Greyhounds,

stretched its lead to 16 points, 53-39. Not giving up, the Greyhounds fought back with a three-pointer from Reed Stieglitz to make it an 11-point game. However, that is the closest the Greyhounds would come for the rest of the game. After that, the Greyhounds gave up four points to the Dons due to fouls, while only gaining one point themselves.

“We gave up a lot of free throws. We need to work on not fouling their shooters,” said DeSmet.

The final result was a 59-43 Dons win, a score that didn’t totally reflect how competitive the game truly was.

Although his team didn’t get the win, DeSmet saw several things to be proud of with how they played.

For one,“Defensively, our challenge was to get to all their shooters. We did a pretty good job of that,” he said.

DeSmet also thought his team did an excellent job of not letting themselves get dragged into racing up and down the court.

“That’s something we stressed all week, is tempo, and being able to slow the game down in our minds — especially because Columbus likes to play fast, so we have to slow it down. We did an outstanding job of that.”

DeSmet praised a couple of players specifically for their efforts.

“Connor had the tough task of going against Emmitt all night. He kept on him and forced him to take tough shots,” said DeSmet.

Additionally, “Reed had been struggling somewhat with his confidence as a shooter. Tonight he was knocking them down, so that was great to see,” he said.

Loyal will have a chance at redemption, as they play Columbus at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. After that, they have only three more regular season games before the conference crossover and playoffs.

Junior basketball player Jacob Schill makes a 3-pointer for the Loyal Greyhounds in their game at Columbus Feb. 3.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO

NGL middle school wrestlers take third at conference

The Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal (NGL) middle school wrestling team took part in the Cloverbelt Conference Tournament Feb. 3 in Abbotsford. Shown above, NGL’s Talan Suda controls his opponent during the event. Eight teams competed, with NGL taking third place as a team. Individual results were as follows. Taking first place were the following wrestlers, listed with their weight class: Boden Opelt, 72-82 pounds; Evan Friemoth, 78-88; Zak Kind, 200-225; Holden Lomax, 92-100; Mike Harris, 115-123; and Jackson Meyer, 266-275. Chase Lindner (80-90) took second place. Taking third place were Mason Anding, 91100; Suda, 101-105; and Broden Kauth, 150-169. Wrestlers earning fourth place were Aiden Ruzic, 106-113; Jerome Buchanan, 128-134; and Pearson Fausett, 135-147.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO