Thane Wetjen led the Huskies in scoring with 14 points.
It was looking to be a big upset with the Heartland Huskie boys basketball team keeping a few points ahead of the reigning CRC Champions Osceola Bulldogs at Heartland Thursday night. But the boisterous Heartland fans were disappointed when the Bulldogs made a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, winning by one point 44-43.
It was a disappointing loss for the Huskies, but they showed up and raised their level of play from their big loss against Centennial on Tuesday. Defensively, they caused many Bulldog turnovers and held their best player, senior Kale Gustafson, who averages 25 points a game, to 19. Their biggest lead of the game was at the beginning of the second quarter at 13-7 behind a 3-pointer by Sam Quiring. The lead changed back and forth and was tied up several times, with each team answering with clutch shots.
Last year, the Huskies lost in triple-overtime to the Bulldogs in Osceola, and it looked like this one would go into overtime as well. The Huskies will end their regular season at home next Friday night, February 16, against the 16-5 ranked Sandy Creek Cougars.
Check out the video on the Osceola Bulldogs Twitter link of the last-second shot that sealed the win for the Bulldogs!
BOYS vs. Osceola Stats:
BOYS Individual scoring: Thane Wetjen – 14, Sam Quiring – 9, Carter Siebert – 8, Hudson Regier – 5, Nick Thieszen – 5, Luis Alvarez – 2
Photos courtesy Cody Farrall
The Heartland Huskie girls had their hands full battling Osceola and lost 26-56. They got behind early, only scoring three points in the first quarter, but got back into the game in the third quarter behind a 3-pointer by Emersyn Oswald, cutting the lead down to 13 points.
The Bulldogs continued their hot shooting and increased their lead to 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Huskies couldn’t keep up. This ends regular play for the girls, and they will enter D1-2 sub-district competition next Monday, Feb. 12, against BDS in McCool at 6 p.m.
GIRLS vs. Osceola Stats:
GIRLS Individual scoring: Allie Boehr – 8, Emersyn Oswald – 7, Isabel Johnson – 6, Hayden Mierau – 3, Reese Regier – 2
Photos courtesy Cody Farrall
