The Howells-Dodge Boys suffered a setback Friday night, falling 63-51 to Bancroft-Rosalie in an East Husker Conference Tournament Consolation game at Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.
The Jaguars led the Panthers 12-11 after one. Bancroft-Rosalie won the second quarter 20-15 to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room.
The Panthers outscored Howells-Dodge 13-6 in the third quarter to lead 44-33 at the end of three.
Bancroft-Rosalie put up 19 fourth quarter points compared to 18 for the Jaguars.
Tyler Polacek led all scorers with 18 points. Connor Blum totaled 10 while Mitchell Prusa registered 9 points and 9 rebounds.
Howells-Dodge played well in the first and fourth quarters. It was just the middle quarters that cost the Jaguars.
Howells-Dodge (8-12) takes on Bancroft-Rosalie (10-9) again on the road Tuesday night.
It's never easy to beat a team two games in a row, and the Jaguars have to take it upon themselves to play with pride and passion, and create a different outcome this time around.
You can bet the Panthers will come in brimming with confidence given what happened the first time these two teams played.
Howells-Dodge needs to play with a business like attitude, and be ready to take care of business from the start.
The Jaguars need to turn the tables, and outscore Bancroft-Rosalie by 5, 6, or 7 in multiple quarters.
Howells-Dodge needs to have one of their better performances of the year to come out on top.
The rest of the the Jaguars' schedule definitely has its challenges, but Howells-Dodge is a quality team, and I expect the Jaguars to put up a good fight and play well the rest of the way.
A win over the Panthers would go a long ways in perhaps knocking off North Bend Central and Lutheran High Northeast.
Those two teams will be tough regardless of what happens Tuesday night, but if Howells-Dodge can win over Bancroft-Rosalie, I think their chances of beating those two teams is better than if the Jaguars lose.
Howells-Dodge has to defend a lot better than they did the first time around. The Jaguars can't let three players get in double figures and two others come close. That's just not a winning recipe.
In the East Husker Conference girls tournament, Howells Dodge defeated Humphrey Lindsay Holy Family 52 to 45 Thursday night.
Head Coach Scott Polacek's team was up by 22 at one point, but lost much of the lead in the fourth quarter.
"They made a lot of free throws there down the stretch, Holy Family did. They made a couple big threes. They've been battling through this tournament the whole way. We talked about we didn't want to be caught by surprise. I thought we came out strong. But they had the fourth quarter, that's for sure. They definitely had that. But we made enough free throws down the stretch to pull it away."
The Bulldogs outscored the Jaguars 16-10 in the final frame. Howells-Dodge jumped out to a 21-8 lead at the end of one.
The Jaguars won the second quarter 12-10 to lead 33-18 at halftime.
Humphrey/Lindsay/Holy Family notched 11 third quarter points compared to 9 for Howells-Dodge to make it a 42-29 game at the end of three.
Sam Brester had 21 points and 7 rebounds while Kalli Brester totaled 9 points. Kelly Cech notched 8 rebounds.
The Jaguars lost the conference tournament championship game to Oakland-Craig on Saturday, falling 45-31 at Central Community College in Columbus.
The Knights held a 10-9 lead after one. Oakland-Craig outscored Howells-Dodge 13-7 in the second quarter to take a 23-16 lead into the locker room.
The Knights won the third quarter 10-8 to go up 33-24 after three.
Oakland-Craig notched 12 fourth quarter points compared to 7 for the Jaguars.
Chelsea Bayer had 10 points while Sam Brester recorded 9.
I think Howells-Dodge simply ran into a team who is playing at a very high level right now, a buzzsaw so to speak. The Jaguars are definitely better than what they showed against the Knights.
Howells-Dodge (16-5) travels to Bancroft Tuesday night to battle Bancroft-Rosalie (7-11).
The Panthers beat Twin River 51-39 in a tournament consolation game Thursday night.
Bancroft-Rosalie has played better basketball as of late, and is certainly a team to be reckoned with.
Vicki Gatzmeyer, Paige Peters, Tess Nottleman, Kassidi Browning, and Hannah Flock are all solid players.
The Panthers are certainly capable of upsetting the Jaguars so Howells-Dodge needs to be ready from the start to ensure that doesn't happen.
The Jaguars are no doubt disappointed they didn't win the conference tournament, but there's still a lot to play for with another trip to Lincoln a very good possibility.
Howells-Dodge has to keep moving forward, and not backwards. Nothing can be done about the tournament championship game now. It's in the past. It's history.
The Jaguars need to be focused Tuesday night with a tough game against North Bend Central on Thursday.
Howells-Dodge can't underestimate or overlook Bancroft-Rosalie. The Jaguars have to respect the Panthers, and be ready to take it to them for four quarters.
Sam Brester needs to have a big game and Bayer and Kalli Brester need to step up and help score as well.
It has to be a total team effort if Howells-Dodge is going to come out on top. Sam Brester can only do so much on her own.
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