Cougars win streak reaches 6 as boys down Heartland, TC

The Sandy Creek boys have been on a roll as of late, winning seven of their eight games in the month of January to improve their stakes as the Cougars ready themselves for the upcoming Southern Nebraska Conference Tournament, beginning Monday, Feb. 3.

With a 62-41 win over Heartland and a thrilling 40-38 overtime win at Thayer Central last week, the Cougars have secured the fifth seed in the SNC tournament. They will host Superior in first-round action at 7 p.m. in the Cougars Den, Feb. 3.

Sandy Creek rolled past Heartland with a strong shooting effort that witnessed the Cougars draining 23 of 54 shots from the floor (42.6%), while making seven of nine foul shots (78%).

Heartland, however, gained the upper hand early, leading 21-16 after the first quarter. A 14-5 Cougar run in the second lifted Sandy Creek to a 3026 halftime lead and they would never look back, outscoring the Huskies 3215 in the second half.

Seniors Ethan Shaw and Jack Clark paced Sandy Creek with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Kamerin Sealey and Evan Swartzendruber both dropped in nine points, while Wes Biltoft hit eight.

Biltoft and Shaw both grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Sealey had six, and Jacob Petr, five.

Shaw handed out four assists, and joined forces with Wyatt Livgren to make three steals each.

Sandy Creek....................16 14 18 14 -62 Heartland.......................21 5 10 5 -41 Scoring: FG FT Pts Ethan Shaw.....................................8-13 1-2 17 Jack Clark........................................5-12 0-0 15 Kamerin Sealey................................4-7 0-1 9 Evan Swartzendruber......................3-9 0-0 9 Wes Biltoft.......................................1-6 6-6 8 Christian Shaw.................................1-2 0-0 2 Wyatt Livgren..................................1-4 0-0 2 Jacob Petr........................................0-1 0-0 0 Sandy Creek Totals:................ 23-54 7-9 62 3-pt FG: Clark 5-12, Swartzendruber 3-8, Sealey 1-3, Petr 0-1, Livgren 0-2. Total: 9-26. Rebounds: Biltoft 7, E. Shaw 7, Sealey 6, Petr 5, Livgren 2, Clark 2, Swartzendruber 1, Wyatt Hemberger 1, Alex Watts 1, C. Shaw 1. Total: 33. Assists: E. Shaw 4, Sealey 2, Petr 2, Swartzenbruber 2, Livgren 2, Clark 2, A. Watts 1, Biltoft 1. Total: 16. Steals: E. Shaw 3, Livgren 3, Sealey 2, Swartzendruber 1, Hemberger 1, Clark 1, Biltoft 1.

Total: 12.

Saturday afternoon’s trip to Hebron to take on the Thayer Central Titans proved to be a nail biter for Cougar Nation. The two teams battled to a 3333 tie at the end of regulation to force overtime, with the Cougars breaking the tie with a 7-5 overtime run to chart their ninth win of the season and improve to 9-6 with a 40-38 victory.

Sealey, Shaw, and Clark combined for 33 of Sandy Creek’s 40 points, led by Sealey with 12, Shaw with 11, and Clark with 10. Biltoft added four and Swartzendruber, three.

Sandy Creek was a cool 15-47 from the floor (31.9%), while struggling at the foul line, going 4-16 in the win (25%).

Biltoft’s eight rebounds led the way, while Shaw gained seven, and Clark, six. Shaw also led with four assists, and teamed up with Petr to make two steals each.

Sandy Creek...................... 11 7 12 3 7 -40 Thayer Central....................4 8 14 7 5 -38 Scoring: FG FT Pts Kamerin Sealey................................4-9 2-6 12 Ethan Shaw.....................................5-15 1-8 11 Jack Clark........................................3-10 1-2 10 Wes Biltoft.......................................2-5 0-0 4 Evan Swartzendruber......................1-3 0-0 3 Jacob Petr........................................0-5 0-0 0 Sandy Creek Totals:................ 15-47 4-16 40 3-pt FG: Clark 3-9, Sealey 2-2, Swartzendruber 1-3, Petr 0-3, E. Shaw 0-4. Total: 6-21. Rebounds: Biltoft 8, E. Shaw 7, Clark 6, Sealey 5, Petr 3, Livgren 2. Total: 31. Assists: E. Shaw 4, Sealey 3, Livgren 2, Swartzendruber 1. Total: 10. Steals: E. Shaw 2, Petr 2, Clark 1, Biltoft 1, Sealey 1. Total: 7.