The Doniphan Herald

Giltner sends four to State Track Meet

SUTTON - The Giltner Hornets track and field teams finished in the middle of the pack at the District d-3 Meet in Sutton Wednesday.

The Lady Hornets took fourth with 69 team points, while the boys stood eighth with 24.

Giltner did qualify four individuals to the State Meet in Omaha May 16-17.

Stasia Ott and Gretchen Kreutz both dual-qualified.

Kreutz captured titles in both the 400-meter dash (1:03.5) and the 800-meter run (2:35.0).

Ott finished second in both the 300-meter hurdles (51.0 seconds) and the high jump (4-feet-10).

Julie Happold rounded out the female qualifiers with a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.5 seconds.

Nate Most was the only male qualifier.

After missing a top-two finish in both throwing events, Most took second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.9 seconds.

Class D, along with Class B, kicks off the State Meet in Omaha on May 16 at Omaha Burke High School.

Stuhr Museum exhibits are now open

GRAND ISLAND , STUHR MUSEUM - Nebraska 's premier Living History Experience opens for the summer this Thursday, May 1 as Stuhr Museum 's summer season begins.

Stuhr Museum's summer hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturdays and Noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays through September 30. During that time, the Farm Machinery Building and Static Rail Display are open to the public, and Railroad Town , the museum's 1890s Living History settlement, is staffed with historical interpreters who work, play and interact with visitors as if it were more than 100 years in the past!

This summer in Railroad Town , the year is 1898 and President McKinley is about to enter the United States in the Spanish-American War. The town is in line with the rest of the nation, with patriotic hackles raised, and everyone talking about the war with Spain . Spanish influence in the world and daily war reports are a topic of conversation in all the newspapers in 1898. Young men from all over Nebraska, including Railroad Town are joining militia groups and heading off to mosquito-filled training camps and then to fight in the Philippines, Puerto Rico or Cuba. Ladies are not left out, and many are expressing an interest in Red Cross work to assist those who are wounded in battle. Talk of yet another war sparks the memories of the Civil War veterans of Railroad Town .

Every day in Railroad Town includes hands-on activities for children and adults, and special events are held throughout the summer including our famous 4th of July celebration, the return of the Sassy Classic Vintage Baseball Tournament and the 1989 Agricultural Fair.

Summer admission rates are $8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and $6 for children ages 6-12. For more information on Railroad Town , special events at the museum or cost-saving memberships, log onto www.stuhrmuseum.org or call (308) 385-5316.

Hastings Museum to host Super Mom events

HASTINGS - The Hastings Museum will host the tenth annual "Super Mom Celebration" Mother's Day weekend, May 10 and 11, 2008. All Super-Moms will be admitted free to the museum and all giant screen films both Saturday and Sunday. Sponsor for this event is Obstetricians & Gynecologists PC of Hastings and Grand Island and their generosity is making the free admission possible for all moms. On Sunday, kids can make a special gift for their Moms between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Volunteers will be on hand to assist the children with their craft project while Moms relax and enjoy a brunch of fresh fruit and sparkling juice. "Thanks to Obstetricians & Gynecologists, children can treat their mothers to a lovely hand-made gift and a special day together exploring the museum and seeing a giant screen film at the Lied Super Screen Theatre," said Becky Matticks, museum director. To "Add-A-Film" to the weekend, all moms will be admitted for free and member children are only $4.00 and non-member children are only $5.50. All other admissions will be at regular prices and Hastings Museum members always receive a membership discount on giant screen film tickets. To ensure adequate seating in the theatre, it is suggested that reservations be made for the free giant screen film at the same time. The Lied Super Screen Theatre will be featuring Dinosaurs Alive, Sea Monsters and Forces of Nature several times both days, so check the museum's website at www.hastingsmuseum.org or call Visitor Services at 1-800-508-4629, option zero for showtimes or to make reservations.

Giltner downs B-D to advance to district final

SUTTON - Bruning-Davenport seemed to have an answer for everything the Giltner girls' basketball team tried Thursday night in the D2-2 subdistrict final.

But the Storm didn't have an answer for Khyla Shaff.

Shaff hit a three-pointer with 45.7 seconds left to give Giltner a 45-42 lead, and added a pair of free throws with 34.5 left to help the Hornets (18-4) to a 48-42 win.

"She was playing big with that three and the free throws," coach Nancy Lockmon said about Shaff. "With the way we missed free throws early, it was good to see us make them at the end."

The win puts Giltner in the D2-1 district final against 22-1 Falls City Sacred Heart Friday night. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. at Wilber-Clatonia High School in Wilber.

"They're number one in the state and in power points," Lockmon said. "But you've got to beat the best to be the best."

Giltner jumped on Bruning-Davenport early, taking a 9-3 lead and settled for a 13-7 lead after the first quarter. But Cecelia Catlett helped the Storm take the lead right before halftime.

