Basketball Recap: Zander Jarecki's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Newman Grove/St. Edward over Central Valley

It was a proper cat-fight when Newman Grove/St. Edward challenged Central Valley on Monday. The contest between the Newman Grove/St. Edward Panthers and the Central Valley Cougars didn't end well, with the Newman Grove/St. Edward Panthers falling 54-36. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 231st, while the Cougars are ranked 108th).

Newman Grove/St. Edward lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Zander Jarecki, who posted ten points and three steals. Another player making a difference was Anthony Reader, who earned ten points and four steals.

Central Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Taesian Soto led the charge by dropping a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Zaden Wolf, who had 11 points along with five assists and five boards.

Newman Grove/St. Edward now has a losing record at 6-7. As for Central Valley, the win (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 10-3.

Newman Grove/St. Edward will square off against Archangels Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on January 28th. As for Central Valley, they will face off against Elgin/Pope John at 7:30 p.m. on January 28th.