Greyhounds hold off Warriors to claim top spot in Cloverbelt-East I
By Harry Toufar
With a spot at the top of the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference on the line, the Loyal boys basketball team was set to do battle with the Neillsville Warriors Dec. 19. Mother Nature would have none of it, as she whipped up enough snow and wind to postpone the contest until the following night.
The Greyhounds were gracious hosts, not that they wanted to be, spotting the Warriors the first seven points of the contest. However, Loyal's Parker Smith hit for a 2-pointer and Bryce Deegan followed that up with a two of his own, cutting the lead to three. Neillsville's Andrew Hoeser scored from beyond the arc, only to be countered by a 3-pointer from Deegan. Then the Warriors' Zion Jones hit a 3-pointer, giving his team a 6-point l e a d . Two 3-pointers f r o m Reed Stieglitz sandwiched between buckets from Deegan and Cain Toufar gave Loyal their first lead at the 10-minute mark. Holding the Warriors to five points (two coming at the buzzer), Loyal ran off 13 points from Rhett Lamovec (6), Deegan (3), Hunter Walter (2) and Carson Prein (2), sending them to the locker room leading 30-22.
Neillsville's freshman, Landon Rakestraw, came out hot in the second half, hitting two 3-pointers with Colter Dillenbeck adding a 2-pointer, drawing them even with Loyal at 30 apiece. Deegan and Toufar both scored, getting the Greyhounds on the board in the half, only to have Neillsville counter with baskets of their own. Deegan (7), Toufar (2) and Stieglitz (3) took the Greyhounds on a 12-4 run, giving them a 46-38 lead. Hoeser scored for the Warriors, making it a 6-point ball game. Deegan then scored two points, giving the Hounds an 8-point cushion. As the clock ticked down to the final few minutes of the game, Rakestraw hit one free throw, cutting the lead to seven. Hunter Walter scored to make it a 9-point lead, 50-41. Stieglitz hit for two, pushing the lead to 11 with just u n d e r five minutes left in the game. Neillsville then put Loyal into a mini deep freeze, holding them scoreless while scoring seven of their own to cut the lead to four, 52-48.
On Loyal's next possession, they slowed down the pace to try and run out the clock. With Loyal slowing it down, the Warriors were forced to foul. With 25.5 seconds left on the clock, Stieglitz stepped to the line, took a deep breath and calmly sank two free throws, giving Loyal a 6-point lead. Neillsville to cut the lead to four with 10 seconds left and quickly called a timeout. However, Loyal was able to fend off any Warrior challenge, ending the game with a 54-50 win.
Deegan and Stieglitz were the only Hounds in double figures, with 21 and 13 points, respectively. Lamovec and Toufar each scored 6. Walter added 4 points, with Smith and Prein each adding 2. With the win, Loyal moved to 3-0 in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, while Neillsville dropped to 2-1 in conference.
The next day, Dec. 21, Loyal's season continued at Just A Game Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, with the Greyhounds notching their seventh win of the season with a 47-40 victory over a tough Randolph squad. That put the Hounds' record at 7-0 overall.
The Loyal boys and girls teams were scheduled to play at Rosholt Dec. 30. After the holiday break, the boys will host Pittsville in a non-conference game on Jan. 3 and Columbus Catholic in a conference game on Jan. 7.
Loyal 3-0 Owen-Withee 2-0 Neillsville 2- 1 Colby 1-1 Columbus 1-1 Catholic Gilman 0-2 Greenwood 0-2 Spencer 0-2
