By Hailee Knehans
The Mustangs played the Blue Hill Bobcats on January 9. In the first quarter, they had a good lead, ending the first quarter with a score of 14-8. In the second quarter, the Bobcats flipped the script and put up 14 points to Silver Lake’s 8, tying up the score going into the break. After coming back from half-time, the Mustangs came out with some energy to outscore the Bobcats 13-9. The four-point lead gave them the advantage going into the final quarter, where Silver Lake outscored Blue Hill 12-7 to finish with a 47-38 victory.
Coach Fisher said, “We always know this game is going to be a tough one, but the boys played very well together. They fought in the second half to slowly start taking the lead and were able to maintain it to finish out.” Jack Reents had 16 points, and he was the top scorer of the game. Right behind him was Landon Duester with 12 points. Reents and Duester manned the boards, with Reents pulling down the most offensive boards with 7, and Duester grabbing 5 on each end to lead the team with 10 total. Coach Fisher said, “I feel as if they can continue working on the execution of our offense. Our defense looks great at times, but we still need to clean up some items on that end.”
The following day, they traveled to Grand Island Lutheran for their third game of the week. The Mustangs struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. The Lightning’s defense, with their long arms, made it difficult for Silver Lake to attack the rim, and fatigue set in to make outside shooting a challenge. Both teams had a slow first half offensively, with the score sitting at 13-11 at halftime. In the third quarter, Grand Island Lutheran managed to get some shots to fall, going into the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead. The Mustangs put up 10 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t overcome the deficit. They fell 37-21. Jaxon tenBensel led the team with 5 points, and Reents contributed with 9 rebounds.