Catlett had nine of her 13 first-half points in the second quarter. Kelsey Otto had four points in a 7-0 B-D run to give the Storm the lead with 40 seconds left.

"We got in a bit of foul trouble," Lockmon said. "We used some different rotations, and we just weren't used to working together."

Giltner opened the third quarter on a 6-0 spurt that gave the Hornets a 28-23 lead, capped by a Shaff jumper at the 6:20 mark. But B-D answered with a 6-0 run of their own to retake the lead just 1:37 later.

Lisa Lockmon and Chelsie White each hit a jumper to give Giltner a three-point edge, but Catlett narrowed the gap to one just half a minute later. Alex Hosier hit a ten-footer to push the lead back to three, but B-D took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.

After Stasia Ott's put back just five seconds into the fourth quarter,

B-D never led again, but managed to tie it four different times down the stretch. The final deadlock was broken by Shaff's three-pointer.

Shaff had 13, seven in the fourth quarter, to lead Giltner, and Ott had eight. Gretchen Kreutz and Lockmon each added seven.

Catlett led all scorers with 23 points and Otto added 11 for the Storm.

This story was originally published on February 21, 2008.

D-T girls fall to Wood River, season over

DONIPHAN - The Doniphan-Trumbull girls basketball was stopped before it could get going in the C1-8 sub-district last week as the Wood River Eagles downed the Cardinals 61-28.

D-T scored the first point of the game on a free throw by Jena Schlatz, but the Cardinals didn't hit a field goal until there was 35 seconds left in the first quarter.

D-T trailed 17-4 after the first quarter and fell behind 33-11 at the half.

D-T did manage to surpass its point total of 22, which it reached Feb. 8 when the teams met each other the first time, but the Cardinals never got in a rhythm offensively, hitting just 21 percent of their shots from the field, including 2-for-19 from behind the arc.

Kim Dusatko scored nine to lead the Cardinals while Jordyn Mlinar had seven.

Markeya Dubbs led the Eagles with a game-high 20 points.

D-T finished the season 5-16 while Wood River improved to 8-11.

This story was originally published on February 21, 2008.

Cardinals knock off No. 2 Heartland

DONIPHAN - It was a week of definite ups and downs for the Doniphan-Trumbull boys basketball team as the Cardinals fell to the Loup City Red Raiders 56-50 before knocking off the Class C2 No. 2 Heartland Huskies 46-40.

"The difference in the two nights was passion and energy," D-T coach Zac Foster said. "We had it against Heartland but we didn't against Loup City."

D-T entered the C1-8 subdistrict this week with a 12-10 record and played Centura (8-10) Monday.

The Loup City loss on Thursday was a tale of two halves. Doniphan-Trumbull led 24-21 at the half, but gave up 35 points in the second half of the six-point defeat.

"Loup City [7-11] is a good team," Foster said. "We weren't very good offensively in the first half, but we held them to 21 points.

"In the second half, we were better offensively, but we absolutely didn't stop anything they did on the other end."

Jordan Smith scored 19 points for the Red Raiders, while Kelan Buhr paced the Cardinals with 19. Taylor Fjeldheim chipped in 12.

Friday marked the return of quality defense for an entire game for the Cardinals, Foster said. Doniphan-Trumbull led throughout the contest, taking a 15-8 lead after one quarter.

The Cards held a team that scored 55 points per game to only 40 - 16 of which came in the final period.

"I thought we played great defense," Foster said. "We just absolutely were where they were on the floor and their guards didn't get alot of good looks."

The Cardinals went 7-for-7 from the line in the final period to preserve the victory. Buhr again sparked the Cardinals with a game-high 18 points while Fjeldheim added 15. Corey Ehmen led the Huskies (18-2) with 13 while Ned Goertzen scored 11.

A victory Monday against the Centurions would have meant a contest Tuesday against Minden (16-3). Another victory put D-T in the finals Thursday.

This story was originally published February 21, 2008.

D-T makes early exit from subdistricts

GRAND ISLAND - The Doniphan-Trumbull boys basketball team made a surprisingly short stay at the Class C1-8 sub-district Tournament in Grand Island last week.

The Cardinals' (12-11) season came to an end with a 57-33 loss to Centura (9-11).

"It was disappointing to not play well," said coach Zac Foster. "Not just because we lost, but because we were not playing our best basketball."

D-T got off to a slow start offensively, scoring just four points in the first quarter, followed by just two in the second period. The Cardinals trailed 18-6 at the half.

After the Centurions stretched the lead to 17 points, 23-6, in the opening minutes of the third period, D-T started to find some rhythm offensively.

Adam Hayman knocked down a three followed by a Taylor Fjeldheim steal and lay-up that cut the Centurions lead to 12 at 23-11.

