C8 WINTER SPORTS Youth plentiful for Wallace Wildcat girls THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2020
in a win over Wauneta- Palisade in the season opener, then defeated Maywood-Hayes Center by double-digits, edged out a win over Sandhills/ Thedford in overtime and defeated Sutherland by 20. The scoring and win- ning mentality is there, but Miller said he sees one issue in particular: the team lacks height. It has generally tall play- ers, but it’s missing one or two players that stand above the rest. “We have some pret- ty good height across the board, just no one super tall,” Miller said. Wallace has relied on juniors Kolton Hager (17.3) and Camden Mcconnell (13.7) for its scoring so far this sea- son. Miller described Hager as the Wildcats’ inside man that has good moves and good skill. Mcconnell figures to be more of an all-around shooter, as he has shot more from around the arc and also has the same shooting percent- age as Hager does (43%). Wallace has used a lot of other players as well this season, who have slated into vari- ous roles on the team. Miller said seniors Tanner Finley and Ethan Bowlin and sopho- mores Kyler Flaming and Trey Robertson have all danced around signifi- cant playing time. Even with the ear- ly success, Miller said he wants to see his team continue progressing throughout the season. “Just look for us to play hard and continue im- proving throughout the year,” Miller said. “Just excited to see just how much more this team can grow.”
By JAKE DREILINGER jake.dreilinger@nptelegraph. com Wallace girls bas- ketball coach Shawn Sullivan knows just how interesting and fun this season will be. A few games into the season, it’s clear to see why. There are no se- niors for starters, and out of the 11 players on the team this season, six of them are freshmen. While the success hasn’t come on the court yet — 0-4 start the year with losses to Wauneta-Palisade, Maywood-Hayes Center, Sandhills/Thedford and Sutherland — Sullivan said he just wants to see his team put in the work. “As long as we’re get- ting better game by game and day by day, that’s all we can ask for,” Sullivan said. Wallace is a team whose focus is on the fu- ture. Having over half your team being fresh- men creates problems this year as they all fight to gain experience at the high school level. “The more exposure these girls get to tougher competition (really helps),” Sullivan said. “The first game, they don’t know what to expect.” But there are some on the team who do know what to expect: the soph- omores and juniors. Sullivan said he has been relying on them for lead- ership and helping the freshmen get caught up. One of those return- ers is junior Mariah Gardner, Wallace’s lead- ing scorer this season and one of the top point guards in the state. She is averaging 17 points per game in just two con- tests. Another is sophomore
Telegraph file photo Mariah Gardner (30) is one of the top returning players for a Wallace girls basketball team that is young, featur- ing six freshmen.
Karlie Finley, who has stepped up as a second- ary scoring option and is the team’s leading re- bounder at 12.3 boards per game. She is averag- ing 7.7 points per contest. Juniors Denay Pelster and Ainsley Strawder, and freshmen Reagan Pelster and Dajana Garrison have round- ed out the rest of the Wallace players see- ing significant playing time. Freshman Kendyl Flaming has been get- ting some playing time as well at just over 13 minutes a game. “First thing I’ve really
seen that I liked is their desire to win,” Sullivan said. “They want to come and get better each day. They hold themselves ac- countable.” While the girls are full of youth and a bit inexpe- rienced, the boys are not. The Wallace boys team returned mostly ev- eryone from last year’s squad, with the exception of one player who moved away. Coach Eric Miller said about 90% of the team’s scoring from last sea- son’s district runner-up team is back, and he’s hoping that Wallace can
