The 2025 South Loup basketball season got underway with two games last week, and both proved a challenge too big for the Bobcats to overcome.

The season began on Friday, Dec. 5, as the Bobcats hosted the Twin Loup Wolves in Arnold. While the first period indicated a pretty even matchup, with South Loup scoring 12 and Twin Loup 16 points, the Wolves opened up in the second period outscoring the Bobcats 25-10, to take a 40-22 lead at halftime. The Wolves went on to win the contest by the final score of 62-33.

Dylan Pandorf led the scoring for the Bobcats with 8 points, followed by Malachi Neth with 6, Conner Paulsen and Crew Witthuhn with 5, Tysen Schacher with 3, and Elijah Cool, Caleb Furrow, and Hudson Vickers each with 2. Three of Pandorf’s 8 points came on a 3-point shot.

Defensively, Witthuhn led the team with 7 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot. He also had 3 assists in the game. Neth and Vickers each had 5 rebounds, and Vickers had 2 steals.

On Saturday, Dec. 6, the Bobcats traveled to Amherst, where they unfortunately faced another loss. The Broncos took charge in the first period, scoring 30 points to build a cushion much too large for South Loup to overcome. The second period ended with only a 2-point margin, as Amherst added 12 points to their score while South Loup put 10 on the board.

The Bobcats struggled in the third, adding just 3 points to the Broncos’ 17, but bounced back in the fourth to win that period 11-2. The Broncos’ high-scoring first period, however, was too much as the Bobcats took a 30-61 loss.

Witthuhn was hot for the Bobcats, scoring 18 of the team’s 30 points. He also had 5 rebounds. Pandorf added 4 points and 4 rebounds, while Paulsen finished with 3 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

The Bobcats are back on the court on Friday, Dec. 12, for a road game at Cambridge. The JV game will begin at 5 p.m. with varsity set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. South Loup will host Pleasanton in Callaway on Saturday with game times at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.