After Centura's Zeb VanPelt scored a three from the corner to push the lead back to 15, Hayman scored a long two followed by a three from Fjeldheim to bring the Cardinals within 10 at 26-16. The D-T run led to a Centura timeout.

Centura had the answer.

The Centurions responded with a 10-2 run that stretched the lead to 18. Aaron Armon scored a pair of free throws at the buzzer to cut the lead to 16 heading to the fourth quarter, but Centura dealt the knockout blow as it scored the first seven points of the fourth period to stretch the lead to 23, before eventually winning by 24.

Foster said the Centurions used a unique defense called a chaser-and-t, which includes one player playing man defense and the others in a 1-1-2 zone.

"We had not seen it, but we practiced for it the day before," Foster said. "You're not going to get lay-ups and you have to hit shots."

Doniphan-Trumbull hit only 31 percent of its shots from the field, including 3-for-18 shooting behind the arc.

Centura hit a blistering 58 percent from the floor and knocked down seven threes in 12 attempts.

Foster said the team began to press a little bit, but mostly because they knew what was in front of them while facing a deficit.

"Coach (Ryan) Rathke is one of the best coaches in the area with a lead," Foster said. "We knew it was going to be a long game once we got behind."

VanPelt led all scorers with 18 points for the Centurions.

Fjeldheim had nine to lead the Cardinals.

This story was originally published on February 28, 2008.

Hornets fall to Hampton at subdistricts

SUTTON - When Giltner tipped off its sub-district opener against No. 6 Hampton Feb. 19, the Hornets found themselves in a different situation than in past postseasons.

After the success of a 13-7 season, the Hornets may have felt the weight of expectations.

"We played a little scared at the beginning of the game," coach Matt Drew said. "We're not used to the big spots like this."

As a result, the Hornets got off to a slow start and the Hawks jumped out to an 18-7 lead early in the second quarter before holding off the Hornets 52-49 to end the Hornets season at 13-8.

The Hornets recovered from the slow start to cut the lead to four at the half before briefly taking a lead in the third quarter.

A bucket by DJ Bamesberger and free throws by Alex Dose and Kyle Ediger gave Hampton the lead back, 28-27 at the end of the third.

After a three-point play by Giltner's Nate Most tied the game at 30 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Hampton's Dwayne Wall took over with five-straight points to cap a 9-2 run that gave Hampton a 39-32 lead with 4:46 remaining.

After a timeout, the Hornets' Brock Hinrichs, who led Giltner with game-high 15 points, knocked down a three to bring Giltner back within four.

But Wall responded with another three, and after Trevor Scheil scored a free throw, Dose made a free throw of his own to push the lead back to seven with 1:45 left.

Giltner then made its move. Scheil was fouled on a putback inside and converted the three-point play. After a stop, Shay Hinrichs then scored another putback to bring Giltner within 45-43 with 59 seconds left.

Giltner had to foul to get the ball back, but Wall hit four-straight free throws to stretch the lead back to six with 30 seconds left.

Brock Hinrichs knocked down a three to cut the lead in half with 18 seconds left.

After Ediger made one-of-two at the line, Giltner threw away the inbounds pass, Brock Kohtz then made one-of-two at the line to push the lead back to five with 13 seconds left.

Most banked in a three from the top of the key to pull Giltner within two.

Giltner sent Dose to the line with 4.5 seconds left. He missed the first, but made the second to extend the lead to three.

The inbounds went to Cody Schacht, who got caught in the back court before dealing the ball to Blake Samuelson near midcourt.

Samuelson threw the ball to Ben Harmon in the left corner, who fired a three as the buzzer sounded.

His three was good, but was correctly ruled too late.

"I've told the kids in practice that five seconds is a long time," Drew said. "I guess they were listening, but we only had 4.5 (seconds)."

After Hinrichs' 15, Most had 14 and Shay Hinrichs had eight.

Dose led the Hawks with 14 while Wall scored 12, all of which came in the final period.

Hampton knocked off No. 3 Bruning-Davenport in the subdistrict final, 46-40.

This story was originally published on February 28, 2008.

Girls basketball subdistrict schedule and results

Doniphan-Trumbull @ District C1-8

All games played @ Grand Island Senior High School

Monday, February 11

#4 Wood River (6-10) vs. #5 Doniphan-Trumbull (5-14) 6 p.m.

#3 Hastings St. Cecilia (10-6) vs. #6 Centura (5-12) 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday, February 12

#1 Minden (16-2) vs. Wood River/Doniphan-Trumbull winner 6 p.m.

#2 St. Paul (16-3) vs. Hastings St. Cecilia/Centura winner 7:45 p.m.

Thursday, February 14

Tuesday's winners 6 p.m.

