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HARTINGTON - Big milestones and school records were the order of the day here Thursday.
Cedar Catholic jumped on Laurel-Concord-Coleridge early at the Msgr. Werner Activities Center on its way to a resounding 85-40 win with Trojan senior, Nolan Becker recording his 1,000th point along the way.
Becker and company combined for a school record 15 3-pointers on the night, hitting 15-of-25 shots from beyond the arc on the way to the somewhat surprisingly easy win.
The Trojans actually shot a better percentage from beyond the line than they did inside it or even from the charity stripe.
“We were locked in and ready to play,” said Cedar Catholic coach Nick Haselhorst. “We played with intensity on both ends of the court.”
Leading 22-13 after the first eight minutes, Mason Baller jump started the Trojans in the second with backto- back 3-pointers to widen the lead to 28-13. Then after an LCC trifecta, Jaymison Cattau scored inside then grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back in to make it 32-16 still early in the second.
By the time the dust settled on the first half, Cedar Catholic was in command, 45-20, and, oh by the way, Becker had hit his 1,000th career point.
After Baller scored on a drive in the paint, he spotted Becker and fed him the ball for the assist and Becker made it to get to the career benchmark.
“It’s kind of a relief to move along from here, but it was really great to do it here at home,” Becker said. “It was in front of my friends and my family. I couldn’t have done any of this without the support of my teammates, my friends and for sure my family. My brothers, Ethan, Matthew and my dad. Playing as a freshman when Ethan was here was a great experience and that group of seniors taught me how to become a leader.
“I take leading seriously and its not just scoring points. I like to think of it as ‘shining in the dark’ or putting in the extra work to make sure we do the little things that will make us successful. Coming up after hours and on weekends to shoot around with my dad or my teammates. It all adds up.”
Becker wasn’t sure his senior year was going to be as successful as he had dreamed about.
“I was kind of worried at the beginning of the season, but we are starting to come around, and I want to make sure we keep coming around,” he said.
“We want to get back to Lincoln and make some noise down there.”
After the excitement of the career accomplishment, Becker showed his maturity and put an exclamation point on the event by canning a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it 42-18.
Those long ball shots seemed to be contagious.
Cattau hit a three just before the half and the teams went to the break with the Trojans in front, 45-20.
“Defensively we were disruptive and kept their shooters in check. The shots they did hit were contested shots,” Haselhorst said. “Offensively, we shot a high percentage and we shared the ball well and found the open man all night.”
The Trojans kept the foot on the gas in the second half, outscoring the Bears 40-20 to post the 45-point victory.
Cattau led the team with 18 points including a 4-for-6 performance from beyond the 3-point line. Baller poured in 17 and was 5-for-5 from long distance. Becker added 13 with 2-of-3 from 3-point land and Aaron Wortmann was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep to accumulate 11 points.
Becker completed a double-double with with 11 rebounds and also handed out seven assists. Cattau and Baller each had three steals.
The Trojans were looking for their sixth consecutive win when they traveled to Wynot Jan. 14 to take on the Blue Devils.
Cedar Catholic will travel to take on Dakota Valley up in South Dakota on Jan. 16 before hosting Pierce Jan. 17 in Mid State Conference action.
LCC (4-8) 13 7 11 9 — 40 Cedar (7-3) 22 23 20 20 —85 CEDAR CATHOLIC: Mason Baller 6-7 0-0 17; Hunter Bensen 2-3 0-0 6; Jaymison Cattau 7-13 0-0 18; Braeden Reifenrath 4-4 0-1 9; Nolan Becker 5-10 1-2 13; Micah Cattau 0-1 1-2 1; Breiton Whitmire 0-2 0-0 0; Aaron Wortmann 4-6 3-3 11; Grady Haberer 1-1 0-0 2; Kighter Wortmann 3-7 1-4 8; Jared Rutar 0-1 0-0 0.
LCC: Erwin 3-9 1-2 7; Puppe 1-2 0-0 2; Ca. Korth 2-2 1-2 6; Roberts 7-19 2-3 17; Haisch 0-6 0-0 0; Co. Korth 0-1 0-2 0; Thompson 0-3 2-2 2; Johnson 3-10 0-0 6.
