Tiger basketball team takes down Cardinals in opener
Osmond Dominates Randolph in Season Opener
The Osmond boys got their first regular season basketball victory on Friday night, defeating the Cardinals 55-27. The Tigers won the tip and scored on the opening possession thanks to a skip pass from (sr) Merrix Denn to (jr) Justus Maertins for a layup and a foul. It was the first of 13 assists for the Tigers on the night. A game that saw the Tigers control from start to finish. “I really enjoyed the consistent ball and body movement we had on the offensive end, it allowed for many quality shots by several different players,” summed up head coach Todd Schulze. Pressure defense also played a large role in the Osmond victory. Osmond forced Randolph to 26 turnovers. (soph) Graysen Schultze and (sr) Anthony Heiman both forced one in the 1st, snagging the ball away from a Randolph player and converting it at the other end with a made layup. In the initial period 4 Tigers scored, capped off with a Merrix Denn buzzer-beating layup off a steal and assist from Graysen. The home team continued to roll in the next 8 minutes and took a 28-7 lead into halftime.
The Osmond boys showed discipline in the 3rd quarter, coming out and continuing where they left off with the Cardinals. The Tigers outscored Randolph 16-6 in the quarter and once again made an electrifying play to finish at the buzzer. From under the backboard Justus converted a reverse two-handed tip in just before the horn sounded. After the first 24 minutes, the Tiger defense had held Randolph’s two most potent offensive players to a total of 5 points. “I was really pleased with the tenacity we played with defensively. We forced them to frequently take tough shots,” commented Coach Schulze.
8 Tigers scored on the night. Anthony Heiman and Justus Maertins led Osmond in scoring, both contributing 12 points. In addition, Justus led the team with 7 rebounds. Graysen Schultze added 10 points and a game-high 7 steals, (jr) Aaron Chishiba just missed out on double digits with 9 points. Merrix Denn put up 5 points to go along with his 6 rebounds and team-high 4 assists. (sr) Dylan Schmit earned 3 points the “old fashioned” way, while (jr) Zachary Alderson and (soph) Zachary Huwaldt scored 2 points apiece.
“We were a fun team to watch on Friday. Our guys were flying all over the court. We finished each quarter on a high note and saw some smooth moves around the basket,” added Schulze. Most notably, Aaron and Graysen showcased their ability, maneuvering through the Cardinal defense for impressive finishes around the basket.
The Tigers will have a tough test ahead of them this week, going to Spencer on Tuesday to take on Boyd County, followed by a road trip to Wynot on Friday, ending the week with a home game on Saturday against Plainview.
|
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final |
Osmond |
15 |
13 |
16 |
11 |
55 |
Randolph |
5 |
2 |
6 |
14 |
27 |