Giltner Hornets @ District D2-2

All games @ Sutton High School

Monday, February 11

#4 Nebraska Lutheran (4-10) vs. #5 Shickley (3-13) 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 12

#1 Giltner (15-3) vs. Monday winner 6 p.m.

#2 Bruning-Davenport (9-10) vs. #3 Hampton (6-10) 7:45 p.m.

Thursday, February 14

Tuesday's winners 7 p.m.

Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben seek nominations for Good Neighbor Awards
OMAHA -�The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation and the Omaha World-Herald have announced today that nomination forms for the 2008 Good Neighbor Awards program are now being accepted.

This recognition program honors individuals cited by neighbors for performing unselfish, neighborly deeds during 2007 without compensation or personal gain. Nominations are accepted from organizations and/or individuals throughout Nebraska and western Iowa. Nomination forms and instructions are available online at www.aksarben.org or by contacting the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben at (402) 554-9600 x100.

All nominations must be received no later than March 15, 2008. Certificates are awarded annually to those selected by a statewide judging committee. Honorees will be announced in early June.

This program is just one of those supported by the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation which was founded in 1895 "to build a more prosperous Heartland, where communities can flourish and every child can succeed."

Upcoming No-Till Seminars Will Benefit Farmers and Save Money
AURORA, SEWARD, MCCOOL JUNCTION - The Upper Big Blue NRD, University of Nebraska and University of Nebraska Extension Education are sponsoring a series of no-till seminars.

The dates and locations are as follows: Feb. 12 at the Stone Creek Inn at McCool Junction, Feb. 13 at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Aurora and Feb. 14th at the Seward County Fairgrounds in Seward. All meetings will start at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. with a FREE meal to be provided. There is no charge for any part of the program.

Speakers include Paul Jasa, Dan Gillespie and Mark Watson sharing their experiences with no-till farming.

Jim Schneider, Hamilton County Extension Educator, will give a presentation on the use of cover crops and Graham Christianson with the Nebraska Farmers Union will bring everyone up to speed on the Carbon Credit Program.

We ask everyone planning to attend to RSVP to Linda Martindale at the Upper Big Blue NRD at (402) 362-6601 by February 8th. CCA credits will be available.

This story was originally posted on Feb. 6, 2008.

D-T knocks off Adams Central in overtime

HASTINGS - The Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals boys basketball team had never won a game in the LouPlatte Conference Tournament.

But now that they won their first tournament victory Monday night, downing defending tournament-champion Wood River 42-38, the Cardinals have decided they like the winning better.

The Cardinals advanced to the semifinals of the LouPlatte Conference Tournament with a 58-53 overtime victory at Adams Central (13-2).

The loss was just the second of the season for the second-seeded Patriots, but was also the second in three games. Adams Central had beaten Doniphan-Trumbull 53-37 on Jan. 12.

The Cardinals next contest is Friday at Centura High School against St. Paul (14-2) at 8 p.m.

The Wildcats also survived an overtime thriller, needing double-overtime to get past Centura, 47-45.

Class C1 No. 9 St. Paul defeated D-T 56-46 on Jan. 18. The Wildcats have won eight-straight since falling to Adams Central 60-55 on Jan. 5.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, haven't lost since the defeat to the Wildcats two weeks ago.

D-T wrestlers move into conference meet

SHELTON - In their final tournament before the all-important stretch run of the season begins, the Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals took third place at the Kenesaw/Shelton Invitational last Saturday.

With the LouPlatte Conference Tournament this week and district tournaments just around the corner, coach Brent Breckner said his team performed alright.

"We wrestled okay," Breckner said. "We lost a couple matches in the finals that maybe kept us from finishing second."

The Cardinals finished behind tournament champion Red Cloud/Blue Hill and tournament runner-up Alma. Those losses in the finals came from heavyweight Sam Nelson, who suffered just his second loss of the season, 8-7, to finish second.

"Even with the loss, Sam is wrestling as well as he ever has," Breckner said. "Coach Moreno has been doing some great things with him to get him ready for a run into State."

Anthony Holroyd (189) fell in the finals for just his second loss of the season as well. Breckner said the end was a bit disappointing, though.

"Anthony is probably going to be out for a couple weeks," Breckner said. "He hurt his back again in the finals and it just kept bothering him and so we'll probably hold him for a little while to get him ready for districts."

Travis Hand (160) also took second for the Cardinals.

Tom Delka (152) was the lone tournament champion for the Cardinals after knocking off Red Cloud/Blue Hill's Nathan Petska in the finals.

"Tom wrestled really well," Breckner said. "He had Petska on his back for most of the first period and continued to wrestle well for us."

Other medalists included: Kyle Krueger (103) took third; Jake Wetovick (135) took third; and Nick Williams (140) took third.

All in all, the Cardinals are ready for the conference meet in St. Paul Saturday, but Breckner said the team still has some concerns.

