The Pender Boys Basketball Team is playing their best basketball of the season right now as the Pendragons won 40-39 on a late shot over Stanton in an East Husker Conference Tournament Consolation game at Twin River last Friday night before drilling Spalding Academy 79-41 on the road Monday night, and winning 58-45 at Wynot in a make-up game Thursday night.
The Mustangs led the Pendragons 15-9 at the end of one, and won the 2nd quarter 9-8 to go up 24-17 at halftime.
Pender outscored Stanton 11-3 in the 3rd quarter to pull in front 28-27 at the end of three.
Both teams scored 12 points in the 4th quarter.
Sam Mailloux had 15 points and 12 rebounds, good enough for a double-double, while Eric Schopke registered 12 points and Dylan Vogt had 7.
The Pendragons led the Shamrocks 19-14 at the end of one, and won the 2nd quarter 18-13 to take a 37-27 lead at halftime.
Pender outscored Spalding Academy 22-5 in the 3rd quarter to go up 59-32 at the end of three.
The Pendragons outscored the Shamrocks 20-9 in the 4th quarter to make up the final score.
Vogt poured in a game-high 26 points while Mailloux notched 18 points and 12 rebounds, good enough for a double-double. Schopke added 16 points and 8 rebounds.
The Blue Devils went up 16-11 after one before the Pendragons outscored Wynot 19-6 in the 2nd quarter to take a 30-22 lead into the locker room.
Pender doubled up the Blue Devils 16-8 in the 3rd quarter to go up 46-30 at the end of three.
Wynot won the 4th quarter 15-12.
What a roll and great run the Pendragons are on right now.
Pender (9-12) takes on BRLD (18-1) in the regular season finale next Friday night.
The Wolverines won 77-53 at Wisner-Pilger Tuesday night.
BRLD figures to be a very tough team for the Pendragons to upset, but I think Pender can compete and make things interesting, at least for a while, based on how they've been playing lately.
The Pendragons have some time off after a nice stretch of games, but I'm not so sure not playing until next Friday is a good thing for Pender.
I'm sure the Pendragons would like to play sooner than that given the fact they're on a hot streak right now.
With that said, Pender has some extra preparation time for the Wolverines with BRLD playing Friday night and Saturday.
Mailloux has to be a beast inside and try and slow down and limit the likes of Jaxon Johnson and Nick Ronnfeldt.
Schopke and Vogt have to play great basketball as well.
I was very impressed with those three against Stanton and Spalding Academy.
If those three can keep it up I think the Pendragons have a good shot to win their Sub-District and make a Sub-State game at the very least.
I think this game with BRLD will help prepare Pender for what to expect in postseason play.
Playing up a class and playing what I consider to be the top team in C-2 definitely prepares you for anything you will see in D-1.
A close loss would be a really good moral victory for the Pendragons I feel.
A blowout loss wouldn't necessarily hurt Pender all that much, but it definitely wouldn't help them heading into Sub-Districts.
I would say Emerson-Hubbard is the Pendragons' biggest Sub-District threat right now with the way they have come on too.
That makes practices next week and before Sub-Districts very critical and important.
Pender has to take the time to work hard and get healthy and make a strong push towards a great postseason run.
The Pender Girls are 1-2 in their last three games, holding off Howells-Dodge 59-57 at home in an East Husker Conference Tournament Consolation game last Thursday night before losing 74-62 at GACC Tuesday night, and 54-45 at Wynot in a make-up game to close out the regular season Thursday night.
The Pendragons led Howells-Dodge 18-15 after one before outscoring the Jaguars 16-9 in the 2nd quarter to take a 34-24 lead into the locker room.
Howells-Dodge won the 3rd quarter 17-14 to make it a 48-41 game at the end of three.
The Jaguars won the 4th quarter 16-11.
Ashley Ostrand had 20 points while Caitlyn Heise was also in double figures with 14. Michaela Wegner chipped in 7.
The Pendragons led the Bluejays 19-14 after one before GACC outscored Pender 23-11 in the 2nd quarter to take a 37-30 halftime lead.
GACC won the 3rd quarter 16-13 to increase their advantage to 53-43 at the end of three.
The Bluejays won the 4th quarter 21-19.
Ostrand recorded a double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds while Faith Morris totaled 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Wegner added 9 points.
The Blue Devils led the Pendragons 7-4 after one, and won the 2nd quarter 14-12 to take a 21-16 lead into the locker room.
Pender won the 3rd quarter 15-12 to make it a two-point game at 33-31 at the end of three.
Wynot outscored the Pendragons 21-14 in the 4th quarter.
Zoey Lehmkuhl paced Pender with 22 points while Ostrand registered 9 points and 7 rebounds. Heise added 7 rebounds.
I think the Pendragons are still playing alright basketball they've just run into a couple of great teams and programs.
Pender was right there against the Blue Devils, they just got outlasted in the 4th.
The Pendragons (12-10) are the number one seed in the D1-6 Sub-District at Stanton, and will play either Walthill or Osmond at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday night.
I think Pender has a good shot to win this Sub-District and make a Sub-State game.
Randolph is a solid 2 seed and Lutheran High Northeast is a threat at number 3, but I think the Pendragons stand a good chance and have a really good shot to win the Sub-District.
I think Pender learned some valuable lessons playing teams like Wynot and Central Catholic at the end of the regular season.
The Pendragons nearly finished against the Blue Devils, and now they need to learn from that loss and finish things off this time around.
I think the Sub-District is Pender's to lose, I honestly do.
The Pendragons should win it.
The only downside to making Sub-State is Pender may not get a very good seed, but it would a big deal just to make it to that point.
It's a situation where the Pendragons have to win the Sub-District to make Sub-State.
It's win or go home for all teams in this Sub-District so Pender has to find a way to prevail and advance.
The Pendragons have played a tough schedule that I think helps prepare them for the rigors of the postseason.
Pender is battle tested and won't be afraid of anyone they go up against.
The Pendragons have played a lot of good teams and picked up a big win over Arlington in the Wayne Holiday Tournament.
Pender has beat the teams they're supposed to this season.
The Pendragons don't have any wins over teams above .500 with the exception of the Eagles though, but that can definitely change in the postseason as 8 of their 10 losses have come to bigger schools.
Pender plays a really tough schedule, and it prepares them for moments and situations like this in the postseason.
Now it's simply a matter of going out there and getting the job done.
No comments:
Post a Comment