Basketball Recap: St. Mary's Win on Thursday Extends Winning Streak to Eight

Cardinals

Previous Games

02/13/25 vs West Holt	69-50
02/11/25 vs Boyd County	63-35
02/08/25 vs Elgin/Pope John	69-63
02/03/25 vs Chambers/Wheeler Central	55-40
02/01/25 vs North Central	72-30
+ 3 more games

St. Mary came tearing into Thursday's match with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.4 points), and they left with even more momentum. They took down the West Holt Huskies 69-50. For the Cardinals, this counts as revenge for the 66-52 win the Huskies walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2024.

St. Mary's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Gage Hedstrom, who went 8-for-20 on his way to 23 points and five rebounds. The game was Hedstrom's third in a row with at least 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Barlow, who went 7-for-13 to rack up 19 points along with five assists and five boards.

St. Mary's smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive rebound total in three consecutive contests.

Despite the loss, West Holt still got an impressive performance from Zach Hooey, who almost dropped a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds. Hooey has been hot recently, having posted eight or more boards the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Andrew Rentschler, who posted 16 points.

St. Mary's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-4. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points over those games. As for West Holt, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 18-4.

Coming up, St. Mary's will head out on the road to face off against Elgin/Pope John at 7:00 p.m. on February 21st. St. Mary's knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 15 matches -- so hopefully Elgin/Pope John likes a good challenge. As for West Holt, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Guardian Angels Central Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on February 21st. West Holt is facing Guardian Angels Central Catholic at the right time seeing as Guardian Angels Central Catholic is stuck on a three-game losing streak.