Two very well played and competitive contests were on the hand Thursday when the Alliance St. Agnes boy’s basketball club traveled to Chadron to take on the Cardinals. The visiting Crusaders gave it all they had, but in the end it was the Cards winning both contests. Chadron’s 7th graders defeated the Crusader JV team 22 to 12 in the early matchup while the Card 8th graders downed the SA varsity squad 36 to 33. With the loss, the Academy now has a 3 and 1 record on the year. The Crusader junior varsity sees their record fall to 1 and 4 for the season. Top scorers on the night for SA were Tripp Johnson in the varsity game with 19 points while Braden Myers led the JVs with 5 points.
Both teams would tally five points to begin action in the varsity contest. Chadron put the first 5 tallies in the scoring column to surge ahead 5 to 0. Alliance responded in the final seconds of the opening quarter with a 5 to 0 run to tie the game at 5 all after one period of play. A three pointer by Crusader Cisco Cody started the scoring while the Academy got a game tying hoop by Johnson that knotted the battle at 5 after 6 minutes of play. The team’s offensive began to heat up in the period #2. Chadron tallied 16 points in the quarter and SA tossed in 14 points. The Cards were sharp first by scoring the game’s next 8 points to go up 13 to 5. Alliance answered back with a 2 pointer by Grayson Dibrito to stop the spree. Johnson then tied the game with back to back three pointers as the Academy kept close. At the 3 minute stanza, Chadron nailed 2 three pointers and a deuce to go ahead. Another trey by Johnson helped SA stay in striking distance. The half closed with another 3 by Johnson and the Academy down 21 to 19.
In the third, action was very even. Chadron started things with 3 straight to move out to a 5 point margin. A basket by Crusader Phoenix Red Nest ensued while Johnson’s fifth three pointer knotted the game at 24 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. Four consecutive tallied by the hosts put the Crusader deficit at 4 but the period closed with SA down by just one thanks to a three by Cody. After three quarters of play, Chadron led 28 to 27. The fourth began with a Cardinal three but the Crusaders answered with hoops by Danny Jelinek and Dibrito that tied the game at 31 with 3 minutes left. A 4 to 0 spurt by the Cards in the final minutes then put the contest away. Down 35 to 31, 2 free throws by Johnson got SA close but the battle ended with a free throw by the hosts and a missed attempt by the Academy to tie the game at the buzzer. Final Chadron 36 St. Agnes 33
SA 5 14 8 6 33
CHAD 5 16 7 8 36
Scoring for the Academy Johnson 19 Cody 6 Dibrito 4 Red Nest 2 Jelinek 2
St. Agnes dropped the opener to the Card 7th graders 22 to 12. Scoring in the opening period for the Academy was Tee Johnson as the Crusaders were held to just 2 points in the first quarter. In period #2, SA would get another score from Johnson and a bucket by Myers. Chadron slowly pulled in the second half by shutting out the Crusaders. Heading to the fourth, the hosts led 16 to 6. Both teams tallied 6 points in the final 6 minutes of play. A free throw by Alliance’s Enzo Kappius started the scoring that got SA to within 9 but 5 tallies in a row by the Cards put the score at 21 to 7. Myers was good for a three later in the period as the Academy stayed close. Unfortunately, the contest came to a finish with a Card free throw which put Chadron ahead by 12. Crusader Luke Jelinek scored in the final seconds for the guests but it was not enough. Chadron 22 St. Agnes 12
Scoring for Alliance Myers 5 Tee Johnson 4 Luke Jelinek 2 Kappius 1
St. Agnes will be at home twice this week with a home game vs Crawford on Thursday and a home game with Scottsbluff on Saturday.