The Arcadia/Loup City boys’ basketball team put St. Paul on its toes last Thursday night, but the Wildcats, who were forced to bend to the Rebels, never broke.
Last week, in a consolation game of the LouPlatte Conference Tournament, St. Paul found some mojo in overtime to scrape past the Rebels 60-55, forcing the Black and Red to fall to 7-12 on the season.
“We played awesome, but it has just been kind of the same thing that we have had trouble with all year,” said Arcadia/Loup City Head Coach Aaron Habe. “We have been trying to coach up the kids and figure out as a group how to win tight games, but we are just still struggling with that. There is still time to figure it out, but we are still trying to find that way.”
St. Paul took a slight edge in the first quarter of last week’s game, and built on its one-point first-period lead to hold _vi_es and 1 vehicle unlocked. Traffic Stop Ac_vity: 43 verbal/ wri_en warnings and 8 cita_ons. Arrests: 1 driving during revoca_on; 1 driving under suspension and 1 trespassing. Chief Kegley stated that the new vehicle is in, they are just wai_ng to get it in to have the lights and decals put on it. No ac_on was taken. b. Public Works Director Report. Public Works Director Troy Barnes gave his report. They have been working on ge_ng the new program for water reading up and running. They’ve been doing maintenance on vehicles and equipment. With the inclement weather they were doing snow and ice removal. He has been doing research on the renishing of the auditorium oors. He has ordered the items for the bathroom renova_ons at the auditorium. No ac_on was taken. c. Economic Development Report. Economic Development Director Zachary West submitted his report. He completed three BREs for a comple_on of 15/15 for 2024. BRE follow-ups: a_emp_ng to nd storefront for sole proprietor; a_emp_ng to nd land for business wanting to expand, he has contacted landowners to explore current and future op_ons for development and assis_ng transfer of business ownership, there are two different par_es working to secure nancing with one party already signing a purchase agreement. LB840: applica_on 2024-03 was received, the intent is for business ownership transfer of a retail business, he has been working with the applicant on securing funding. Working on ge_ng businesses to par_cipate in the Career Fair at Ravenna High School in February. Renewable Energy contract mee_ng has been delayed at this _me. Grant work: submi _ed two grants and working good job of finding [Max Lewandowski], which made them double him a lot. He was kind of getting in a rhythm, and that opened up the perimeter for some guys to get some big shots that we needed.”
Kaslon hit his three pointer with less than two minutes to play, but the Wildcats scored just enough at the stripe to even the score. St. Paul senior Levi Bader made a pair of free throws— trickling in the latter of the two shots—with two seconds left to knot the score and send the game into overtime.
A pair of early free throws by Eli Jaixen ended up being the Rebels’ only points in extra minutes, and St. Paul spouted off for seven of their own to win the game.
Jaixen had four three-pointers on Thursday night, including three in the first half, to lead all scorers with twenty-four points. Kaslon netted seventeen, while Lewandowski finished the game with seven. Tyce Calleroz scored four and Brogan Setlik earned three.
Arcadia/Loup City was scheduled to battle in a cross-county rivalry game with Ansley-Litchfield on Tuesday of this week. After that game, the Rebels will host Centura on Friday before turning their attention to Doniphan- Trumbull the following week.
Coach Habe said that while the final three games of the year will not be easy victories, they are all winnable if the Rebels can start trending in the right direction.
“We just have to continue working,” the head coach said. “We are not at our ceiling at all and we have to figure out how to get there, including how to win close games and how to make some free throws.
“There are just a couple little things that are big things at the same time. We just have to find a way to get a little bit better.”
