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NORFOLK —Cedar Catholic hit the road for its final regular season basketball game and its annual date with the Norfolk Catholic Knights.
As the old adage goes, when these two get together, you can throw out the record books.
Ironically, the Mid-State Conference foes arrived at the contest with very similar records. The Trojans entered the game 17-6 and the Knights brought a 16-6 record into the contest. Both teams have been rated in the Top 10 in Class C2 for most of the year.
Well, the game went just as expected, a defensive battle the entire way with every basket being earned and Cedar came out on top in the end, 48-36.
“It was a tough battle for four quarters,” said Trojan head man Nick Haselhorst. “Our defensive presence and intensity led us to the win. Our kids did a great job preparing all week long and we were the aggressors for a majority of the night.”
The game lacked offense in the beginning, in most part due to the defense being played on the court.
The Trojans got out to a 9-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and added six points to the advantage in the second eight-minute session.
The Knights were far from done as they made a run at Cedar Catholic in the third frame.
“We had a bit of a lull to start the third quarter,” the coach said. “But we stuck with our defense and we continued to find just enough offense to survive.”
Norfolk Catholic trimmed the lead to 35-30 at the end of the third stanza, but the Trojans got it going again in the final frame to post the win.
Jaymison Cattau fired in 12 points for Cedar Catholic to lead a rather balanced attack.
Mason Baller, Braeden Reifenrath and Jacob Steffen each added six, while Hunter Bensen and Aaron Wortmann contributed five apiece.
Nolan Becker grabbed seven rebounds, Cattau brought in six missed shots.
Baller, Becker, Wortmann and Micah Cattau shared the ball with three assists each and Jaymison Cattau added four steals to his night.
Cedar Catholic was set to take on 14-9 Wakefield in the semifinals of the C2-5 Sub-Distict Tournament at the Monsignor Werner Activities Center on Feb. 25.
The winner of that game will take on the winner of the other semifinal bracket contest between Ponca and West Holt back at the Msgr. Werner Activities Center on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
Cedar Cartholic (18-6) 9 14 12 13 — 48 Norf Catholic (16-7) 5 8 17 6 — 36
CEDAR CATHOLIC: Jaymison Cattau, 5-11 0-0 12; Mason Baller, 2-3 2-2 6; Hunter Bensen, 2-2 0-0 5; Braeden Reifenrath, 3-4 0-0 6; Nolan Becker, 1-12 2-2 4; Micah Cattau, 1-2 2-2 4; Aaron Wortmann, 2-5 0-0 5; Jacob Steffen, 3-6 0-0 6.
NORFOLK CATHOLIC: Aiden Corr 1-6 1-1 3; Hayden Kelley 2-6 2-6 7; Leighton Burbach 0-1 1-2 1; Max Hammond 6-16 0-0 13; Braeden Burbach 0-1 1-2 1; Nathan Timmerman 1-4 0-0 2; Gavin Schutt 4-15 1-3 9.
