Titans go to Rosalia basketball tournament

The Odessa-Harrington Titans took part in the winter break basketball tournament held December 27/28 in Rosalia. The girls varsity and the boys varsity both participated. To save on travel time and fuel expenses, the teams stayed overnight in nearby Cheney, along with their coaches and other chaperones.

Besides Rosalia and O-H, Davenport and Wilbur-Creston also sent boys and girls teams to the tournament.

Boys varsity

O-H vs. Rosalia

The O-H boys drew the host team Rosalia, a member of the Southeast 1B League, for their first matchup. A great first half, followed by a dismal second half saw the Titans’s lead disappear and end up as a loss, 48-57, in a scenario that has plagued the boys for much of the season so far.

Stetson Sanford and Sam Schafer led the scoring with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Cade Weber and Markus Smith followed with 8 points each, while Madison Charlton had 4, Justin Hunt 2 and Jacob DeWulf 1.

Schafer led the Titans’ rebounding with 8, split evenly into offensive and defensive rebounds.

O-H vs. Wilbur-Creston

The Wilbur-Creston Wildcats were defeated by the Titans in the consolation round December 28. The score was 58-46, and O-H’s 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter was essentially maintained as the game continued.

Markus Smith was on fire, pumping in 21 points for the Titans. Weber added 13, Hunt 7, Schafer 6, Sanford 5, Tanke 4 and Charlton 2. Schafer led the Titan rebounding with 7.

Girls varsity

O-H vs. Rosalia

In the tournament opener, the Titan girls lost to Rosalia, 43-26.

Chelsea Fisher and Jordyn Tanke led the Titan offense with 7 points each. Cydnee Kieffer had 5, Kendall Todd 4, Katie DeWulf 2 and Hannah Schmidt 1. Carley Williams and Kaeli Shockley also played but did not score.

“We missed 14 freethrows that would have put the game very close. We are working on that and a few other details,” said head coach Kim Kruger.

Fisher had 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 assists; Tanke 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists Todd 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

Girls JV vs. Rosalia

Rosalia forfeited the first game because they could not play all four quarters, so the JV took second place at the tournament.

Lanessa Simon led the Titan JV scoring with 7. Other scorers were Hannah Schmidt 2, Aom Senathong 2, Makayla Baird 2, Casey Schlomer 2, Kaeli Shockley 1 and Ashley Baarstad 2.

Simon had 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots; Schlomer 2 rebounds, 2 blocked shots

“We lost Casey Schlomer to a sprained ankle in this game and that hurt us for the rest of the tournament in both the varsity and JV games. She rebounds extremely well and hustles very hard on defense,” said Kruger.

O-H vs. Davenport

The Titan girls kept it close for three quarters but could not keep pace in the fourth, as Davenport avenged a 1-point loss to O-H earlier in the season. Davenport got the win, 52-38.

Coach Kim Kruger said, “Davenport played very well for the whole game. We played well until half time. We had two starters just recovering from illness over Christmas break and we suffered a few injuries during the tournament that we are hoping are not too serious.”

Davenport avenged a regular-season loss to the Titans. Tanke had the hot hand, putting up a game-high 19 points. Todd had 9, Williams 4, DeWulf 3, Fisher 2 and Schmidt 1. Simon and Kieffer also played but did not score.

Fisher had 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot. Tanke had 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. DeWulf had 3 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Girls JV vs. Wilbur-Creston

“The highlight of this game was foreign exchange student Aom Senathong, having a great series as she got a defensive rebound and outletted to a ready guard. Then we went down and worked the offense, and she got the shot and made the basket. Then she got the next defensive rebound and outletted to start a fast break that we scored on, too,” said Kruger.

Baarstad scored 8, Simon 7 and Williams and Nighswonger 2 each.

Simon had 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots; Baird 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 assists; Senathong 3 rebounds and 1 steal.