Syracuse finished in a tie for fifth and scored 110 points at the 15-team Crete wrestling tournament last weekend. Omaha Bryan scored 196 points for first place. Also in the top five were Beatrice, Lincoln Northstar, Wilber-Clatonia and Fairbury.
The Rocket boys’ basketball team earned a victory and suffered a close loss during action last week. JCC 44, Rockets 41 With both teams in an aggressive man defense, the Thunderbirds started the game with a 6-0 run until senior Robert Shanks found senior Jace Voorhees in the paint at the 4:52 mark. The teams continued to trade baskets with freshman Max Parde also taking a charge with 11 seconds left to stop the Thunderbirds with the score at 12-13. The Thunderbirds struck first in the second quarter but the Rockets worked together with assisted baskets throughout the quarter and points off of steals and fast breaks. The Rockets won the quarter and went up 25 24 at halftime. But the third quarter proved to be the difference. Voorhees hit a shot at the 7:02 mark, but the Rockets couldn’t find the bottom of the net again until Shanks connected on a free throw with 32 seconds left in the quarter and a score of 28-34. Within the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter, the Rockets worked together to find Voorhees down low and Zoller and Janssen along the perimeter and eventually tied the score at 41 with 3:03 left. After a long Rocket possession that ended in a turnover, the Thunderbirds made 3 or 4 from the free-throw line. The Rockets got three chances to score in the last 15 seconds, but couldn’t connect for a 41-44 loss. Coach Stotz commented, “JCC held us to 3 points in the 3rd quarter which hurt. That’s a testament to their coaching staff and players who had a good game plan. JCC was the better team that night.” SDA 12-13-3-13 - 41 JCC 13-11-10-10 - 44 Points - Voorhees 18, Shanks 9, Zoller 9, Janssen 3, Parde 2. Rebounds - Parde 14, Voorhees 9. Assists Parde 7. 16 turnovers.
Entertaining guests is a labor of love. Much effort goes into preparing a home for the arrival of friends and family, and that includes planning a menu that will accommodate as many people as possible.
Picking up wins for Syracuse were Cy Peterson, 160, by pin in 3:10; Tyler Sears, 170, by pin in 2:57; Hunter Holle by pin in 3:03; Chance Buchanan, 285, by pin in 2:43; Bryson Jones, 113, by pin in 3:38; Bar-Brandt, by decision, 7-4. Tournament Results Syracuse finished fourth in a field of 12 teams at a tournament at Conestoga. The top five teams were Logan View, 199; Bishop Neumann, 171.5; Conestoga, 153; Syracuse, 134; and High Plains Community, 132. Bryson Jones, 113, scored four team points and beat Lincoln Christian, by pin in 53 seconds.
In its first year at Syracuse High School, the Esports team placed at state in two games. The team of Jeremy Bohaty, Camden Masters, Jacob Panko, Koby Pump and Cade Stephenson, playing Valorant, had an undefeated season and placed first at state.
Former Syracuse High School standout athlete Jessie Moss, daughter of Keith and Deb Moss of Burr, competed in the NAIA Volleyball Championships semifinal game with her Midland University team on Monday, Dec. 5, in Sioux City, Iowa. The Warriors lost in five sets to Jamestown University from North Dakota, 24-26, 25-15, 10-25, 25-18,12-15. Jamestown also competes in the same conference as Midland University. Midland won their regular season meeting in five sets.
The Syracuse Rocket basketball teams opened their season last weekend with games at Falls City on Friday and at home against Fort Calhoun on Saturday. Both teams split but were victorious on different nights. Falls City 29, Rocket girls 28 Coach Andrew Pryor commented, “Going into this game, the team had discussed trying to keep things simple and to control the things we can control. We had a lot of players that were not the most experienced but played hard. Unfortunately, our offense was pretty stagnant and it caused us to be slow going throughout the game. There were some good moments, but there was too much standing throughout the game. We needed to be more active and hopefully, that’ll come with more experience. You always want a chance at the end of the game, and we had that, but came up short.”
(Photos by Mapel Creek Photography) .
The Rocket boys’ basketball team, under the direction of second year Head Coach Adam Stotz, will feature a core senior group and younger players ready to step into roles on the team for the 2022-23 season.