Lake Holcombe falls from offensive/defensive woes

By Ginna Young Despite some hard-fought battles, Lake Holcombe’s boys basketball program struggled against their opponents.

Feb. 4 vs. Clayton conference (L 61-44) The team hit the road to Clayton and despite the end score, the match was fairly close throughout, with senior Brian Strzok having a good night, on offense and defense. Sophomores Emmit Johnson and Connor Kane had a good defensive game, but struggled offensively and at the close, Clayton walked away with a 61-44 win.

“This was a game that I thought we played well,” said coach Dave Engel.” It came down to many missed shots in the paint; they made them and we struggled.”

Feb. 7 vs. Bruce conference (L 89-65) Lake Holcombe was back on the road a few days later, at Bruce, with the “power three” getting good looks that wouldn’t drop.

“We came out cold offensively and couldn’t recover,” said Engel. “Defensively, we gave up way too many second and third-chance points. In the end, this cost us the game.”

With all that combined, the Raiders took an 89-65 victory.

Coming up big for Lake Holcombe, was freshman Kyle Heidtke, with 22 points, 18 of those from three-point range, followed by Strzok, with 11 points. Kane and junior Brody Miller each added 10 points, while Johnson had 7.

“It’s tough to win games that you give up 30, secondchance points,” said Engel. Feb. 10 vs. Boyceville non-conference (L 92-83) After the weekend off, the Chieftains were back at it and on the road to Boyceville, but offensive woes continued, as they were down early in the first half, by 17 points. They battled back and took the lead going into halftime.

“It was a tight game, until we had to start fouling the last couple of minutes,” said Engel.

Once again, Strzok and Johnon were on target with offense, while Kane and Miller were hot on the boards “Despite all this we came up short,” said Engel. Boyceville pulled enough ahead to cling to a 92-83 victory over the Chieftains.