The Howells-Dodge Boys fell 54-50 at home to Wisner-Pilger in an East Husker Conference Tournament Consolation Game Friday night.
The Gators jumped out to a 20-14 lead at the end of one. The Jaguars then tripled up Wisner-Pilger 15-5 in the second quarter to take a 29-25 lead into the locker room.
The Gators won the third quarter 10-9 to make it a 38-35 game at the end of three in favor of Howells-Dodge.
Wisner-Pilger outscored the Jaguars 19-12 in the fourth quarter.
Connor Blum led the way with 20 points while Zach Bayer totaled 12.
Head Coach Cole Fischer says this loss was tough to take. "There are no moral victories at this point in the season. We have to find ways to finish games and get a win."
Howells-Dodge (9-10) travels to North Bend to battle North Bend Central (14-3) Thursday night.
The Tigers won the tournament championship, knocking off Logan View/Scribner-Snyder 53-47 in the title game in Columbus Saturday night.
North Bend Central is on a roll right now as they have won four in a row and seven out of their last eight.
This is not the best time for the Jaguars to play the Tigers, in my opinion.
Howells-Dodge has picked the wrong time to struggle as the Jaguars have dropped three in a row and four out of their last five.
I will say though if there's ever a team to gain confidence against by beating it's North Bend Central.
A win over the Tigers could do wonders for Howells-Dodge's confidence.
I'm afraid this is a game the Jaguars could get blown out in though.
I say that simply based on how both teams are playing right now, and the fact North Bend Central is a C-1 team.
The game is also in North Bend so that's something else to the Tigers' advantage, in my opinion.
I really think this is going to be a difficult game for the Jaguars, but I feel this game will help prepare Howells-Dodge for the postseason.
The Jaguars have two other tough games to round out the regular season in contests with Wakefield Friday night and Lutheran High Northeast next Friday night, but I think this game with North Bend Central could kind of be a springboard to those final two regular season games if Howells-Dodge plays well.
So I think the Jaguars can definitely compete with the Tigers, and need to desperately, but it's not going to be easy, and I could see Howells-Dodge getting blown out as well.
The Howells-Dodge Girls finished Runner-Up in the East Husker Conference Tournament, falling 54-48 to North Bend Central in the championship Saturday night at Central Community College in Columbus, after beating Pender 46-40 in the Semifinals at home Thursday night.
In the Howells-Dodge/Pender Game, things were really tight throughout until the fourth quarter, when the Jaguars pulled away.
The Pendragons jumped out to a 10-8 lead at the end of one before Howells-Dodge outscored Pender 12-7 in the second quarter to take a a 20-17 lead into the locker room.
The Pendragons won the third quarter 12-11 to make it a 31-29 game at the end of three, but the Jaguars scored 15 points in the fourth quarter compared to 11 for Pender to seal the deal.
Howells-Dodge was led by Sam Brester, who notched a game-high 18 point and had 10 rebounds, good enough for a double-double. Erin Prusa added 8 points and 8 rebounds while Chelsea Bayer had 7 points.
The Jaguars were 13-24 at the free throw line while Pender was 4-7.
Head Coach Scott Polacek. "I would love to see some of the conferences battle like we battle here in the East Husker. There's pry some conferences that may be a little tougher than ours, but everybody's just so even, and there's just a lot of good coaching. You got to bring your A game. If you don't it will be a humbling experience. Someone's going to humble you. And you just have to be ready to go every time. And we were just lucky enough that we had a fourth quarter that was the difference."
Polacek on the win. "We were just very fortunate to make a nice little run. We made a couple key rebounds. They missed a couple key shots. And I just thought we did a good job of just finishing and making a couple plays right at the end, that was the difference."
The Tigers doubled up the Jaguars 12-6 in the first quarter before winning the second quarter 15-10 to lead 27-16 at halftime.
Howells-Dodge put up 13 points in the third quarter compared to 11 for North Bend Central to make it a 38-29 game at the end of three.
The Jaguars outscored the Tigers 19-16 in the fourth quarter.
Howells-Dodge (18-3) was led by Brester, who had a team-high 17 points. Macey Kulhanek totaled 11 while Bayer posted 9.
Polacek adds there are still a lot of tough games ahead. "Since we've consolidated we've been at Platte College either in the consolation or the championship game all five years since we've been Howells-Dodge. And that's a heck of an accomplishment considering the talent across this conference. We got to play North Bend on Thursday at their house, and then we've got Stanton and Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family in our sub-district along with Wisner-Pilger, and Battle Creek is playing good ball now. So I guess we just need to be playing our best ball. And that's want you want. We've got 28 days left in the season, and now is the time to do it."
The Tigers come in at 15-4 and have won eight in a row.
This is a really big and important game for the Jaguars.
A win would catapult Howells-Dodge back up there in power points while a loss would make things a little bit iffy.
The slate isn't easy the rest of the way for the Jaguars, and Howells-Dodge needs to find a way to bounce back against North Bend Central Thursday night.
At the very least, playing the Tigers again will help prepare the Jaguars for a tough sub-district, in my opinion.
Howells-Dodge has to play with a sense of urgency and purpose from here on out as a wildcard is not a sure thing.
The Jaguars have to do everything in their power to find a way to win over North Bend Central at their place Thursday night.
A loss to the Tigers doesn't hurt Howells-Dodge's power points a whole lot, but a win would do quite a bit for them.
The Jaguars have to play up to their full potential Thursday night, and see if they can knock off North Bend Central.
I don't think things will be easy though, especially with the game being in the Tigers' house.
What I could see happening is North Bend Central winning and adding frustration to the Howells-Dodge cause, sparking a big postseason run for the Jaguars.
So I actually think a loss wouldn't be all that bad for Howells-Dodge in this scenario while a win might relax them more than it should knowing they would probably be into state with a wildcard.
So I'm not suggesting the Jaguars should try and lose, not that at all, but I do think a loss would help fuel and motivate this team for the postseason in a big way.
Howells-Dodge should give it their all and try to come up with a big win to help their wildcard chances out significantly though.
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