A busy three night stretch of high school basketball coverage began Thursday evening for a pair of northeast Nebraska programs.
From Pender, the Wakefield girls and boys basketball teams visited the Pender Pendragons to begin their season.
The Wakefield girls fell behind early against the two-time defending state champ Pender Pendragons (C2 in 2023 and D1 last season) suffering a 76-16 loss while the Wakefield boys dropped a 35-31 defensive battle.
In the girls game, Pender jumped ahead thanks to a 20-5 first quarter and followed with a 25-5 second quarter to lead 45-10 at the break. The Pendragons also outscored the Trojans 15-3 in the third and 16-3 in the fourth. Final favored Pender winning their season opener 76-16 as Wakefield fell to 0-1.
Wakefield was led in scoring by junior Ashlyn Riewer with eight points while sophomore Boston Brown followed with six points. Junior Sierra Kaufman finished with two points.
The Trojans shot 2-6 from the foul line.
Pender leaders were junior Madalyn Dolliver with 20 points on six made three’s, freshman Myra Hansen followed with 15 points on three made three’s, junior Hadley Walsh added 13 points (5-5 FT) as senior Maya Dolliver tallied 10 points (4-4 FT).
Other scoring came from junior Allie Rutar with nine points, sophomore Kaylee Schroeder tacked on four points, senior Jala Krusemark buried a three and sophomore Brylea Mosser finished with two points.
The Pendragons finished 11-11 from the charity stripe and also made 11 three’s as a team.
During the boys outing, the visiting Trojans held early leads of 7-5 after the first quarter and then built a nine-point lead at the half thanks to a 14-7 second quarter. Wakefield was up 21-12 at the break. The Pendragons then came storming back with a 13-4 third and 10-6 fourth to win 35-31. Pender starts their season at 1-0 as the Trojans fell to 0-1.
Wakefield was led in scoring by junior Cael Johnson with 17 points all in the first half as senior Timothy Kaufman followed with five points. Three-point scoring came from junior Jacob Birkley, junior Brandon Paredes and senior Jesse Lundahl.
The Trojans shot 8-10 from the foul line.
Pender leaders were junior Trevor Trimble who hit two foul shots late to put the game away with 12 points as junior Ryan Krueger came off the bench with 10 points.
Other scoring came from sophomore Zander Welsh with six points, senior Alex Roth fouled out with three points as seniors Owen Kneifl and Trent Hansen both scored two points.
The Pendragons finished 5-8 from the charity stripe.
