Wildcats and Tigers Slip Past Vikings
WAUSA — With the season beginning to wrap up, the Vikings are beginning to play their best basketball yet this year. This week, the Vikings saw both the HNPS Wildcats and the Osmond Tigers.
Knowing that both matchups would be a challenge, the Vikes went into the week with their heads high.
On Tuesday, February 9, the Vikings traveled to Hartington for their regular-season match against the Wildcats. The Wildcats had previously beaten the Vikings in the first round of the Conference tournament just over a week earlier. The game started off almost identically when it came to quarter scores with the Vikings scoring 12 to their 10 in the first and 13 to their 16 in the second. Cory Schumacher came out with the hot hand and scored most of the first quarter’s 12 points, one shot even being a rare 3-pointer from Wausa’s 6’3” Center. The game continued excitingly, being neck-and-neck all the way to the end. The final score for the evening was 58 – 54 in favor of the Wildcats. Top scorers for the night were Jaxon Claussen, 22, Addison Smith, 12, and Cory Schumacher, 7.
On Friday, the Osmond Tigers came to town. The only time this year these two have seen each other was in January during the Wausa Post Holiday Tournament when the Tigers rolled over the Vikings by 32 points.
This night would be different.
The Vikings came out ready to fight back. Keeping the score low, the Vikes and Tigers each only scored six points by the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second, Addison Smith started the Vikes off with a 3-point field goal off the bat giving the team the push that they needed. The Vikings outscored the Tigers in the second quarter 16 – 9.
Unfortunately, halftime gave the Tigers their much-needed breather allowing them to come out freshly on the court and score 25 in the third quarter alone.
It wasn’t over, though, and the Vikings were not going anywhere. They continued to fight, but it just wasn’t enough; the Tigers had pulled too far ahead.
The Tigers won the game with a final score of 56 – 41. Top scorer for the night was Jaxon Claussen with another fascinating 30 points.
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