Chieftains overcome by the Falcons and Warriors

By Ginna Young

The Lake Holcombe boys basketball program had an exciting week, against two tough league opponents, but were unable to come up with a win.

Feb. 13 vs. Flambeau conference (L 70-69 OT)

Lake Holcombe acted as host to Flambeau, in what turned out to be a battle for the victory, even though the Chieftains were down by nine at the break. The offense kicked in for Lake Holcombe in the second half, outscoring the Falcons, while the defense held the visitors to just 26 points.

Two halves weren’t enough to contain the game and overtime saw the two duking it out, with scoring evenly matched. Flambeau edged out just ahead, however, and narrowly took the win, 70-69.

Leading for the Chieftains, was junior Brian Strzok, with 18 points, followed by junior Ryley Craker, with 15, and senior Taye Yeager, with 13. Freshman Emmit Johnson was right behind, with 12 points, and junior Chase Burgess added 6, with senior Trent Nitek following that with 4.

Freshman Connor Kane shot a free throw for 1 point.

Feb. 16 vs. Winter conference (L 116-82)

A few days later, to finish out the week, the Chieftains were on the road to Winter, seeing the score hit the 100 plus mark for the home team. Lake Holcombe was down by 27 at halftime, but came storming back to almost match the Warriors.

Thanks to their lead from the first half, Winter held on to claim a 116-82 victory.

Yeager came up with an impressive 22 points to lead for the Chieftains, as well as 6 assists and 4 steals. Strzok had a double-double on the night, with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Burgess also had 17 points, pulling down 6 rebounds. Nitek added 9 points to the mix, and Johnson came away with 7 points and 6 rebounds.

Craker recorded 6 points for his team, and freshman Carter Johnson and Kane each finished with 2 points.