Northwest Boys Make Comeback - St Cecilia Girls Sneak One Out

(Grand Island, NE) - Two thrilling games on Tuesday night at Northwest High School saw the St Cecilia girls hang on for a 34-30 win and the Northwest boys come back for an exciting 45-44 victory.

The low-scoring affair in the girl's contest saw St Cecilia hold on to a 21-20 lead at the halftime break. Ryan Sabatka would go off for 10 points in the first half. Northwest would limit Sabatka in the second half to just four points. The Hawkettes then outscored Northwest in the third quarter 7-2. The St Cecilia defense was smothering especially in the second half vs the Northwest offense. The Vikings were able to muster up 8 points in the fourth quarter to St Cecilia's 6. The Vikings had a chance in the closing seconds to potentially tie the game but would come up short on the last possession of the game as time would run out. 

In the boy's game, Northwest would dig themselves a 16-point hole at halftime down 34-18 thanks to Dawson Kissinger scoring 15 points in the first half for St Cecilia. Kissinger would score 8 in the second quarter late in the period all in a run of his own. The Vikings would buckle down on defense and crawl back into the contest with a 16-7 third-quarter run to only trail 41-34 going into the 4th. The Vikings would then outscore the Bluehawks 11-3 in the fourth quarter. Northwest would get back within striking distance just before the two-minute mark with a Jaden Brandt three-pointer that made it 43-39 St Cecilia. Cam Jensen would continue the run with a bucket down low to make it 43-41 with 1:58 left. One free throw made by the Bluehawks made it 44-41, but then Northwest would close the gap with two Dawson Urbanski free throws to make it 44-43 with 1:11 left. With 35 seconds left in the game, Northwest would foul Jensen Anderson of St Cecilia. He would then miss two free throws. Northwest would call a timeout. That gave the Vikings a chance to take the lead with :30 seconds left in the game. Out of the time out, Cam Jensen would hand the ball off to Dawson Urbanski at the top of the key. Urbanski would then drive down the right lane line and hit a layup with :21 seconds left in the game. The Vikings would get a jump ball call with six-tenths of a second left. Cam Jensen would inbound for Northwest but throw the ball over everyone going out of bounds with no one touching the ball. That gave St Cecilia one last chance to potentially win the game on an inbounds play. The pass would come into Braxton Wiles. His shot would miss off the left front portion of the rim to secure the win for Northwest. 

Both Northwest teams will be back in action on Thursday, February 8th traveling to Albion to take on Boone Central. Girls game is scheduled for 5:45 pm with the boys game to follow on 103.1 FM & 2dayfm1031.com 

GIRLS GAME 

St Cecilia (13-4) 14  7  7  6  - 34

Northwest (10-8)  9 11 2 8 - 30 

Hawkette Scoring - N.Krikac 6 - Parr 6 - Kissinger 4 - T.Krikac 4 - Sabatka 14 

Viking Scoring - O'Hara 9 - Dorsey 4 - McIntyre 3 - Brandt 6 - Sybrandts 8 

BOYS GAME 

Northwest (6-11) 8  10  16  11 - 45

St Cecilia (9-9) 13  21  7  3  - 44 

Viking Scoring - Dinkelman 6 - C.Jensen 6 - Walker 6 - Brandt 6 - L.Jensen 4 - Bykerk 9 - Urbanski 7 - Atkins 2 

Bluehawk Scoring - Anderson 2 - Rosno 12 - Kissinger 15 - Rodriguez 3 - Wiles 12 

NW makes the 2nd half comeback tonight to win it over St Cecilia 45-44. The Vikings trailed by 16 at the half. @dawson_urbanski would hit this layup w/21 sec left to take the lead. Bykerk 9/Urbanski 7/Dinkelman C.Jensen Walker and Brandt each with pts. #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/LMJF9n4A7J

— Matt Williams (@mattymattradio) February 7, 2024