The Johnson-Brock Eagles placed fourth in the B Division of the MUDECAS basketball tournament in Beatrice.
Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Eagles defeated Humboldt/Table Rock-Steinauer, 59-33. Thursday, Jan. 10, the Johnson-Brock boys lost 38-44 to Southern. Saturday, Jan. 12, the Eagles lost 47-53 Exeter-Milligan in the B Division consolation game.
HTRS
“MUDECAS started off well with a nice win over HTRS, and hopefully we can get back on track over the next week,” Coach Nick Krenk said.
Dustin Niedermeyer led the Eagles with 17 points, one of three double figure scorers. Nick Stahl scored 12 points and Dontavious Sturgeon-Rieger scored 10 points. Also scoring were: Tyler Ebeler, 8 points; Lukas Buchmeier and Taylor Wenzl, 5 points each and Sean Koperski, 2 points.
Niedermeyer also led Johnson-Brock with 8 rebounds. Sturgeon-Rieger had 6 rebounds; Wenzl, 5 rebounds; Buchmeier and Koperski, 3 rebounds each; Stahl, 2 rebounds and Brody Clark, 1 rebound.
Stahl led the Eagles with 5 assists; Niedermeyer, 4 assists; Wenzl, 3 assists; Ebeler and Koperski, 2 assists and Buchmeier, 1 assist.
Koperski led Johnson-Brock with 5 steals. Niedermeyer had 3 steals; Ebeler, Stahl, Sturgeon-Rieger and Wenzl each had 2 steals and Austin Griggs had 1 steal. Sturgeon-Rieger had 1 block.
Johnson-Brock shot 24-of-48 from two-point range; made 2-of-8 three-point attempts; and was 5-of-11 from the free throw line. HTRS shot 14-of-28 from two-point range; made 1-of-12 three-point attempts; and was 2-of-5 from the free throw line. The Eagles outrebounded HTRS, 28 to 27; and had 16 turnovers to 25 for HTRS.
Scoring by Quarters
HTRS           7-6-13-7--33
Johnson-Brock    18-15-13-13--59
Southern
“We are starting to play with the necessary effort to be successful, however we are having problems finishing our quarters. Also, there seems to be one thing that hurts us each game. In the Southern game, it was our poor free-throw shooting and lack of offensive rebounds. In the Exeter-Milligan game it was our turnovers (30) and offensive rebounds that we gave up. I like the fact that we are beginning to execute our plays with more success and our shooting is getting better. The boys are continuing to work hard, and I believe we will get to where we need to be season’s end,” Coach Krenk said.
Niedermeyer led the Eagles with 12 points. Others scoring were Sturgeon-Rieger with 9 points, Stahl 7, Buchmeier 5, Koperski 3, and Wenzl 2.
Leading rebounders: Sturgeon-Rieger 8, Buchmeier and Niedermeyer 4.
Assists: Stahl 7, Wenzl 2.
Steals: Stahl 5, Wenzl 2, Ebeler and Sturgeon-Rieger 1.
Blocked shot: Niedermeyer 1.
The Eagles made 14 of 29 two pointers (48%), 2 of 6 treys (33%), and 4 of 10 free throws (40%).
The Raiders sank 10 of 27 buckets (37%), 4 of 9 treys (44%), and 12 of 21 free throws.
Scoring by Quarters:
Southern    12-5-12-15--44
Johnson-Brock 10-7-11-10--38
Exeter-Milligan
Scoring: Niedermeyer 10, Stahl 10, Wenzl 8, Sturgeon-Rieger 7, Ebeler 6, Buchmeier 6.
No additional statistical information was available from this game.
Scoring by Quarters:
Johnson-Brock  15-11-6-15--47
Exeter-Milligan 14-18-12-9--53
The Week Ahead
On Tuesday, Jan. 15, the 6-9 Eagles hosted Lewiston in the first of three consecutive home games. Lewiston, which entered the game 8-5, also lost twice last week in the MUDECAS tournament.
Friday, Jan. 18, the Eagles play Friend. Friend took a 4-7 record to a Tuesday, Jan. 15, game at Thayer Central.
Falls City Sacred Heart visits the Eagles on Thursday, Jan. 24, in the final regular season home game. The Eagles go to Pawnee City Friday, Jan. 25, their last game before the Pioneer Conference tournament.