On Tuesday, Jan. 2, the South Loup Bobcats hosted the Hershey Panthers in Callaway. The Bobcats were coming into the game 6-1, and the Panthers were coming into the game 4-5, but playing a very tough schedule.

The first quarter would be a dawg fight as the Bobcats jumped out to a quick lead, but the Panther’s clutch 3-point shooting would bring it within 2 at the end of the first period, 14-12.

The second quarter would be a high-scoring quarter for the Bobcats as they went on an 18-point run. The Panthers would continue to shoot the ball well though, keeping it within 10.

The Bobcats were primarily led by the scoring of seniors Cache Gracey and Trey Connell, and would go into the half up 32-22.

To open the second half, the third quarter would be all Bobcats. Putting together multiple stops allowed for great transition scoring for South Loup. They would outscore the Panthers 18-6, after finally putting an end to the strong Panther outside shooting.

The fourth quarter would be cut even, with both team’s starters sitting on the bench for most of the quarter. The Bobcats would advance to 7-1 on the season, after a 62-42 win over the Panthers.

On Thursday, Jan. 4, the Bobcats traveled north to play the Sandhills Thedford Knights in a sure-to-be conference tournament preview. The Bobcats and Knights, playing each other in conference for volleyball, and the semifinals for football both saw the game as a must-win against their conference rivals.

To start the game, the Knights hit some outside shots and pounded it inside to take an early lead. The Bobcats continued to pluck away at the lead, keeping themselves in the game. The Bobcats found themselves down 10-13 with just seconds left in the first quarter before Bobcat senior Cache Gracey knocked down a three at the horn to tie up the game. The second quarter was a lot like the first. Both teams were taking care of the ball and looking for open shots. The game stayed fairly evenly matched with the Knights just barely edging out the Bobcats with a box score of 11-12. The Bobcats would go into halftime down 25-24 looking to make adjustments in the third. The third quarter would exemplify just that as the Bobcats would play solid defense. Creating turnovers and bad shots the Bobcats would hold the Knights to just one point in the third quarter before the Knight post player finally hit a mid-range shot to cut their drought. This wouldn't be enough to stop the Bobcats, though, as they scored 15 points in the third.

Seniors Trey Connell, Cache Gracey, and Joey Sallach led the way for the Bobcats in the fourth quarter. Great rebounding and free-throw shooting would be the story in the fourth. The Bobcats would go on to win the game 56-43, 24 of those points coming from Connell.

The Bobcats’ busy week continued on Saturday, Jan. 6, when they traveled to Bertrand to play in the third game of their week. Coming off of two huge wins the team was looking to win another to move their record this season to 9-1.

The Bobcats pounced on the Vikings quickly. Their full-court pressure created a lot of turnovers which they were able to convert to points. The fast-paced game played into the Bobcat's favor as they slowly created a huge wound in the Vikings. The Bobcats forced Bertrand to make some adjustments in the following quarters as they were up at the end of the first 24-9.

The Vikings would have different plans for the following quarter as they handled the pressure much better. They were able to secure rebounds and get some quick and easy buckets in transition. The Vikings would even outscore the Bobcats 11-8 in the second quarter to bring the halftime score to Bobcats 32, Vikings 20.

The second half, being played much slower would start off about the same as the second quarter, with the Vikings doing what they needed to keep the game within striking distance. The Bobcats would continue to struggle to get back to their first-quarter scoring and would suffer more blows. The box score in the third featured Vikings on top of the Bobcats 16-12.

The Bobcats were only up by single digits going into the fourth, but finally started to pick up the pace of the game and came out on top of the Vikings 49-60. The Bobcats are back in action tomorrow night as they go on the road to Maxwell for a 4:30 JV game, with tipoff for the varsity at 7:30. They will be back on the road on Saturday as they head to Brady for 3 and 5:30 p.m. games.