Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up seven more assists than your opponent, a fact the Ainsworth Bulldogs proved on Friday. They wrapped up 2023 with a 53-35 victory over West Holt. Given Ainsworth's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 48th, while West Holt is ranked 133rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Ainsworth to victory, but perhaps none more so than Carter Nelson, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Nelson has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Trey Appelt, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Despite the loss, West Holt still got an impressive performance from Lincoln Konrad, who scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks. Konrad scored a full 45.7% of West Holt's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Rentschler, who scored seven points.
The victory makes it two in a row for Ainsworth and bumps their season record up to 7-1. As for West Holt, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-4.
Coincidentally, the two teams will both be playing Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] the next time they take the court. Ainsworth will head out to face Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, while West Holt will host them on Friday.