"I wish we had Anthony," Breckner said. "But we've been doing some good things. It's always a good test - Adams Central will be tough, Wood River will be good - it should be a good tournament."

Giltner boys drop pair to ranked foes

GILTNER - A little rust seemed to still be clinging to the Giltner boys' basketball team following its Jan. 4 loss to Clay Center, and Kenesaw was on fire early.

That led to the Blue Devils taking a 22-6 lead in the second quarter and Giltner was handed its second-straight loss, 50-38, at the hands of Kenesaw.

"We've got to keep our heads up," Giltner head coach Matt Drew said. "We're still one of the best in D2. Kenesaw is a very good D1 team."

Kenesaw took a quick 7-0 lead at the outset before a free throw by Trevor Scheil at the 3:51 mark was the first points of the game for Giltner.

"We were stunned at first," Drew said about Kenesaw's big early lead.

A Trevor Stickels three-pointer gave the Blue Devils a 22-6 lead with 4:16 left in the first half and a short jumper put Kenesaw in front 24-7 with 2:23 left.

Justin Happold of Giltner answered with a three-pointer less than 20 seconds later.

Each team scored another bucket, as Kenesaw took a 26-12 lead at intermission.

Early in the fourth quarter, a Brock Hinrichs three-pointer put the Hornets within 10, 39-29, with 5:02 left.

But Kenesaw went on a 11-4 run in the next four minutes to put the game away. Giltner hit a pair of three-pointers in the final minute for the final 50-38 score.

"They definitely came out in a slow-down style," Drew said. "That's not our style. We like to run up and down the floor."

Stickels led all scorers with 21 for Kenesaw, and Taylor Jacobitz added 11 for the visitors.

For Giltner, Happold led with 10 points. Nathan Most and Cody Schacht each had eight.

On Friday, the Hornets traveled to Polk to battle Class C2 No. 7/9 High Plains and came up just short 59-52. While battling the Storm, the Hornets got a large dose of Marcus Bender, who commanded the game from start to finish with 33 points and 17 rebounds to go along with five blocked shots.

"We did a pretty good job of holding (Bender) down in the first half," Drew said. "He went off a bit in the second half, but mainly because he got more aggressive."

Giltner led the contest 15-11 after one quarter of play, but the Storm used a 14-2 second period to take an eight-point lead to the halftime break.

"Shots just weren't falling in the second quarter," Drew said.

The hole was too big for the Hornets to recover from as Giltner fell 59-52.

Shay Hinrichs led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points. Five other Hornets had at least seven points. This week, Giltner hosts Meridian (2-6) on Friday in a final tune-up for the Crossroads Conference Tournament in York.

The Hornets open the CRC Tournament on Monday at 8:15 p.m. at the York Auditorium.

Hornets suffer first loss

GILTNER - The old basketball adage, "A team that presses doesn't like to be pressed," rang true Tuesday night.

It resulted in the first loss of the season for the Giltner Hornets, a 55-44 setback at the hands of Kenesaw.

"It bothered us a lot," Giltner head coach Nancy Lockmon said about Kenesaw's full-court press, implemented at the outset of the game by the Blue Devils.

Giltner never led in the game and trailed 6-0 and 9-3 early on. Kenesaw extended that advantage, taking a 15-5 lead, before the Hornets called a time out with 1:27 left in the first.

The Blue Devils would take a 17-6 advantage after just one quarter. But after Kenesaw stretched the lead to 13, the Hornets fought back Gretchen Kreutz found Chelsie White open with a pass with 1:16 left. The short jumper put Giltner within six, 29-23. Khyla Shaff added a free throw to cut the deficit at five, and that score stayed through halftime.

"I told them to work it up court and look over the top of them," Lockmon said about breaking the press in the second quarter. "We took the ball to the hoop more in the second."

Giltner nearly pulled the comeback in the next stanza. Kreutz nailed a three-pointer just 25 seconds into the second half to make it a 29-27 ball game.

But that's all the closer that the Hornets got on a pair of other occasions early on. Kenesaw pulled away to a 10-point edge later on in the quarter and settled for a 41-33 lead after three quarters.

The lead would alternate between eight and 10 points early in the fourth, until White tapped in a put back to put Giltner within six, 50-44, with 1:26 left.

But Giltner would not score again. Kenesaw's Hannah Uden put the game away with a put back with just more than 30 seconds that gave the Blue Devils a 53-44 lead, and an extra pair of free throws accounted for the final margin of victory.

On Friday, Giltner defeated High Plains 52-49.

The Hornets host a pair of games this week. They played against Dorchester Tuesday night and will take on Meridian Friday night. The Crossroads Conference Tournament starts Saturday in York at the City Auditorium.

Cardinals fall short in upset bid

HASTINGS - After splitting a pair of games against LouPlatte Conference opponents, the Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals traveled to Hastings Saturday to tangle with the undefeated Adams Central Patriots.

