The South Loup Bobcats hosted Medicine Valley on Friday night in Arnold, where an aggressive Raider squad handed the Bobcats a 65–38 loss on their home court.

Medicine Valley built an early lead behind the confident offense, taking a 34–18 advantage into halftime. The Raiders hit 7 three-pointers and shot 45 percent from the field overall, while South Loup struggled to convert despite plenty of hustle and working the boards hard.

Senior Dylan Pandorf led South Loup with 16 points, including 2 treys, and pulled down 9 rebounds in a strong effort on both ends. Senior Crew Witthuhn added 8 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, while junior Malachi Neth scored 6 points on perfect shooting and added 4 rebounds. Senior Conner Paulsen contributed 4 points, and sophomore Aiden Davenport added a free throw to round out the scoring.

As a team, South Loup shot 28 percent from the floor but continued to battle on the glass, collecting 37 total rebounds—14 of them offensive. The Bobcats also dished out 9 assists and tallied 7 steals on the night, led by Tysen Schacher and Witthuhn defensively.

Medicine Valley was led by Mason Roblee’s 19 points and Ethan Brown’s 16. The Bobcats (now 0-5) looked to get some retribution before heading into Christmas break at the Maxwell Holiday Tournament earlier this week (Dec. 22-23). Results for that tourney will be posted in next week’s issue. South Loup will then regroup after the holiday break, with their first contest in the new year set for Tuesday, Jan 6 at home. The Bobcats will challenge the Hershey Panthers, with tipoff set for 4 p.m.