Eagles Fall To Valentine In Season Ender

Brock Schueth looks to pass the ball in last weeks subdistrict game against Valentine.

The O'Neill Eagles were in sub-district action last week and had to battle a couple of familiar foes for a chance to extend the season.  The first round of sub-districts saw the Eagles matched up with the Ainsworth Bulldogs.  This was the second time these two teams have met this year with the outcome similar to the first as O'Neill won 74-44.  The game was close for the first two quarters, but the Eagles' defense clamped down in the second half and the shooters sparked a 23-6 third quarter to blow the game open.  All five starters for the Eagles finished the night in double figures, led by Tyler Knopp with a game high 20 points.  Other scores were Derrick Hostert with 19 points and three steals, Connor Peterson with 12 points and seven rebounds, Jordyn Johnson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Brock Schueth finished with 10 points and nine assists.  The win advanced the Eagles to the next round and a rematch from the first game of the season with the Valentine Badgers. 

The sub-district final between O'Neill and Valentine was filled with plenty of offense and excitement, but in the end the Eagles fell short and lost 71-82.  Valentine came out on fire and built an early lead and would never trail in the contest.  The Eagles made several runs, getting within one point early in the fourth quarter, but could never seem to get over the hump to take the lead.  " I felt that if we could have just got ahead one time that the game would shift in our favor, but we just couldn't find a bucket when we got close," commented Coach Kallhoff.  Leading the Eagles on the night was Jordyn Johnson with 21 points, followed closely by Brock Schueth with 20 and Tyler Knopp with 13.  "Even though we end our season without achieving a few of our goals I still see this year as a success with our 14-9 record.  Our seniors were a great bunch of guys who contributed to the team both on and off the floor and they will be missed, but the foundation they have left behind will help our program grow and hopefully reach our goals in the future.  The younger guys had some good exposure to varsity basketball and we will be looking for a few of them to fill the shoes left behind by graduation.  This summer will be a big one for us because we will have to get stronger both physically and mentally in order to keep playing and competing at the high level of basketball that the C-1 level has to offer," commented Coach Kallhoff.