But despite the facing the task of taking on the Class B No. 9 Patriots, the Cardinals stepped up to the challenge and played what coach Zac Foster called their best half of the season.

Doniphan-Trumbull took a five-point lead into the half, but was unable to follow with a strong second half as Adams Central (12-0) used a 17-4 third quarter to pull out a 53-37 victory, dropping D-T (6-7) back under .500.

After the game went scoreless for nearly three minutes to start, D-T's Kelan Buhr and Taylor Fjeldheim knocked down back-to-back threes to lead 6-0.

The Cardinals' defense also played a strong opening quarter, limiting the Patriots to just six points, primarily because the Cardinals were tough on the boards. D-T held the Patriots to just one offensive rebound in the first half.

Adams Central responded with a 5-1 run to begin the second. A three-point goal from Justin Drudik to cap the run tied the game at 11, but D-T had the answer.

Jered Jones chipped in four-straight points and a Ryan Fjeldheim put back of a Taylor Fjeldheim miss pushed the lead back to its biggest margin at six, 17-11.

The Patriots charged back and had an opportunity to tie the game with two minutes left in the half on a score plus the foul by Drudik, but the senior missed the free throw and a pair of scores from Buhr and Kaleb Lilienthal gave the Cardinals a five-point cushion at the half, 25-20.

The lead likely could have been bigger if D-T could have converted a few more shots in the paint, Foster said.

"We struggled to make easy shots," Foster said. "Those are shots you have to have to win games like these."

Those missed opportunities came back to haunt the Cardinals as Adams Central stormed out of the locker room with seven-straight points in the first three minutes of the half to gain the Patriots' first lead of the game.

D-T quickly responded with a bucket by Buhr, but Tanner Hohlen knocked down a three on the Patriots' next possession to retake the lead and start a game-deciding 12-1 run to take a 39-28 lead forty seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Patriots pushed the lead to as many as 13 before Ryan and Taylor Fjeldheim each scored a bucket to cut the deficit back to nine with five minutes left.

Full court pressure netted a turnover for Doniphan-Trumbull, but the Cardinals were inable to turn the extra possession into points as Ryan Fjeldheim missed a three from the corner.

Both teams cleared the bench for the final 90 seconds as Adams Central emerged a 16-point winner.

Foster said he hadn't noticed many things th Patriots did different in the second half, but rather that his team didn't execute as well in the final 16 minutes.

"We turned the ball over more in the second half," he said. "We just didn't make plays that we made in the first half."

Rebounding was also a key to the coach.

"I thought we let them get too many opportunities on the boards," Foster said. "We had 22 defensive rebounds and they had 17 offensive rebounds, so after a missed shot, they got almost every other rebound."

Jones led the Cardinals with 13 points while Buhr chipped in nine.

Doniphan-Trumbull has another strong LouPlatte Conference challenge Friday as the Cardinals take on the St. Paul Wildcats (9-2) in St. Paul. The game is a makeup of a game snowed out Dec. 1.

Saturday, the Cardinals welcome Superior, which is 3-8, but coming off a 34-point victory over Sandy Creek. D-T downs Centura

Tuesday, Doniphan-Trumbull got off to a slow start and trailed the Centurions 21-9 midway through the second quarter befoe rallying behind Buhr and Taylor Fjeldheim, who combined for 29 points, to take a 40-30 lead after three quarters.

"We played great after thwe first quarter," Foster said. "We made some good plays against their matchup zone and played great defense in the second half."

Buhr scored 16 to lead D-T in its sixth victory of the season.

Gibbon was too much for Cardinals. The Cardinals stumbled offensively in the second half at Gibbon after trailing by three at haftime.

The Cardinals managed just 17 second-half points in falling 54-36,

"We were not very disciplined offensively in the second half," Foster said. "But I take responsibility for that. They played good defense and we had no answers."

Taylor Fjeldheim had 10 points as the only Cardinal in double figures.

D-T wrestlers second at Sutton, sixth at Franklin

FRANKLIN - The Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals got a big week from 285-pound wrestlar Sam Nelson and continued on towrds conference and district tournaments with a second place finish at the Sutton Duel Tournament and a sixth place finish at the Franklin Invitational.

Nelson took first at both tournaments, going 6-0 in the process.

His performance Saturday at Franklin was what stood out to D-T coach Brent Breckner.

"Sam wrestled really well," Breckner said. "He pinned his way through the tournament, but he had to work for it and wrestled really well to take first."

Nelson pinned Elwood's Weston Gibson in the finals. Gibson entered the matchup without a loss this season.

Others medaling at the Invite were Travis Hand, who took second at 160, and Jake Wetovick and Nick Lee, who finished fourth at 135 and 171.

