DE WITT – For the second straight season, Tri County and Wilber-Clatonia faced off in a local rivalry to kick off high school basketball season in the state of Nebraska. Neither game ended up finishing particularly close on a freezing Thursday night, and both schools ultimately shared the spoils: Tri County dominated on defense to win in the girls game before a strong second half powered Wilber-Clatonia to a win in the boys game.  

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Tri County (1-0) defeats Wilber-Clatonia (0-1) 69-19 

In the matchup last year, neither team surpassed the 30-point mark to kick off a season in which they would combine to win 13 games. But this time around, Tri County surpassed 30 points by the end of the first quarter, and from there, truly dominated in all phases but especially on defense to cruise to victory in the season opener.  

After an early strike from the Trojans, the Wolverine punched back to get to within 18-9 midway through the first quarter. But Tri County then held Wilber-Clatonia to only ten points for the entire rest of the night. The Trojans’ defense was suffocating, with presses, traps, and tight coverage forcing many Wolverine miscues – and Wilber-Clatonia committed too many unforced errors on top of that to be able to mount a comeback.  

In the first game of the shot clock era across the state of Nebraska, Tri County switched on the running clock in the early stages of the third, and then outscored W-C 11-0 in the fourth – an impressive finish to a resounding win, running clock or not.  

Freshman Sage Holtmeier had a strong game in all phases in her high school debut, leading all players with 16 points. Fellow freshman Kariss Rosenthal had a strong game in her own high school debut for the Wolverines, scoring 12 of their 19 points. Joining Holtmeier in double figures for the Trojans were Macey Gronemeyer (15), Isabelle Peters (12) and Sayber Hoesche (10).  

 

BOYS BASKETBALL: Wilber-Clatonia (1-0) defeats Tri County (0-1) 64-43 

It was a fun back and forth contest with both teams trading deep balls for the entire first half, but Wilber-Clatonia stayed hot after halftime and Tri County did not have enough firepower left to stay in the fight. The Wolverines scored exactly 32 points in each half and turned a six-point halftime lead into a 21-point victory, avenging a loss to the Trojans in last year’s season opener.  

Graysen Vlcan and Jameson Conway helped Wilber-Clatonia out to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, but Tri County got the deep ball to fall, thanks largely to Drew Siems and Trevor Kapke, to score 17 points in the second quarter and stay right in the fight. But Wilber-Clatonia then held Tri County to only 17 points over the final two quarters combined, and despite a valiant offensive effort from Siems, the pack mentality for the Wolverines on both offense and defense helped guide them to victory.  

Leading 32-26 at the intermission, W-C scored eight of the first ten points of the third quarter, forcing TC head coach Jeremy Siems to call a timeout. But then W-C scored the next six points after that timeout to force TC into another one, and the Wolverines never looked back.  

Conway stole the show, especially in the first half, in his first game in a featured role, hitting six threes to score a team-high 22 points. Vlcan scored 12 and Aiden Zajicek, who had a strong second half, scored 11, and three other Wolverines scored at least five. The Trojans had only four players score, period: Kapke scored nine in his high school debut, and Siems got hot in the second quarter and stayed that way, hitting five threes of his own to drop a game-high 26 points, the second straight year that he’s scored 20-plus against Wilber-Clatonia.  

 

UP NEXT: Wilber-Clatonia @ Heartland, 6/7:30 PM on Friday, December 6 

                 Tri County vs. Johnson County Central, 2/3:30 PM on Saturday, December 7 

 

NEXT ON OL’ RED: Fairbury @ Fillmore Central, 4/5:30 PM on Saturday, December 7