Schedule Dec. 21-22. ........... Perkins County Holiday Tourney Jan. 5................................................Medicine Valley Jan. 7.............................................................. Mullen Jan. 8.............................................. at Arthur County Jan. 14............................................... at South Platte Jan. 15............................................................Paxton Jan. 19............................. at Dundy County-Stratton Jan. 23-30. .................................. RPAC Tournament Feb. 2............................................................at Brady Feb. 5............................................................Maxwell Feb. 9.................................................... at Southwest Feb. 15..........................................Hitchcock County Feb. 19............................... Creek Valley (boys only)
continue to show growth. “Our goal is to try to make that jump,” Miller said. “Not just make a district final this year,
but win it.” Wallace has shown some success early in their bid to make that goal a reality. It 61 points
Crawford at Hyannis Maxwell at South Loup MOgallala at Sidney Overton at St. Pat’s Paxton at Wallace Sandhills Valley at Sandhills/ Thedford SCHEDULE from Page C7
Sidney at Gothenburg Jan. 23
MNAC Tourney (Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Mullen, Sandhills Valley, South Loup) RPAC Tourney (Maxwell, Maywood- Hayes Center, Paxton, Southwest, Ogallala at Ainsworth York at North Platte Jan. 25 SWC Tourney (Gothenburg, Broken Bow, Cozad, Ogallala) Wauneta-Palisade) Holdrege at Cozad MNAC Tourney (Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Mullen, Sandhills Valley, South Loup) RPAC Tourney (Maxwell, Maywood- Hayes Center, Paxton, Southwest, Wauneta-Palisade) Jan. 26 SWC Tourney (Gothenburg, Broken Bow, Cozad, Ogallala) MNAC Tourney (Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Mullen, Sandhills Valley, South Loup) RPAC Tourney (Maxwell, Maywood- Hayes Center, Paxton, Southwest, Holyoke at Perkins County Sutherland at Creek Valley Sutherland at Creek Valley Jan. 28 SWC Tourney (Gothenburg, Broken Bow, Cozad, Ogallala) MNAC Tourney (Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Mullen, Sandhills Valley, South Loup) RPAC Tourney (Maxwell, Maywood- Hayes Center, Paxton, Southwest, Wauneta-Palisade) Creek Valley at Potter-Dix Sedgwick County, CO at Perkins County South Platte at Garden County Jan. 29 SWC Tourney (Gothenburg, Broken Bow, Cozad, Ogallala) MNAC Tourney (Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Mullen, Sandhills Valley, South Loup) RPAC Tourney (Maxwell, Maywood- Hayes Center, Paxton, Southwest, Wauneta-Palisade) Bayard at South Platte Garden County at Creek Valley Hi-Line at Axtell Jan. 30 SWC Tourney (Gothenburg, Broken Bow, Cozad, Ogallala) MNAC Tourney (Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Mullen, Sandhills Valley, South Loup) RPAC Tourney (Maxwell, Wauneta-Palisade) Hi-Line at Amherst
Southwest at Bertrand Valentine at Hershey Wauneta-Palisade at Perkins County Jan. 16 Brady at South Loup Cambridge at Maxwell Cody-Kilgore at Hitchcock County Cozad at Centura Garden County at Wauneta-Palisade Sidney at North Platte Valentine at Ogallala Jan. 18 MAC Tourney (Creek Valley, South Platte) SPVA Tourney (St. Pat’s, Hershey, Perkins County) Jan. 19 MAC Tourney (Creek Valley, South Platte) SPVA Tourney (St. Pat’s, Hershey, Perkins County) Arcadia/Loup City at South Loup Gothenburg at Amherst Hitchcock County at Paxton Loomis at Southwest Maxwell at Brady Hershey at Holdrege Minden at McCook Mullen at Arthur County Sandhills Valley at Hyannis Mullen at Twin Loup Overton at Hi-Line Sandhills Valley at Arthur County SEM at Anselmo-Merna Wallace at Dundy County at Wallace Jan. 21 MAC Tourney (Creek Valley, South Platte) SPVA Tourney (St. Pat’s, Hershey, Perkins County) Ansley-Litchfield at South Loup Gothenburg at Broken Bow Hi-Line at Medicine Valley Maywood-Hayes Center at Bertrand Paxton at Wauneta-Palisade Sandhills Valley at Maxwell Jan. 22 MAC Tourney (Creek Valley, South Platte) SPVA Tourney (St. Pat’s, Hershey, Perkins County) Alliance at Ogallala Anselmo-Merna at North Central Broken Bow at Valentine Hi-Line at Loomis
Please see SCHEDULE, Page C9
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