After four games on the road, Neligh-Oakdale is heading back home. They will take on the Norfolk Catholic Knights at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday. Neligh-Oakdale will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings (they are ranked 250th, while Norfolk Catholic is ranked 118th).
Neligh-Oakdale suffered their biggest loss yet this season two weeks ago. They took a serious blow against Stuart, falling 78-34. Neligh-Oakdale was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 39-19.
Neligh-Oakdale's defeat came about despite a quality game from Chase Furstenau, who scored 28 points along with eight rebounds. That was a full 82.4% of Neligh-Oakdale's points, marking the ninth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Colson Krebs, who scored six points along with three steals.
Neligh-Oakdale struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only an offensive rebound. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Stuart pulled down 20 offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Norfolk Catholic can now show off four landslide victories after their most recent contest on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Pierce with a sharp 55-34 victory. The victory was some much needed relief for Norfolk Catholic as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
Norfolk Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Max Hammond led the charge by scoring 15 points along with three steals. Hammond has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played. Another player making a difference was Nathan Timmerman, who scored 11 points along with two steals.
Neligh-Oakdale bumped their record down to 1-10 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Norfolk Catholic, the victory got them back to even at 6-6.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Neligh-Oakdale have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 9.6 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Norfolk Catholic, though, as they've been averaging only 27.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Neligh-Oakdale might still be hurting after the 61-37 loss they got from Norfolk Catholic in their previous meeting back in January of 2022. Thankfully for Neligh-Oakdale, Ben Hammond (who scored 21 points along with two steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