Thursday, the Cardinals took second at the Sutton Duel Tournament, falling only to the hosts while claiming victories over South Central, Heartland, McCool Junction and Hastings St. Cecilia.

Breckner said the meets went well, but that he's looking forward to a full week of practice this week and next leading into the Kenesaw/Shelton Invitational Saturday before the LouPlatte Conference Tournament Jan. 19 in St. Paul.

"It'll be nice to get five days of practice in because we're doing well, but we've got a lot of little things to clean up." Breckner said. "We want to be hitting on all cylinders for the conference meet in a couple weeks."

Giltner drops heartbreaker to Clay Center

GILTNER - Missed opportunities came back to haunt Giltner on Friday as the Hornets (7-2) saw their five-game winning streak end with a 75-73 overtime loss to Clay Center.

"It's definitely not one we'll forget," Giltner head coach Matt Drew said. "We ran really hard in the third quarter and let off the gas a little bit in the fourth quarter and let them back in it. We can learn from this. Hopefully this will teach us something that can help us later in the year."

In the fourth quarter, Giltner held several large leads, but were not able to put away the Wildcats (4-4) as it made just 10 of 20 free-throw attempts.

The Hornets took a 50-39 lead on a basket by Nathan Most with 6:46 left in the game. Clay Center then cut the deficit to 51-47 with 3:43 remaining in the game. However, Giltner responded with a 5-0 run that was keyed by two Clay Center turnovers. The Hornets held a 56-47 lead with 2:38 remaining in regulation.

James Martin knocked down a three-pointer to bring Clay Center within 56-50 with 2:25 left. Justin Happold then missed two free throws for Giltner, however, Andrew Malone missed a close shot at the other end. Happold then made a 15-foot jump shot on the ensuing possession to put the Hornets back up 58-50 with 1:38 left in the game.

Malone, who led with 25 points, scored again for Clay Center to cut the deficit to 58-52. On Giltner's possession, Most was whistled for a charging call, which wiped away his basket. Happold made a steal on the inbounds pass, but missed both free throws. Giltner went over the back on the rebound and Tony Roth knocked down both free throws for Clay Center to close the deficit to 58-54 with 1:12 remaining. Broddrick Dillon stole Giltner's inbounds pass and Malone scored again to cut the lead to 58-56 with 1:08 left.

After a Trevor Scheil free throw and two free throws by Shay Hinrichs, Giltner led 61-56 with 41.9 seconds left. Clay Center's Alex Johnson knocked down a three-pointer that bounced up against four feet in the air before falling back through the hoop to make it 61-59 with 31.8 seconds left.

Happold made one of two free throws to make it 62-59 with 27.1 seconds, but Clay Center answered with a Francois Doumont basket with 13 seconds left. Brock Hinrichs was fouled with 9.2 seconds left and also made one free throw to give Giltner a 63-61 lead. Malone dribbled the length of the floor and made a shot and got fouled with 0.3 seconds left. He also missed his free throw, sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, the two teams battled to a 69-68 Clay Center advantage with 2:13 left. Shay Hinrichs, Most and Happold all had shots to put Giltner back ahead on its ensuing possession, but couldn't find the bottom of the net and Clay Center got the ball back one minute later. Then Clay Center was able to extend its lead to 74-68 on a Malone free throw with 26.3 seconds left.

Happold broke the scoring drought and cut the lead to 74-70 with 19.7 second left. Clay Center then missed its free throw and putback attempt and Scheil rebounded with about nine seconds left. He threw the ball wildly down the court and Clay Center picked it up and Malone was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. He again made just one. Happold sunk a 28-foot shot with 0.8 seconds left to give Giltner one last chance. Clay Center was able to run out the clock and earn the win.

"We lost by 40 last year so to be in a position to win was nice," Drew said. "We have to learn and not get down. Being 7-2 is still good, especially when we were 2-7 at this point last season."

Giltner trailed by as many as seven points in the first quarter before closing the deficit to 15-12 after one quarter.

Giltner continued to trail in the second quarter before ending the half on a 10-4 run to lead 28-27 at halftime.

The game remained close throughout the third quarter as both teams got into some foul trouble. Shay Hinrichs knocked down a three-point shot from the corner with three seconds left to give Giltner a 44-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Most led Giltner with 20 points, Brock Hinrichs added 14, Shay Hinrichs and Trevor Scheil each had 12 and Happold finished with 10. Ben Harmon added five.

"Trevor played the best game of his career," Drew said. "He had 12 points and seven rebounds and he made his free throws. He was one of the few who did."

Giltner hosts Kenesaw (7-2) on Jan. 8 and travels to High Plains (7-1) on Jan. 11.

Giltner girls remain unbeaten

GILTNER - Giltner made sure there was no upset this time around against Clay Center.

Last season, the Lady Hornets went to Clay Center and were handed their worst loss of the season, 44-34. However, on Friday night in Giltner, the Lady Hornets made sure there was no repeat performance and won 52-29 to improve to 9-0 on the season.

