Holiday Tournaments Day One Notes

<p><em>I got a chance to catch some Holiday tournament action today. There were some really competitive games in the HAC that I got a chance to see, plus a nail-biter in Class C1. Here are my notes from an exciting day of hoops! </em></p> <p><strong>Gators Put the Clamps on Lincoln East</strong></p> <p>Lincoln Northstar was able to pull out the upset at Lincoln East, but these kids are no underdogs. North Star played a 1-3-1 zone that suffocated East all game. It was a block party most of the first half for Gators as they were sending away every shot the Spartans were putting up. Brennon Clemmons and Antallah Sandlin El were the main culprits inside blocking shots. On the outside, the Gator guards were phenomenal in pressuring the ball and getting in the passing lanes. KG Gatwech was especially active and had a highlight-reel block in the second half of that game where he went up and pinned the player’s layup on the glass. Gatwech was also unstoppable getting to the rim this game and showed off a really polished handle. Brennon Clemmons was a beast down low and the Spartans simply had no match for him down there. North Star got contributions from all over and they hope to take this momentum into the next round when they play Lincoln Pius X. </p> <p><strong>Silverhawks Take Care of the Islanders</strong></p> <p>The #1 seed in the HAC tournament, Lincoln Southwest, won a fun back and forth battle against Grand Island. [player_tooltip player_id="890574" first="Isaac" last="Traudt"] had some massive threes early on that seemed to swing the momentum to the Islanders. Traudt also had some really nice dimes today and used his gravity to create multiple opportunities for the Islanders. Credit to Southwest, they responded to every run Grand Island would make, and it seemed like a different guy stepped up each time. Some guys that don’t get as much shine, like [player_tooltip player_id="1165696" first="Aiden" last="Welch"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1139274" first="Grant" last="Mielak"], consistently made big plays when they needed to all game. [player_tooltip player_id="981706" first="Ben" last="Hunzeker"] had the task of guarding [player_tooltip player_id="890574" first="Isaac" last="Traudt"] and did a phenomenal job of playing him physically and sticking to his team’s game plan. On offense, Hunzeker was aggressive to the rim and finished through the chest of many GI defenders. Freshman Chuck Love had a great game today, he showed off elite touch with his floaters and had a massive three-pointer that iced the game for the Silverhawks. Southwest will move on and play undefeated Lincoln Northeast in the next round of the HAC. </p> <p><strong>Warriors down the Arlington Eagles </strong></p> <p>Lincoln Lutheran was able to pull out a close win 55-52, in the first round of their holiday tournament. This game was extremely physical from the jump and the refs really let the kids play all game. The Warriors would jump out to an early lead after the first quarter, but the Eagles stormed back to take the lead going into halftime. The next two quarters were closely contested and the deciding factor was a 4 point surge by Logan Deboer (Lincoln Lutheran) late in the 4th quarter. This surge gave them a one-point lead that they held till the end.  Senior Big Micah Schlueter (Lincoln Lutheran) could not be stopped around the basket in the second half. The Warriors have now won two in a row dating back to their upset of Mt. Michael last week, they will look to keep it rolling tomorrow with a Holiday Tournament crown. </p>