O'Neill has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the West Holt Huskies at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
On Tuesday, O'Neill was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 61-57 to Norfolk Catholic.
O'Neill's loss came about despite a quality game from Drew Morrow, who went 8 for 13 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points and 7 assists. Another player making a difference was Colton Osborne, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, West Holt had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12.5 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They blew past Neligh-Oakdale 65-38 on the road. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-18.
O'Neill's loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-6. As for West Holt, they pushed their record up to 10-6 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
Everything came up roses for O'Neill against West Holt in their previous meeting back in January of 2023 as the team secured a 82-48 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for O'Neill since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
