As the South Loup Bobcats boys basketball team continues their domination over their opponents this season, they have their sights set on a tough subdistrict in two weeks and all the wildcard points they can bank. The only way to get those critical wildcard points is to keep winning - they are doing just that.

Out of the top 10 teams in the state, four of them are playing in the Bobcats’ subdistrict - North Platte St. Pat’s, Maywood Hayes Center, Elm Creek, and South Loup. The Bobcats are ranked 7th in Class D1 by Max-Preps and 8th in wildcard points.

The Bobcats (15-3) dropped one on the road to Mullen last Friday - coming off a win over the Broncos in the MNAC tournament two weeks ago. South Loup struggled in each quarter to stay ahead of Mullen, staying just a point or two behind each quarter to lose 40-47.

The Broncos came out swinging in the first quarter to score 11 points to the Bobcats 10 points. The momentum slowed a bit during the second quarter with South Loup trailing 16-18 going into halftime. The third quarter is when the Bobcats saw the biggest point deficit, only scoring 8 points to the Broncos 13. The final quarter, both teams added an additional 13 points to their scores, but it wasn’t enough to bring home a win.

Junior Trey Connell scored 16 points, followed by Cache Gracey with 11 points, and Joey Sallach with 5 points. Connell, Lance Jones, and Sallach all pulled down 5 rebounds.

There was not a JV game against Mullen, citing low numbers on the Broncos team.

On Saturday, the boys didn’t let the previous night’s loss bring down their motivation as they trekked to Southern Valley to easily defeat the Eagles 77-47.

Gracey led the team with 22 points, followed by Connell with 14 points, freshman Conner Paulsen with 12 points, and Sallach with 11 points. Sallach was perfect on his field goals, sinking all 5 buckets he shot.

The JV lost to Southern Valley 30-44 on Saturday. The high scorer was Conner Paulsen with 10, Dylan Pandorf with 9 points, and Caleb McFate with 5 points.

Key rebounder Crew Witthuhn is still questionable to return next week, following an ankle injury earlier in the season.

Tuesday the Bobcats hosted the Anselmo-Merna coyotes in a special game dedicated to Arnold resident and AM teacher, Jason Reed, who was in a serious car accident last month. The score of that game was not available by press time. Friday they travel to Eustis to take on the Hi-Line Bulls. Watch the school’s Facebook page for live streaming information.

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