JETS TAKE FOURTH IN PIONEER CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Jan.29, Feb 1 & 2, 2008
By Jimmy Motz
February 05, 2008
The Sterling boys basketball team took fourth place in the 2008 Pioneer Conference basketball tournament this past week. The Jets won their first round contest defeating Johnson-Brock 55-48, then lost the semifinal game to Nebraska City Lourdes 62-50. In the 3rd place game, Sterling lost to Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinaur 54-41.
“Overall, we did some good things for the week, and we had opportunities against Lourdes to win, but we didn’t get it done” said head coach Jimmy Motz. “I felt that this past week prepared us for the stretch run and was a tune up for districts. We just had to get back to getting better and correcting some things.”
In the Johnson-Brock contest, Zach Lempka scored 23 points and D.J. Thiel had 10. Sterling never trailed after the end of the first quarter and led by as much as 14 points. The Eagles cut the defecit to 4 points in the third quarter, but the Jets went on a 8-0 run to end the quarter.
The semifinal game was a different story, where the Jets trailed by 15 points at the half. Sterling cut into Lourdes’ lead, cutting it to five, but back to back turnovers were costly for Sterling. Lempka had another big game, scoring 24 points and snaring 12 rebounds. Thiel chipped in 15.
“We had 20 plus turnovers and didn’t make the plays” said Motz. “Lourdes came out strong and we didn’t answer their runs in the first half. It’s tough to play from behind when your down 15, but our kids didn’t quit and battled to the very end. I’m proud of that cause it shows the kind of character our kids have.”
H-TR-S slowed down the Sterling in the third place game, holding the Jets to 14 points in quarters two and three. The Jets shot the ball under 30 percent in the game. Lempka led the Jets with 13 points. For the week, Lempka scored 60 points, and had over 30 rebounds.
“Zach played really well all weekend” Motz said. “He was a marked man, and he found ways to score. He continues to get better, but I think Zach and the rest of them would have wanted the week to finish on a different note.”
Sterling returns to action this Thursday night with a home contest with Meridian. Friday night, the Jets travel to Southeast Consolidated. The game with Meridian is parents night.
