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RANDOLPH - The Randolph Cardinal boys basketball team just completed a very busy and successful week which saw the Cards register a 3-1 record and take on the team at the top of Class D2 in four games.
Randolph traveled to Wausa to take on the highly-regarded and undefeated Vikings to end the week and Wausa gave the Cards their first loss in the past six games dating back to Dec. 20 when the Archangels visited Randolph.
The Vikings won 62-25 in the finals of the Wausa Post Holiday Tournament after Randolph had defeated Niobrara/Verdigre in the opening round 59-40. The tournament was held Jan. 10-11.
'Against Wausa, we just ran out of gas,' said Coach Cory Simpson. 'Four games in five days is just not ideal when you want to battle with the No. 1 team in the state.'
Earlier in the week and in the second game of the 2025 portion of their schedule, the Cardinals took care of Winside Jan.9, 65-44 and defeated Walthill by a score of 47-37 to end the week at 6-5 after opening the season 1-4.
Against the Vikings in the finals, the worn-out Cardinals fell behind early and were really never in the contest as Wausa sprinted to a 21-8 after the opening quarter.
The lead grew to 41-11 at the half and the Vikings added seven points to the lead in the final 16 minutes to come away with their 11th win of the season and grab the big trophy.
'We will need to make some adjustments and get our feet back under us,' Simpson said. 'We have another three games in four days this coming week.'
Brecken Shearer and Luke Harder led the Cards with eight and five points respectively.
In the opening round of the four-team tournament, Randolph advanced to the finals with the win over N/V.
'We started slow but rallied to get our fifth win in a row,' said the coach.
The Cardinals starting 'slow' as the coach said was a bit of an understatement. The Cougars led 14-13 at the end of the first frame, but Randolph came back to take a slight, 25-23 lead at the intermission.
Thirty-four second-half points and a defense which allowed just 17, made the difference in the game as the Cards came away with the 19-point win.
Logan Lienemann poured in a season-high 26 points to pace the Cardinals. Harder contributed 13 and Ryan Engel tossed in 10.
Another strong second-half performance aided Randolph the night before the Wausa Tournament when the Cards turned away Winside, 65-44 in a regular season game played in Randolph.
The Cards did sprint out to an 18-11 lead in the first eight minutes, but the Wildcats trimmed a bucket off of the advantage heading into the halftime break.
'It was a good team win, but we needed some halftime adjustments,' Simpson said. 'Kudos to the boys for finishing strong. Adrian (Samano) came up big on the boards and defense, Logan (Lienemann) and Luke (Bartels) continue to impress.'
The Cards held Winside to just nine points in the third frame and put up 23 of their own to take control of the game.
Lienemann paved the way recording 25 points on the night. Harder added 19 including a 3-for-3 performance from beyond the 3-point line.
Engel chipped in a dozen. The four-game in five days run started with Walthill on Jan. 7 in Randolph and a win in an ugly game, 47-37, behind Lienemann's 15 points.
'It wasn't our prettiest game but we came out on top,' Simpson said. 'It was good to get the first win in four games in five days under our belt.'
Randolph led by four at the end of the first half then extended the lead to 10 by the end of the game.
Engel and Harder each added 10 points in the contest while Dayton Winkelbauer tossed in six.
The Cards were set to take their 7-5 record on the road to play Niobrara/ Verdigre again in a regular season contest on Jan. 14 before heading to Homer to take on the Knights on Jan. 16 and then the unbeaten Vikings again on Jan. 17 in Wausa.
RAN (7-5) 8 3 7 7 - 25 WAU (11-0) 21 20 10 11 - 62 RANDOLPH: Logan Lienemann 1 1-2 3; Jaylen Junck 0 0-2 0; Ryan Engel 1 0-0 3; Kody Junck 1 2-2 4; Luke Harder 1 3-8 5; Brecken Shearer 3 0-0 8; Adrain Samano 1 0-0 2.
N/V (0-11) 14 9 11 6 - 40 RAN (7-5) 13 12 16 18 - 59 RANDOLPH: Lienemann 9 3-4 26; Milo Rayford 0 1-2 1; Dayton Winkelbauer 0 1-2 1; Engel 3 4-6 10; Lucas Bartels 1 0-0 2; Harder 6 1-2 13; Samano 3 0-0 6.
WIN (1-10) 11 14 9 10 - 44 RAN (7-5) 18 12 23 12 - 65 RANDOLPH: Lienemann 9 3-3 25; Winkelbauer 1 0-0 2; Engel 4 4-4 12; K. Junck 0 1-2 1; Harder 7 2-2 19; Sarano 3 0-0 6.
WAL (5-7) 18 19 - 37 RAN (7-5) 22 25 - 47 RANDOLPH: Lienemann 6 0-0 15; Winkelbauer 2 2-2 6; Engel 1 8-8 10; Bartels 1 0-0 2; Harder 3 4-4 10; Shearer 2 0-0 4.
