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The Niobrara/Verdigre (Niobrara, NE) varsity basketball team won Friday's home tournament game against Ainsworth (NE) by a score of 50-45.

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Ainsworth	6	11	15	13	45
Niobrara/Verdigre	13	12	12	13	50

Final score provided by S. Kraus.

Recap
Box Score
Matchup Info

Game Stats

Niobrara/Verdigre (25-26)

Ainsworth

Shooting

#	Athlete Name	Pts	FGM	FGA	FG%	AFG%
	Team Totals	45	17	52	33	35
1	Chris Fernandez (Sr)	10	4	7	57	57
3	Zaine Evans (So)	6	1	6	17	25
15	Jacob Ortner (So)	8	4	9	44	44
21	Jaxon Rucker (So)	12	4	11	36	36
22	Witten Painter (Sr)	5	2	15	13	17
24	Bear Rea (So)	4	2	4	50	50

Niobrara/Verdigre

Shooting

#	Athlete Name	Pts	FGM	FGA	FG%	AFG%
	Team Totals	50	20	46	43	47
2	Julius Brandt (Sr)	0	0	3	0	0
4	Danny Pease (Sr)	4	2	3	67	67
10	Kash Neilsen (Jr)	19	7	11	64	68
12	Jhett Denney (Fr)	7	3	6	50	58
25	Edward Drobny (Jr)	10	4	8	50	50
30	Parker Frank (Fr)	6	2	12	17	21
33	Levi Hoefer (So)	4	2	3	67	67

Ainsworth

#	Athlete Name	Pts	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	2FGM	2FGA	2FG%
	Team Totals	45	2	19	11	9	16	56	15	33	45
1	Chris Fernandez (Sr)	10	0	1	0	2	2	100	4	6	67
3	Zaine Evans (So)	6	1	5	20	3	6	50	0	1	0
13	Graham Duester (So)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
15	Jacob Ortner (So)	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	44
21	Jaxon Rucker (So)	12	0	1	0	4	6	67	4	10	40
22	Witten Painter (Sr)	5	1	10	10	0	0	0	1	5	20
24	Bear Rea (So)	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	100

Niobrara/Verdigre

#	Athlete Name	Pts	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	2FGM	2FGA	2FG%
	Team Totals	50	3	13	23	7	15	47	17	33	52
2	Julius Brandt (Sr)	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0
4	Danny Pease (Sr)	4							2	3	67
10	Kash Neilsen (Jr)	19	1	1	100	4	7	57	6	10	60
12	Jhett Denney (Fr)	7	1	4	25	0	2	0	2	2	100
25	Edward Drobny (Jr)	10				2	3	67	4	8	50
30	Parker Frank (Fr)	6	1	6	17	1	1	100	1	6	17
33	Levi Hoefer (So)	4	0	1	0				2	2	100

Ainsworth

Totals

#	Athlete Name	Pts	OReb	DReb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF
	Team Totals	45	12	12	24	15	8	1	12	14
1	Chris Fernandez (Sr)	10	1	2	3	4	2	0	4	1
3	Zaine Evans (So)	6	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	4
11	Bateson Raymond (So)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
13	Graham Duester (So)	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0
15	Jacob Ortner (So)	8	3	5	8	0	0	0	2	1
21	Jaxon Rucker (So)	12	6	3	9	6	0	1	3	3
22	Witten Painter (Sr)	5	0	2	2	0	2	0	2	2
24	Bear Rea (So)	4	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3

Niobrara/Verdigre

Totals

#	Athlete Name	Pts	OReb	DReb	Reb	Ast	Stl	TO
	Team Totals	50	11	18	29	16	14	20
2	Julius Brandt (Sr)	0						2
3	Gage Vesely (Sr)						1
4	Danny Pease (Sr)	4	1	6	7	7	2	3
10	Kash Neilsen (Jr)	19	3	7	10	4	4	7
12	Jhett Denney (Fr)	7	1		1	1	5	1
25	Edward Drobny (Jr)	10	3	1	4	3	1	1
30	Parker Frank (Fr)	6	3	4	7	1		4
33	Levi Hoefer (So)	4					1	2

Ainsworth

Misc Totals

#	Athlete Name	Ast:TO	Stl:TO	Stl:PF	Blk:PF	Chr	Defl
	Team Totals	1.25	0.67	0.57	0.07	1	24
1	Chris Fernandez (Sr)	1.00	0.50	2.00	0.00	0	7
3	Zaine Evans (So)	3.00	3.00	0.75	0.00	0	9
13	Graham Duester (So)	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0
15	Jacob Ortner (So)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1	5
21	Jaxon Rucker (So)	2.00	0.00	0.00	0.33	0	1
22	Witten Painter (Sr)	0.00	1.00	1.00	0.00	0	1
24	Bear Rea (So)	1.00	1.00	0.33	0.00	0	1

Niobrara/Verdigre

Misc Totals

#	Athlete Name	Ast:TO	Stl:TO
	Team Totals	0.80	0.70
4	Danny Pease (Sr)	2.33	0.67
10	Kash Neilsen (Jr)	0.57	0.57
12	Jhett Denney (Fr)	1.00	5.00
25	Edward Drobny (Jr)	3.00	1.00
30	Parker Frank (Fr)	0.25
33	Levi Hoefer (So)		0.50

Ainsworth's stats are presented by HudlHudl

Game Story

Nebraska High School Basketball - Ainsworth tipped by Niobrara/Verdigre

January 30, 2026: Niobrara, NE 68783

In Friday's non-league test, the Niobrara/Verdigre Cougars (Niobrara, NE) basketball squad got by the visiting Ainsworth Bulldogs (Ainsworth, NE), by a tally of 50-45.

