The Howells-Dodge Girls are back at state thanks to a wildcard. The Jaguars defeated Osceola 53-36 on Tuesday, February 16th in the D1-4 Sub District at David City Aquinas before losing 43-38 to Fullerton in the Sub District Final on Thursday, February 18th.
The Jaguars led the Bulldogs 18-10 at the end of one. Howells-Dodge tripled up Osceola 15-5 in the second quarter to lead 33-15 at halftime.
The Jaguars doubled up the Bulldogs 12-6 in the third quarter to go up 45-21 at the end of three.
Osceola notched 15 fourth quarter points compared to 9 for Howells-Dodge.
Sam Brester totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds, good enough for a double-double. Chelsea Bayer and Tessa Brester notched 10 points apiece.
The Warriors led the Jaguars 7-3 after one. Howells-Dodge won the second quarter 11-7 to tie the game at 14 at halftime.
Fullerton outscored the Jaguars 19-12 in the third quarter to lead 33-26 at the end of three.
Howells-Dodge notched 12 fourth quarter points compared to 10 for the Warriors.
Sam Brester paced the Jaguars with 16 points. Macey Kulhanek added 7 while Kelly Cech totaled 8 rebounds.
19-6 Howells-Dodge squares off with 22-1 Dundy County-Stratton in the first round in Lincoln on Thursday.
Head Coach Scott Polacek says not turning the ball over will be critical given what happened last year and how tough the Tigers are. "Obviously we have to do a good job of taking care of the ball. That's step one. They got a couple of cheap turnovers on us in the game that hurt. And they've been really doing that to everybody I've seen this year on film. They've just been really doing a good job of pressuring the ball so we got to take care of the ball, that's just the number one step. So if we do that we feel we can be competitive."
Dundy County-Stratton beat the Jaguars 58-48 in the state semifinals last year.
The Tigers beat South Loup 68-35 in the D1-6 District Final at Wallace Friday night.
Dundy County-Stratton is a very good team. The Tigers are probably just as good if not better than they were last year.
Polacek says the Tigers are a tough team who stand in the way of his team achieving their goal.
"It's kind of a goal for us to get to the finals, get to Pinnacle Bank. And so obviously Dundy County is right there in front of us, and it's going to be a tough task. They're solid, and they got their entire team back. And yeah it's going to be a project to get through all these girls, there's no doubt about it."
Another team that could perhaps stand in Howells-Dodge's way of making the state championship is Friend, should both the Jaguars and Bulldogs win.
Howells-Dodge has to play their game, and do everything in their power to win. That means the Jaguars can't beat themselves.
Thursday's game tips off at 2:00 p.m. at Lincoln North Star. Updates will be provided on 107.9 the Bull.
No comments:
Post a Comment