Grand Island Central Catholic’s Connor Haney and Adams Central’s Jayden Teichmeier tumble across the floor after scrambling for the ball in the second half of their game Saturday at Adams Central.
Grand Island Central Catholic’s Connor Haney and Adams Central’s Jayden Teichmeier tumble across the floor after scrambling for the ball in the second half of their game Saturday at Adams Central.
They got just that in a 61-34 win over Grand Island Central Catholic, which gave AC a 2-0 week after a stretch of seven losses in eight games that included back-to-back defeats by a combined three points.
“We led for 62 minutes and 43 seconds in the two games against Hastings and Holdrege and went 0-2,” said AC coach Zac Foster.
Finally, on Tuesday, the Patriots refreshed the win column at Ord, which relieved some tension throughout the program.
“It just kept building and so I think, even though it wasn’t pretty, getting that win on Tuesday was big because it allowed us to take a deep breath and exhale.”
Adams Central (8-7) played free and easy Saturday against GICC, which brought just four wins into the contest.
They allowed only one Crusader to score in the game’s first 16 minutes while pulling out to a 28-6 lead.
Jacob Stegman scored GICC’s first six points and finished with the team-high 11.
AC’s Jayden Teichmeier scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the first half.
Jack Sughroue buried eight of his 11 points in the second half as one of many contributors off the Patriot bench. Sughroue made his final four shot attempts, including a fade away from the short corner that rode the rim for a small eternity before dropping through.
Abram Johnson flushed two quick 3-pointers in the final three minutes to finish with six points. Decker Shestak added nine points while Sam Dierks and Dylan Janzen chipped in with five apiece.
“Our kids have been practicing the right way and it’s starting to show a little bit more offensively,” Foster said “We have kids with the ability and we believe in them. They’ve just got to believe in themselves and we’re seeing more of that.”
The Patriots now have momentum heading into the Central Conference tournament, which, Foster says, realistically has a handful of teams that could prevail as champion. Patriots included.
“We’re going to have to play like we did today, especially offensively, to have a chance,” said Foster, whose team hosts Seward in the first round on Tuesday.
“Crete has to be the favorite. York is pretty good. Aurora is playing well. A big goal for us is to try to get that first one and try to play the weekend.”
