The Superior Express -

After the moratorium, Superior continued playing in the Runza Holiday Tournament. The Wildcats faced off against Bruning-Davenport-Shickley Monday, Dec.28. The game was a battle from the tip with many lead changes with BDS winning the close game 36 to 35.

Tied at 8 after the first quarter, each team found themselves ahead by 7, at one point during the game. Superior held the lead for most of the second half, but two of Superior’s six turnovers in the game came late in the game when BDS put on a press. “We have handled the press very well as of late. BDS sped us up and made us uncomfortable causing two big turnovers. We have been preaching winning and losing plays. We had several losing plays tonight, not coming up with 50-50 balls, they scored on a baseline out of bounds play we had scouted. And playing sped up when being pressed. In a game like this, making those mistakes will cost a win,” said Coach Chadwell.

A bright spot for The Cats was the shooting of A.J. Leibel. Leibel went 3-3 from behind the arc. “It was nice to see one of our guys get hot from the perimeter. When they get hot, they need to look for more opportunities to shoot. We are stressing attacking the basket because our shooting percentage is so low, but if they are hot, the need to look to shoot more,” Coach Chadwell said. Leibel led Superior’s scoring with 11, Conner Blackstone added 10 and Jedd Whitmore finished with 8. Whitmore led rebounding with 5.

Superior ended the Runza Holiday Tournament with a victory against Sandy Creek, 59- 50. The game started off back and forth while the teams were feeling each other out. It was a back and forth first quarter. Superior finished the first quarter with a 15 to 10 lead. The Cats extended their lead at halftime leading 33 to 21.

“Our confidence shooting the basketball was noticeable. We hit quite a few midrange pull up jumpers along with three 3 point shots,” said Coach Chadwell. The 33 points scored in the first half is the most in the first half for The Cats this season. Superior also did a nice job crashing the offensive glass. “Having 12 offensive rebounds was a big factor for us. Extending possessions and giving ourselves more chances to score, also keeping the ball out of their hands contributed to this win tonight. We have been preaching crashing the glass and the guys did that,” Coach Chadwell said.

Superior let Sandy Creek climb back into the game in the third quarter being outscored 14-8. “Sandy Creek got rolling a bit in the third quarter. Our shots weren’t coming as easy, they made us uncomfortable. Luckily we had a large lead at the time, but we need to do a better job of handling that pressure, finding the right shot and putting a team away, said Coach Chadwell. With the lead cut to 4 points, Elijah Heusinkvelt made a huge play taking a charge on Josh Shaw, forcing him to foul out. Heusinkvelt followed his huge play, by making the extra pass, finding A.J. Leibel wide open who nailed the three point shot to extend the lead to 7. “Elijah has been a great addition to our team. He is still finding his way in our system, but to come up with those two plays back to back in crunch time was awesome to see,” said Coach Chadwell.

The Wildcats sealed their victory shooting 8-13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Leibel continued his hot shooting hitting 5-6 from the three point line, finishing leading The Cats in scoring with a career high 18. Dane Miller chipped in 14 and Conner Blackstone had 12. Rebounding was led by Miller with 10 and Schnakenberg added 9 of his own.

Superior will be in action next Friday, against Thayer Central at home and Saturday at Fillmore Central.