The Cougars now possess a 1-17 record. They play next when they travel to Elgin/Pope John for a non-league bout on Saturday, January 31. Niobrara/Verdigre will play a Wolfpack team coming off a 57-50 non-league win over Humphrey-Lindsay (Humphrey, NE). The Wolfpack record now stands at 17-0.

With the loss, Ainsworth falls to 4-15 on the campaign. The Bulldogs travel to Stuart (Stuart, NE) to play the Broncos in a non-league bout on Tuesday, February 10. The Broncos come into the test with a record of 13-6. Stuart won 66-44 in their recent non-league test against North Central (Bassett, NE)

Ainsworth @ NVHS (CO-OP) Basketball Game Info

Fri., Jan. 30, 2026 @ 7:30p

The Niobrara/Verdigre (Niobrara, NE) varsity basketball team won Friday's home tournament game against Ainsworth (NE) by a score of 50-45.

Rankings & Records

Ainsworth (25-26)

NE	Class
247	49

Overall	District	Home	Away	Neutral	Win %	District %	PF	PA
5-19	1-0	3-6	0-12	2-1	.208	1.000	1,022	1,402

Niobrara/Verdigre (25-26)

NE	Class
248	45

Overall	District	Home	Away	Neutral	Win %	District %	PF	PA
3-21	0-3	2-8	1-11	0-2	.125	.000	862	1,358

Team Scoring Averages

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Ainsworth	8.9	10.4	11.5	12.3	42.6
Niobrara/Verdigre	9.0	8.6	8.3	10.2	35.9

Head-to-Head

Ainsworth won on 1/29/2026

1/29 @ 7:30p Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final

NVHS (CO-OP) 8 8 13 7 36
Ainsworth 20 10 13 19 62

The Niobrara/Verdigre (Niobrara, NE) varsity basketball team lost Thursday's away conference game against Ainsworth (NE) by a score of 62-36.
Box score
Niobrara/Verdigre won on 1/30/2026

1/30 @ 7:30p Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final

Ainsworth 6 11 15 13 45
NVHS (CO-OP) 13 12 12 13 50

The Ainsworth (NE) varsity basketball team lost Friday's away tournament game against Niobrara/Verdigre (Niobrara, NE) by a score of 50-45.
Box score

1/29 @ 7:30p	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
NVHS (CO-OP)	8	8	13	7	36
Ainsworth	20	10	13	19	62

Team Stat Comparison

Ainsworth		Niobrara/Verdigre
42.6	Points Per Game	35.8
29.5	Rebounds Per Game	28.8
10.3	Assists Per Game	6.8
9.6	Steals Per Game	10.0
1.0	Blocks Per Game	1.6

Team Leaders

Ainsworth		Niobrara/Verdigre	National Avg.
#1 Chris Fernandez11.6	Points Per Game	#10 Kash Neilsen8.4	4.8
#21 Jaxon Rucker7.7	Rebounds Per Game	#10 Kash Neilsen7.2	2.5
#1 Chris Fernandez3.3	Assists Per Game	#11 Skye Denney1.5	1.0
#1 Chris Fernandez2.2	Steals Per Game	#10 Kash Neilsen2.4	0.8
#15 Jacob Ortner0.4	Blocks Per Game	#10 Kash Neilsen0.5	0.2

Common Opponents

School	Common Opp. Rec.		School	Common Opp. Rec.
Ainsworth	0-6		Niobrara/Verdigre	1-7

Date	Away	Home	Result	Date	Away	Home	Result
12/11/25	West Holt	Ainsworth	(L) 74-43	2/10/26	Niobrara/Verdigre	West Holt	(W) 50-47
12/29/25	Ainsworth	Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard]	(L) 66-49	12/12/25	Niobrara/Verdigre	Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard]	(L) 51-49
1/9/26	Ainsworth	St. Mary's	(L) 72-28	12/9/25	St. Mary's	Niobrara/Verdigre	(L) 85-31
1/13/26	Boyd County	Ainsworth	(L) 55-35	2/13/26	Boyd County	Niobrara/Verdigre	(L) 55-25
				2/24/26	Niobrara/Verdigre	Boyd County	(L) 48-47
1/22/26	Ainsworth	North Central	(L) 72-31	1/20/26	Niobrara/Verdigre	North Central	(L) 59-36
				2/3/26	Niobrara/Verdigre	North Central	(L) 42-32
2/10/26	Ainsworth	Stuart	(L) 70-57	12/4/25	Niobrara/Verdigre	Stuart	(L) 60-25

Record Breakdown

Ainsworth (25-26)		Niobrara/Verdigre (25-26)
5-19	Overall	3-21
2-1	League	0-4
2-14	Non-League	1-15
1-1	Head to Head	1-1
0-6	Common Opponent	1-7
3-6	Home	2-8
0-12	Away	1-11
2-1	Neutral	0-2
0-0	Playoff	0-0
5-19	In-State	3-21
0-0	Out-of-State	0-0