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RANDOLPH – The Osmond-Randolph Hawks boys' basketball team played three games this week, coming out with one win and second place in the Wausa Post-Holiday Tournament.
Hawks vs. Trojans
RANDOLPH — On Tuesday, Jan. 2, the Hawks (2-6) faced off against the Cedar Catholic Trojans (7-3) in Randolph. The Hawks fought tooth and nail for the entire first half against the fifthranked team in Class C2 and trailed 24-18 with just 1:56 to go in the first half. Cedar’s athleticism and relentless defense wore the Hawks down in the second half, forcing numerous turnovers and leading to a 64-31 final score.
Osmond-Randolph saw their seventh different leading scorer in just nine games played, as Baylen Guenther led the team with seven points. Brayden Shearer and Owen Severson came next with six points each, followed by Ryan Engel and Xander Brown with three.
Sophomore Luke Harder scored two, while Matthew Alderson rounded out the scoring with one point. Alderson, Harder, Brown, and Shearer led the team in rebounding with five each, in a good team rebounding effort, where the Hawks actually held a 41-32 advantage over the Trojans. BOX SCORE FG FT Reb. Pts. L. Harder 1-7 0-0 5 2 Brown 1-6 1-2 5 3 Bra Shearer 2-4 2-2 5 6 Severson 3-5 0-0 2 6 Guenther 2-5 2-4 4 7 Alderson 0-3 1-4 5 1 Buchanan 1-4 1-1 3 3 Engel 1-3 1-2 2 3 Bartels 0-1 0-0 1 0 Bre Shearer 0-2 0-0 0 0 Napier 0-1 0-0 0 0 Hawks 11-41 8-15 32 31 Wausa Tournament
WAUSA — On Friday, Jan. 5, Osmond-Randolph (2-7) came up against the Niobrara-Verdigre Cougars (0-10) in the first round of the Wausa Post-Holiday Tournament. Both teams came out of the gate hot, as the only points scored in the first quarter came on shots beyond the arc.
Hunter Buchanan and sophomore Logan Lienemann each drained three shots from deep in the opening quarter to claim an 18-9 lead after eight minutes. The Hawks carried a 34-24 lead at halftime, then put the pedal down in the third quarter to open up a 20-point lead.
Niobrara-Verdigre cut their deficit to 48-36 with 5:22 to go in the final frame, but the Hawks finished the game on a 16-0 run to win 64-36 and claim their third victory of the season.
Osmond-Randolph employed a balanced attack yet again, with four players scoring in double digits. Buchanan led the way with 16 points on 11 feld goal attempts. Brown came next with 15 points, while also posting a double-double, ripping down 10 rebounds as well.
Lienemann scored 12 points on 4/7 shooting from three-point land. Freshman Ryan Engel scored an efficient 11 points while also dishing out five assists in the win.
Brecken Shearer made the most of his two minutes of game play, hitting 2/2 field goals and scoring five points. His older brother Brayden scored two, junior Hudson Napier scored two, and Lucas Bartels hit a free throw to score one. BOX SCORE FG FT Reb. Pts. L. Harder 0-8 0-0 6 0 Brown 5-13 4-4 10 15 Bra Shearer 1-5 0-2 3 2 Severson 0-3 0-0 3 0 Guenther 0-1 0-0 3 0 Buchanan 6-11 0-2 1 16 Lienemann 4-7 0-0 4 12 Engel 5-8 0-0 2 11 Bartels 0-0 1-2 2 1 Bre Shearer 2-2 0-0 2 5 Napier 1-2 0-0 2 2 Hawks 24-60 5-10 38 64 The next night, the Hawks took on fourthranked in C2 and undefeated Lutheran High Northeast (12-0) after LHNE beat Wausa Thursday night, 63-24. Osmond-Randolph came ready to fight for the championship, but trailed the talented boys from Lutheran High 16-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The lead would swell to as big as 22, as the Hawks had a rough time taking care of the ball in the middle of the second quarter, and the lead was 39-18 at halftime.
The Hawks then stabilized, putting a run on LHNE’s pressure man-to-man defense in the third quarter. The lead was cut to 42-27 and a Logan Lienemann corner three went halfway down the basket before it was spit back out, and that was as close as the Hawks would draw to their opponent.
They trailed by 16 with 3:18 to go in the game, but Lutheran High got some late buckets against the Hawks going for steals, and LHNE won the game 59-36, as Osmond-Randolph took home the silver medals from Wausa.
Brown posted his second consecutive 15-point outing, and led the team in rebounds with six. Guenther came next with a season-high eight points. Severson scored four points, and Brayden Shearer scored three.
Engel and Alderson each scored two points, while Harder and Buchanan each scored one in the loss. Lienemann’s shots weren’t falling in this one, but he did dole out five assists in the loss.
The Osmond-Randolph Hawks (3-8) will be in action for just one game this week in Osmond Friday, Jan. 12, against the Wausa Vikings (7-6). BOX SCORE FG FT Reb. Pts. L. Harder 0-3 1-2 4 1 Brown 5-10 2-4 6 15 Bra Shearer 1-3 1-2 3 3 Severson 2-4 0-0 2 4 Guenther 2-8 3-4 3 8 Alderson 1-2 0-0 1 2 Buchanan 0-0 1-4 0 1 Lienemann 0-5 0-0 1 0 Engel 1-4 0-0 4 2 Bre Shearer 0-1 0-0 0 0 Hawks 12-40 8-16 24 36
