Chieftains come up short of advancing over the Falcons

By Ginna Young

It was a battle for the Lake Holcombe boys basketball program Feb. 27, in the first leg of Regional action, as the Chieftains were on the road against No. 5 seeded Flambeau. The No. 12 Lake Holcombe had already met the Falcons twice in the regular season, which both resulted in losses for the Chieftains.

Despite that, Lake Holcombe held a two-point lead at halftime, but the second half saw a few lead changes and in the end, Flambeau was hailed as the victors, 81-74, with the Chieftains’ season at an end.

“Free throws were once again the difference in this game, with the Falcons going 25 for 37 from the line and the Chieftains hitting just 11 for 20,” said coach Joy Webster.

Racking up 27 points to lead the offense, was junior Ryley Craker, followed by junior Chase Burgess, who had a double-double, with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Brian Strzok followed that with a double-double of his own, recording 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Senior Taye Yeager hit double digits, with 12 points, while freshman Emmit Johnson added 9 and senior Trent Nitek rounded out the scoring, with 3 points, and led the team with 5 assists.