Photo/Sandra Johnson

After a humiliating 27 point home loss to Douglas on Jan. 12, NCHS came back to win a pair of road games against Lingle-Ft. Laramie and Guernsey-Sunrise over the weekend of Jan. 15-16.

The Douglas game was fast-paced from the start as the visitors held a 16-10 first quarter lead. The Tigers struggled to find an offensive rhythm as head coach Rich Murray is working on a rotation that has juniors Michael Coon and Dakota Castle finally getting on the court after pre-season injuries, and Jerit DeGering back from an injured ankle before Christmas.

This was quite apparent throughout the Douglas game as NCHS threw bad passes and failed to protect the ball very well. The Bearcats increased their lead in the second to 33-17 and blew it wide open after the break with a 21-12 quarter. Turnovers continued to mount for NCHS as the 3A school rolled to the 69-42 victory.

NCHS Scoring- Trent Johnson 10, Coon 10, Castle 8, Zach Gill 5, DeGering 4, Thomas Mason 2, Charles Kleinberg 2, Ryan Prather 1. Rebounds- Johnson 8, Castle 6. Assists- Coon 4.

NCHS: 15/36 FG, 9/28 FT, 1/6 3PT, 45 REB, 30 TO, 17 PF.

DOUGLAS: 21/55 FG, 12/17 FT, 5/18 3PT.

Friday night the Tigers played Lingle-Ft. Laramie at the Eastern Wyoming College Gym due to some floor problems at the Lingle gym.

Again, chemistry problems were an issue early for the Tigers as LFL led 7-4 after the first eight minutes. Lusk managed a 21-21 tie at halftime but were sloppy and inconsistent against the Doggers.

This trend continued into the second half as LFL was ahead by a slim 31-28 margin after three. Ryan Prather scored five straight in the first minute of the fourth to bring Lusk within 35-33.

A basket by Trent Johnson with two minutes left gave Lusk the 40-39 lead. Coon then went 4-4 from the free throw line and DeGering one of two to seal the 45-39 comeback win.

NCHS Scoring- Coon 12, Johnson 9, Prather 8, Andrew Niziol 6, Gill 5, Mason 2, Castle 2, DeGering 1. Rebounds- Coon 10, Johnson 6.

NCHS: 15/41 FG, 9/14 FT, 2/9 3PT, 45 REB, 21 TO, 11 PF.

LFL: 14/47 FG, 11/14 FT, 0/9 3PT, 35 REB, 14 TO, 14 PF.

Saturday’s trip to Guernsey was a rare hard-earned road win. Andrew Niziol and Prather each sank treys in the first quarter but poor Tiger defense saw the Vikings ahead 12-11.

In the second Lusk was able to creep ahead 21-18 despite no serious scoring threat emerging and a physical game developing.

A three-pointer and three free-throws by Johnson helped NCHS to a 29-19 lead but the Tigers let G-S right back into the game and the lead was just seven after three quarters. The Tigers opened their biggest lead of the game at 42-31 and had a chance to bury G-S but atrocious free-throw shooting let the Vikings hang around. Lusk was just four of 14 from the line in the final quarter but hung on to the 48-43 win.

NCHS Scoring- Johnson 14, Castle 12, Coon 7, Prather 5, Gill 4, Niziol 3, DeGering 2, Kleinberg 1. Rebounds- Castle 9, Coon 5.

NCHS: 14/34 FG, 11/26 FT, 3/7 3PT, 34 REB, 17 TO, 18 PF.

G-S: 11/25 FG, 9/15 FT, 4/19 3PT, 31 REB, 17 TO, 21 PF.

The JV lost to Douglas 47-38, as the team shot a miserable two of 16 from the charity stripe. They rebounded to beat LFL 51-40 and G-S 45-31.

The C-squad faced G-S Monday night in Lusk for the freshman-sophomore tournament and lost 35-21 before dropping the second game to LFL 49-33.

NCHS improves to 7-6 on the season and 3-1 in the SEWAC, at the midway point of the conference season. The Tigers traveled to Moorcroft for a pair of games Saturday afternoon at 1 and 4 p.m. On Jan. 26 the JV welcomes Glendo to Tiger Gym with tip-off set for 6 p.m.



For the complete article see the 01-27-2010 issue.

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