Third Times The Charm - Northwest Boys Defeat Aurora In Sub District Final

(Aurora, NE) - A Friday night affair between the two rivals in the B-7 subdistrict final saw Northwest down the Aurora Huskies 54-42. It was the third meeting between the two Central Conference foes. Aurora defeated Aurora in the regular season game on December 21st 53-46, then downed the Vikings in the Central Conference semi-finals on January 31st, 52-42. 

This time, Northwest snapped a seven-game losing streak to Aurora and won for just the second time in the last 17 meetings. The post-season matchup Friday night was very similar to the first two meetings this season as both teams went back n forth for the first three quarters. 

Northwest would hold a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 8-7. Aurora would open things up in the second quarter with a 21-13 run highlighted by Parker Smith hitting three three-pointers for the Huskies. Jayden Slagle would knock down a corner three for Aurora in the final seconds to put Aurora in the lead at the halftime break 28-21. 

In the third quarter, the Vikings would punch back, outscoring the Huskies 12-5. Northwest would attack the paint, involving Cam Walker, Brandon Bykerk, and Dawson Urbanski. The black and gold would then open it up further in the fourth quarter with a 21-9 run highlighted by two fourth-quarter three-pointers by Sam Dinkelman as the senior would lead the way for Northwest with 16 points, tying his season high that was set on Thursday night with 16 points vs Hastings. 

The loss for Aurora is only the fourth for the Huskies as they are now 21-4 on the season. Northwest is now 17-8 on the season. Both teams will be playing in the district final as each are now one win away from the state tournament. Northwest will travel to the defending state champion Omaha Skutt Catholic on Monday, March 3rd at 6:00 pm. Listen live on 103.1 FM. Aurora will host Gretna East at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, March 4th. Listen live on 97.3 FM. 

Northwest   8  13  12  21  - 54 

Aurora         7  21  5  9  - 42 

Viking Scoring: Dinkelman 16 - Walker 10 - Brandt 9 - Urbanski 8 - Wissing 2 - Bykerk 9 

Huskie Scoring: Jaxon Slagle 10 - Allen 2 - Scheierman 12 - Staehr 6 - Smith 9 - Jayden Slagle 3