Coming off their 33-point blitzing of the Blue Hill Bobcats, Jan. 19, the Cougars strong game against the Bobcats carried over to the following day, Jan. 20, as they took on the Thayer Central Titans in Southern Nebraska Conference play, as the 7-3 Titans looked to be spoilers of Sandy Creek’s back-to-back wins over the Bobcats, and St. Paul.
Sandy Creek, however, wasn’t about to fall into the Titans trap, as the Cougars came out on top 52-36 to improve to 10-3, and secure the top seed in next week’s SNC tournament.
The three pointer was falling against the Titans, as Sandy Creek would go 7 of 16 with a big dose of help from senior Zach Corman as he was 5-8 from three-point range, and led the Cougars scoring with 17 points, while sophomore Oliver Oglesby also reached double digits with 12 points.
The Cougars in the middle two quarters broke open the game, as the Titans held a narrow 9-8 lead at the end of the first stanza, with Sandy Creek outscoring Thayer Central 38-14 in the second and third quarters, to claim a 46-22 lead into the final eight minutes, where the Titans tried to stage a come-from-behind win, but fell short with their 13-6 fourth quarter rally, with the Cougars gaining the 16 point victory.
Sandy Creek’s defense was something else again, as against the Titans, the cougars had 14 steals and five blocks, with Ethan Shaw leading in steals with four, while Oliver Oglesby led in blocks with four.
The Cougars had 12 assists in the game led by Ethan Shaw with five.
Sandy Creek (10-3)...........8 18 20 6 -52 Thayer Central.................9 4 10 13 -36 Scoring: FG FT Pts Zach Corman................................. 6-10 0-2 17 Oliver Oglesby................................ 4-6 4-7 12 Owen Oglesby................................ 3-5 2-4 8 Ethan Shaw.................................... 3-9 0-2 6 Kaeden Schmidt............................. 1-6 1-3 4 Jacob Petr...................................... 1-3 0-0 3 Wes Biltoft..................................... 1-4 0-0 0 Christian Shaw............................... 0-1 0-0 0 Sandy Creek Totals:............... 19-44 7-18 52 3-pt FG: Corman 5-8, Petr 1-1, Schmidt 1-3, E. Shaw 0-4. Total: 7-16. Rebounds: Ol. Oglesby 9, Ow. Oglesby 6, Biltoft 5, Petr 2, E. Shaw 1, Schmidt 1, Corman 1, Evan Swartzendruber 1. Total: 26. Assists: E. Shaw 5, Corman 2, Schmidt 2, Petr 1, Biltoft 1, Ol. Oglesby 1. Total: 12.
Steals: E. Shaw 4, Ow. Oglesby 3, Petr 3, Ol. Ogelsby 2, Biltoft 1, Schmidt 1. Total: 14.
The Cougars head into a busy stretch of the season, as earlier this week, Sandy Creek was to head to Fairbury for action with the Jeffs, Tuesday, Jan. 23, before returning home Thursday night for their annual in-county clash with the Sutton Mustangs, with the tip against Sutton set for 7:45 p.m.
To wrap up the week, the Cougars will head north to Central City to take on the Nebraska Christian Eagles at 7:45 p.m.
Sandy Creek has secured the top seed in the upcoming Southern Nebraska Conference tournament, where they will likely take on the winner of the Heartland/Fairbury first round game.
The Cougars will host the winner of that game, Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m.
