The Fort Calhoun Pioneers had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Nebraska City and snuck past 64-61. Given Fort Calhoun's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 42nd, while Nebraska City is ranked 223rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Fort Calhoun's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Adam Elofson, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Elofson has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Grayson Bouwman, who scored 24 points along with two steals.
Despite the loss, Nebraska City still got an impressive performance from Kalan Fritch, who scored 17 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds. It was the first time this season that Fritch posted eight or more assists. Kaiden Klassen was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Nebraska City struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They are winless (0-5) when they can't control their own glass like that.
Fort Calhoun has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season. As for Nebraska City, they dropped their record down to 3-16 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road.
Fort Calhoun will challenge Tekamah-Herman at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Fort Calhoun is facing Tekamah-Herman at the right time seeing as Tekamah-Herman is stuck on a seven-game losing streak. As for Nebraska City, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Malcolm at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Nebraska City has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
