighton Holiday Tourney

WAUSA — It wasn’t the ideal result, but it could have been a lot worse for the Wausa Viking boys basketball team when it wrapped up action before Christmas break.

For head coach Tim Schindler’s squad, the Vikings fell to 1-6, but not before a competitive, 62-53 defeat at Niobrara-Verdigre.

The Viking effort was keyed by an impressive 28-point performance by sophomore Jaxon Claussen.

“The key to the Niobrara game was that they played better on the boards and got too many paint points,” Schindler said. “We played much better on the offensive end as we only ended up with eight turnovers.”

Schindler’s crew returned from the Christmas holiday for a date with Bloomfield at the Creighton tournament.

There are several things the team needs to work on, Coach Schindler said.

“We need to get quality possessions on the offensive end and keep the ball out of the paint on the defensive end,” Schindler said. “We are young and learning as we go. We want to continue to get better on both ends of the court.”

Claussen has been one of the team’s tone setters during the early part of the campaign and he notes that the youth the team has definitely plays a part in the early ups and downs.

“We have three starters that are a sophomore and a junior and a senior,” Claussen said. “All of our games were close except for one, and we also had one of our seniors miss a couple games with the COVID and that was a big part of our record. Overall, we are starting to get pretty good at playing together as a team.”

“We are learning our team’s ability and what each of us can do so over time we are going to get better.”

Claussen noted that the team’s improvement or areas of positives includes offensive spacing which at first was a serious obstacle.

“Our post entries and kicks opened up a lot of opportunities for drives and threes which a lot of basic offenses need to do,” Claussen said. “That’s what’s been working the most for us right now.”

The boys sports at Wausa has not had any sports cancelled to date even with a few cases occurring in town.

“I don’t have any concerns going forward and as a school we do a great job at wearing our masks,” Claussen said. “We have been good at wearing them in the locker room and on the bench, so we have minimal contact and that has allowed us to continue. If we keep it up, we should be good for the rest of the season.

“I don’t think any cancellation would come from our school.”

SCORING

WAUSA - Jaxon Claussen, 28; Cashe Carlson, 9; Cory Schumacher, 6; Jon Nissen, 4; Addison Smith, 4; Brandon Kristensen, 2.

REBOUNDS

WAUSA - Cory Schumacher, 8; Addison Smith, 5; Josh Wattier, 4; Jaxon Claussen, 4; Cashe Carlson, 3; Jon Nissen, 3; Brandon Kristensen, 3.

ASSISTS

WAUSA - Brandon Kristensen, 3; Addison Smith, 2; Jaxon Claussen, 2; Jon Nissen, 1.

STEALS

WAUSA - Jaxon Claussen, 4; Josh Wattier, 1; Addison Smith, 1; Brandon Kristensen, 1.

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