The Howells-Dodge Boys Basketball team has won two in a row after starting the season 0-4. Head Coach Cole Fischer says a difficult schedule along with trying to find the right rotation caused his team to start off slow.
"We're just trying to find the right combination of guys and we got about 10 guys that probably can play, and we just had to work out some kinks. But at the same time we played Pierce, who is pretty darn good, and Stanton as well, and David City Aquinas."
The Jaguars also lost a close game to Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.
Howells-Dodge defeated Oakland-Craig 57-56 on the road Saturday night and West Point-Beemer 62-52 at home Tuesday night.
The Knights jumped on the Jaguars 22-10 at the end of one. Oakland-Craig won the second quarter 13-11 to take a 35-21 lead into the locker room.
Howells-Dodge outscored the Knights 22-12 in the third quarter to make it a 47-43 game at the end of three.
The Jaguars totaled 14 fourth quarter points compared to 9 for Oakland-Craig.
Tyler Polacek had a game-high 23 points and 8 rebounds for Howells-Dodge. Zach Bayer added 9 points while Nolan Lund notched 7.
Both the Jaguars and Cadets scored 14 points in the first quarter. Howells-Dodge outscored West Point-Beemer 18-11 to take a 32-25 lead into the locker room.
The Cadets won the third quarter 9-7 to make it a 39-34 game at the end of three.
West Point-Beemer put up 23 fourth quarter points compared to 18 for the Jaguars.
Polacek led all players with 17 points. Luke Renter totaled 14 while Josh Brester notched 11. Lund and Dylan Kucera each had 7.
Howells-Dodge has really done a nice job of turning things around. The Jaguars have figured out a way to come through when it matters most.
Howells-Dodge (2-4) is back in action Friday, taking on Lyons-Decatur Northeast (2-1) on the road.
The Cougars defeated Clarkson/Leigh 51-47 at home on Saturday.
Fischer says the Cougars will be a tough matchup.
"They're always well coached, and they have a nice system, and they have Anderson I believe is his name. He's averaging about 20 points a game. We got to control him and just continue to play great defense."
Lyons-Decatur Northeast is off to a good start, and is a better team than most people thought they would be, in my opinion.
I think this is going to be a difficult game for the Jaguars.
However, Howells-Dodge plays a very challenging schedule so there's no doubt the Jaguars will be ready for the Cougars.
I think Howells-Dodge has a pretty good chance to get to 4-4 after this weekend.
The Jaguars have Clarkson/Leigh on Saturday and the Patriots are certainly a very beatable team.
Howells-Dodge appears to have things figured out after their slow start. The Jaguars played at a high level in their last two games, and I fully expect Howells-Dodge to play well Friday night.
I think this game is going to be close. The team that executes the best and plays the hardest will probably be the winner.
The Howells-Dodge and Lyons-Decatur Northeast Boys will play after the girls. The girls game is set to start at 6:15 p.m.
The games can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.
The Howells-Dodge Girls Basketball team is 4-2 on the season following a 70-61 home loss to West Point-Beemer Tuesday night. Head Coach Scott Polacek says his team went cold for a period of time in the second quarter, and that proved to be costly.
"We had a real dry spell from about four minutes in the second quarter. Really that was the story of the game. I won't sell West Point-Beemer short at all, they did a really nice job defensively during that time. They got a couple steals and put them in. And then their offense just kind of clicked real good during that stretch, and they made a nice run on us, and that was really the story of the game."
Prior to the loss to the Cadets, the Jaguars beat Oakland-Craig 43-35 on the road Saturday night.
The Jaguars led Oakland-Craig 12-5 after one. The Knights won the second quarter 12-9 to make it a 21-17 game at halftime.
Howells-Dodge outscored Oakland-Craig 12-5 in the third quarter to lead 33-22 at the end of three.
The Knights recorded 13 fourth quarter points compared to 10 for the Jaguars.
Sam Brester had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Kalli Brester registered 9 points.
Howells-Dodge and West Point-Beemer were tied at 16 at the end of one. The Cadets outscored the Jaguars 25-13 in the second quarter to make it a 41-29 game at halftime.
The Jaguars won the third quarter 16-12 to cut the deficit to 8 at 53-45 at the end of three.
West Point-Beemer put up 17 fourth quarter points compared to 16 for Howells-Dodge.
Sam Brester had a team-high 17 points. Chelsea Bayer totaled 11 while Tessa Brester recorded 9.
The Jaguars have played really good basketball despite their brutal schedule. These tough games will no doubt pay off for Howells-Dodge in the long run.
The Jaguars travel to Lyons Friday night to battle 4-0 Lyons-Decatur Northeast.
The Cougars beat Archbishop Bergan 68-49 on the road Tuesday night.
Polacek says the Cougars do a good job of making the most out of what they have to work with.
"This is another quality East Husker opponent. Rex Haskell, he's just done a great job with those girls. And the thing about Lyons-Decatur is they've never really had a lot of girls out for basketball kind of due to their size. And some of those girls, they've just been playing varsity basketball as freshmen, so their team bond, their chemistry is superior to ours, and so we'll have our work cut out for us just dealing with them at their place cause they're just solid top to bottom, no doubt about it."
Lyons-Decatur Northeast has definitely maximized their potential this season, especially when you consider they only have nine girls on their roster.
With that said, the Cougars haven't played the kind of schedule Howells-Dodge has.
I think the Jaguars have a chance to hand Lyons-Decatur Northeast their first loss of the season.
The Cougars are a tough team, there's no doubt about that, but so is Howells-Dodge.
Sam Brester is no doubt one of the best players in the area, regardless of class, and I look for her to have a big game Friday night.
Bayer, Kalli Brester, and Tessa Brester need to continue to help her out though. The Jaguars can't rely on Sam Brester's production alone to win.
Howells-Dodge has done a good job of spreading the wealth lately though so I don't see that being an issue moving forward.
The game can be heard on 107.9 the Bull with tip-off set for 6:15.
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