Stanton Boys fall at BRLD and Twin River

The Stanton Boys lost 51-42 at BRLD on Saturday before falling 44-39 at Twin River Thursday night.

The Wolverines led the Mustangs 10-7 after one. BRLD won the second quarter 17-15 to take a 27-22 lead into the locker room.

The Wolverines outscored Stanton 13-11 in the third quarter to go up 40-33 at the end of three.

BRLD outlasted the Mustangs. 11-9 in the fourth quarter.

Trey Erbst led the way with 10 points while Marcus Spotanski and Myles Nickolite totaled 8 points apiece. Broderick Sieh chipped in 7 points while Hunter Stallbaum pitched in 12 rebounds.

I think Stanton has to be encouraged by the way they played their last two games. The Mustangs competed well against both teams, in my opinion.

Stanton (3-13) battles Oakland-Craig (10-5) on Saturday in the first round of the East Husker Conference Tournament at Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.

The Knights are coming off a 72-62 loss at North Bend Central last Friday night.

Oakland-Craig has dropped three in a row, and has had some games postponed or cancelled, but I think the Knights are close to being back to the top of their game.

Oakland-Craig downed the Mustangs 61-59 at Stanton on January 6th. Ironically, that was the Knights' last win.

I think Oakland-Craig will find a way to beat Stanton again. An upset wouldn't surprise me one bit, but I think the Knights will prevail.

To pull an upset, Ebrst, Spotanski, Nickolite, and Sieh will need to score the way they did against BRLD, and Stallbaum will need to be a beast on the boards again.

The Mustangs have to figure out a way to contain Oakland-Craig's shooters.

Stanton can't let Garrett Seagren, Kobe Benne, Carter Thiele, Wyatt Seagren, and others get hot.

The Mustangs have to play tight, in your face defense, and must contest shots as well as make it difficult for the Knights to get the ball up the floor.

Stanton has to play with toughness, grit, determination, will, heart, passion, and pride.

The Mustangs have to view this tournament as an opportunity to start fresh.

As far as I'm concerned, Stanton has nothing to lose in this game.

The Mustangs shouldn't really feel much pressure. Stanton should be loose, relaxed, and ready to go.

All the pressure is and will be on Oakland-Craig, in my opinion.

I think the Knights have a chance to do something in this tournament, but not if they trip up against the Mustangs in the first round.

Stanton has to play hard and be physical. A lot of these same kids have played against one another on the gridiron so this should be an old fashioned slugfest.

It wouldn't surprise me if the game was as close as it was the first time these two teams met.