South O’Brien Halts HMS

by Mari Radtke
The HMS Hawks visited the Competition Gym at Paullina on Tuesday January 20. The girls had little trouble defeating the Hawks. The Wolverines outscored their guests in each of the first three quarters. The game final was 53-46 Wolverines.
Wolverine scoring leaders were senior Lindsey Einck, 15; junior Abby Woodall, 11 with 9 points from outside out of 8 attempts and senior Reese Farquhar with 8 points. Top rebounders for the Wolverines were Einck with 12 and 8 from the Wolverine misses. Farquhar boarded 8 with 2 offensive and junior BreLee Rasmussen grabbing 6 with 2 offensive. Einck had 2 steals and Rasmussen had 1.
HMS Hawks scoring leaders were senior Moriah Otto with 15 points, senior Lindseay Van Es, 13. Van Es took 9 shots from outside, drilling 4 for 12 of her points. Sophomore Laura Vargas added 7 points for the Hawks. Otto pulled 9 rebounds with 2 offensive. Sophomore Keely Ebel boarded 5 with 1 second chance and Van Es took down 4 with 2 offensive. Van Es stole 3 and blocked 1 with Otto taking 1 and Ebel 2 steals.

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Takes Road Win at Paullina

by Mari Radtke
Competition Gym at Paullina hosted a lot of basketball. HMS brought their best game and the boys defeated the Wolverines in an exciting game that was contested until the last score.
The Wolverines opened with a lead in the first quarter, losing part of it by halftime. First quarter scoring was 19-12 and second quarter scoring was 16-19. The halftime score was Wolverines 35 Hawks 31.
HMS advanced their lead in the third quarter by 9. The outscored their hosts 19-10. The Hawks pushed up on that lead during the final period of play but the Wolverines do not go quietly. A Wolverine push on their home court closed a 10-point gap by half at the buzzer. The game final was 63-67 in favor of the Hawks.
Sophomore Caden Douma led the Hawks scoring with 27. He hit from outside for 18 points. Senior Isaac Schierholz drilled 24 points and senior Lawton Schiphoff scored all 9 of his points from outside. Schierholz took 11 misses off the glass with 7 offensive re-dos. Douma pulled 7 boards with 2 offensive and sophomore Jackson Vogt took down 4 and 2. Schierholz blocked 1 with Doiuma and Vogt taking 3 steals and 1 respectively.
The Wolverines’ Jaden Kreber scored 18 followed by Alex Griebel, 15; Gabe Moermond, 10, Brady Riedemann, 8 and Brody Van Beek, 7.
HMS leaves the contest with an 12-3 record and SOS at 9-5.

Hinton Blackhawks Menace Wolverines at Hinton

by Mari Radtke
The South O’Brien Wolverines braved the painful cold on Friday night ready to take on the Hinton Blackhawks. The Blackhawks, always dominate on the hardwood, took a commanding 18 point lead in the first quarter while limiting the Wolverines to single digits. The second quarter was even tougher on the Wolveriens with the Blackhawks expanding their lead. The halftime score was 54-11. The defense of the Blackhawks prevented the Wolverines from breaking double digit scoring in any quarter throughout the game. The trip home was even colder after the 94-24 defeat.
Stats are not available at press time.

Another Adrenaline Pumping Game

by Mari Radtke
The Wolverines were in Hinton on a frigid Friday night against the Blackhawks. They came with their 9-5 record facing another strong competitor with an 11-3 record. Quarter scoring for the two titans tied in both the opening and the closing quarters. The Wolverines went to the locker room at half with a 1-basket lead. The host Blackhawks benefitted from a scoring run during the third giving them the edge going into the final period of play. The Wolverines stopped the Blackhawk scoring and put points on the board during the last couple minutes of the 3rd. The fourth quarter opened in a tangle of back and forth scoring and the teams held each other scoreless and tied for a big part of the final period of play. In the end the blackhawks got just enough points to 74-70 win.
South O’Brien’s Jaden Kreber scored 33 points for the Wolverines. He was followed up by Broday Van Beek with 11, Gabe Moermond and Brady Riedemann with 9 each and Alex Griebel with 6.
Hinton’s senior Logan Kempema scored 39 points for the Blackhawks. Senior Logan Coffee added 11 points with senior Will Hagestrom posting 9 points. Coffee rebounded 11 wit h4 offensive. He also blocked 2 shots and took a steal. Kempema boarded 7 with 3 offensive. He also blocked 2 shots and 2 steals. Senior Cole Friessen took down 6 missed shots with 1 offensive and 2 steals.