Hornets picked up Cloverbelt victories
Colby boys keep title hopes alive
The Hornets found themselves, if you’ll pardon the pun, in a dogfight with the Loyal Greyhounds on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
Colby had led by as much as twelve, only to see the Greyhounds come storming back in the final minutes of their Eastern Cloverbelt clash. The Hornets did just enough to cross the finish line, pulling out a 69-66 victory over the Greyhounds (7-9; 5-5 ECC). The Hornets were in complete control in the first half of their conference road game, taking a 39-27 lead at the break.
The roles were reversed in the second half as the Greyhounds began to chip away at Colby’s lead. Fouls also began to creep into Colby’s game, and with just minutes to play, it was a single digit game. That lead grew even smaller as Colby and Loyal found themselves tied.
But the trio of Mateo Lopez, Richard Streveler and Tevin Rue were not about to give up an upset, and with their conference title hopes on the line, the three led the Colby charge.
The Hornets had struggled for much of the night at the charity stripe, converting just 14 of 27 attempts, but with seconds to play, Streveler was fouled and sent to the line.
The Colby senior had the ice in the veins, and hit a pair of crucial free throws that gave Colby a three point lead. The Greyhounds could not convert, and the Hornets escaped Loyal with their ninth conference victory of the season.
Streveler and Rue formed an excellent combination, finishing with 25 and 19 points. Streveler went three of five from three and shot 50 percent from the floor. Rue shook off a shooting slump to finish six of 11 from the floor, including knocking down four out of eight three pointers. Lopez joined Rue and Streveler with double digits, scoring 11 points. Tucker Meyer had six points and Kaden Wiese had five points and seven boards.
Brandon Voelker finished with three points. Junior foward Caden Healy had no points, but did his best work on the glass, pulling down a team high ten rebounds to go with two steals.
Greenwood, 81-43
The Colby Hornets next game was a study in contrasts. If their game with Loyal had been a mighty struggle, their game against the Greenwood Indians was just the opposite as the Hornets rode the hot hand of Richard Streveler for its thirteenth victory of the 2021-22 season.
Colby treated their first half with the Indians (4-13; 1-10 ECC) as something of a message, letting their opponents know the Hornets are more than capable of scoring at an absurd clip.
None did it better than Streveler on Friday night. Colby’s leading scorer turned in a career performance, finishing 10 of 17 from the floor for a new career high of 27 points.
Kaden Wiese and Mateo Lopez joined their teammate in double digits with each picking up 11 points. Colby’s offense breezed through the first half for a 42-26 advantage that had head coach Jimmy Flink subbing out his varsity players through the second half.
The Hornets continued to find pay-dirt from the floor. Eleven players scored on the night, and Colby out-scored Greenwood 39-17 to improve to 13-4 overall and 10-2 in Eastern Cloverbelt play.
Tucker Meyer and Brandon Voelker finished with eight and seven points. Joe Streveler, Brayden Boyer and Caden Healy all had four points apiece. Carson Rau and Tevin Rue added two points and Eddie Ortega collected one point.
Colby’s wins over Loyal and Greenwood keeps their title hopes alive. The only thing standing in the way of the crown now is the Neillsville Warriors.
The Hornets will get their shot at revenge later this week when they travel to Neillsville on Thursday, Feb. 10, in a game that could well decide the outcome of the Eastern Cloverbelt crown.
Tip-off time is 7:15 p.m.