"We didn't shoot 16 percent this season," Giltner head coach Nancy Lockmon said. "I thought we gave a pretty good defensive effort to be able to hold them to 29 points. They have some good offensive players."

The victory enabled Giltner to earn the top seed for the Crossroads Conference Tournament on Jan. 19-25 in York. The seedings for that were to be based on the NSAA's point totals as of last Saturday's games.

"This was a big win for us," Lockmon said. "If we would have lost, Exeter-Milligan (8-2) could have gotten the top seed at the tournament."

Clay Center (3-7) kept things close early as the score was 7-7 with 1:42 left in the first quarter. Giltner ended the quarter on a 7-0 run, including a 21-foot shot by Gretchen Kreutz just before the buzzer, to take a 14-7 lead into the second quarter.

"That gave us a nice boost," Lockmon said of Kreutz's shot. Buckets by Clay Center's Ashley Boman and Jessica Sorensen brought the Lady Cats within 16-11 at the 7:05 mark of the second quarter.

The Lady Hornets then went on a 9-0 run. Three-consecutive possessions where Giltner turned Clay Center turnovers into baskets keyed the run as did two offensive rebound putbacks. Chelsie White scored seven of her 10 points in the second quarter as Giltner increased its lead to 33-14 at halftime.

"Chelsie went to work," Lockmon said. "That was good to see. That gave us a little bit of breathing room."

Lockmon said despite her team's large halftime lead, she was nervous that Clay Center would make a run at the Lady Hornets in the second half.

"We never allowed them to get up and didn't let anyone get going," Lockmon said. "We had to know where Boman was. We held her to eight points and no one scored in double figures."

Giltner increased its lead to 42-19 at the end of three quarters as Stasia Ott scored four of her 10 points. In the fourth quarter, Kreutz gave Giltner its biggest lead (45-19) on a three-pointer. She finished with a game-high 17 points.

"Gretchen is more confident and knows she has to step up this year,"Lockmon said. "This is her year to shine."

Rounding out the scoring for Giltner was Alex Hosier with five, Lisa Lockmon with four, Kassidi Burson with two, Bridget Meyer with two and Khyla Shaff with two.

One area where Giltner will need to improve on as it enters the tough part of its schedule is free-throw shooting. The Lady Hornets made 7 of 13 against Clay Center.

On Jan. 8, Giltner faces Kenesaw (7-2) at home. Giltner then travels to High Plains on Jan. 11 before hosting Dorchester and Meridian on Jan. 15 and 18 respectively.

"Kenesaw will be the best team we have seen this season," Lockmon said.

D-T girls fall to Ravenna, Kearney Catholic

DONIPHAN - The Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals girls basketball team struggled in its first two games of the LouPlatte Conference season, falling to both Ravenna and Kearney Catholic last week.

Against Ravenna, the Cardinals struggled to score points and couldn't keep up with the Bluejays as Ravenna raced away to a 62-21 victory.

The Cardinals were much more competitive Friday night against the Class C1 No. 8 Stars.

After falling behind 20-6 in the first quarter, Doniphan-Trumbull's offense awoke and started a 15-8 spurt into the second quarter that pulled the Cardinals within seven, 28-21.

Kim Dusatko sparked the run with a three-point goal just before the end fo the first quarter Neilee Nelson paced the charge with eight points in the second quarter as the Cardinals ended the first half down just nine, 34-25.

But Kearney Catholic dealt the knock out blow in the third quarter by outscoring Doniphan-Trumbull 17-6 in the third quarter to take a 20-point lead to the fourth.

Coach Bob Samuelson said the difference in the two halves was in how the Cardinals handled the Stars' defensive pressure.

"Things went pretty well first half - we handled the pressure," Samuelson said. "In the second half, their pressure just got to us."

Samuelson said Kearney Catholic didn't do anything different with their full-court pressure, but only that his team failed to maintain their composure.

"I don't know what happened," Samuelson said. "We didn't execute like we did in the first half."

Kayla Gruener led the Cardinals with 11 points while Nelson scored 10. Kearney Catholic bottled up the Cardinals' leading scorer, Jordyn Mlinar, who was held to a season-low two points.

The Cardinals move into a pair fo winnable games, Samuelson said. Tuesday, D-T hosted Centura, which had struggled out of the gate to a 2-7 mark.

Friday, the Cardinals traveled to Gibbon to play the 1-8 Bison. Doniphan-Trumbull then has another stern test Saturday as the Cardinals visit Adams Central, which has surged out to a 7-3 start after a 4-point defeat at St. Paul on Saturday.

"We want to be competitive each game and get better each game, each quarter," Samuelson said of his team moving forward. "We can't let up a quarter - that's what's been hurting us."