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Cardinals upset No. 1 Otis-Bison at Winter Jam
spt kp Hoisington logo

By Ray Strunk
Special to the Tribune

HOISINGTON — Aggressive play from Grant Dolechek led the Hoisington boys to a 56-39 upset victory over the undefeated, No. 1 Class 1A-2 Otis-Bison Cougars in Friday night’s semifinal matchup at the Cardinal Winter Jam.
The Cardinals (5-5) outscored the tournament’s top-seeded team 35-22 in the second half on their way to a 56-39 win. They will face Ellsworth Saturday for a chance at their second straight Cardinal Winter Jam title and fourth in seven years.
“We executed well,” said Hoisington coach Kyle Haxton. “I give credit to the boys.”
The Cougars came into the game with a distinct height advantage. The undersized Cardinals were forced to match the 6-0 Dolechek against one of two 6-4 Otis-Bison post players.
Dolechek stepped up to the challenge and led the Cardinals with 20 points on the night.
“There’s just not a kid that plays harder than he does,” said Hoisington head coach Kyle Haxton. “His energy feeds the rest of our team.”
Otis-Bison got out to an early lead in the first quarter. Blake Bahr scored five of the Cougars first seven as Otis-Bison started the game with a 7-2 run. Dolechek responded with four straight points of his own as the Cardinals scored the last six points of the first quarter to take an 8-7 lead.
Dolechek opened the second quarter with another aggressive play down low. After missing a bucket off the backboard, he pulled in his own rebound and picked up a foul as he went for the putback. He converted one of two free throws to give the Cardinals a 9-7 lead.
The teams battled back and forth through the remainder of the second quarter. Five straight points from Otis-Bison put them on top 12-9 but the Cardinals quickly answered with five straight points of their own to regain the lead. The teams traded five-point runs again to finish the half. Hoisington went into halftime up 19-17.
The second half was a much higher scoring affair.
There were nearly as many points scored in the third quarter alone as there were in the entire first half. Hoisington opened the quarter with a quick bucket from Cameron Davis to stretch their lead to four. The Cardinals outscored Otis-Bison 18-12 in the quarter to bring an eight point lead into the final quarter of play.
Davis finished with seven points.
Otis-Bison’s Kade Urban and Dolechek traded baskets for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter. Dolechek opened the quarter with a steal and drive to give the Cardinals a 39-29 lead. Urban answered with a three pointer to bring the Cougars back within seven. Dolechek converted two free throws after being fouled as he drove to the hoop on the other end of the floor. Coming out of a timeout, Urban was able to find the basket again. Taking another feed down low, Dolechek scored his twentieth point of the game to put the Cardinals up nine.
Urban led Otis-Bison with 12 points. He was the lone Cougar to finish with double-digits.
With just over five minutes remaining, Dolechek took a charge from Urban and hit the floor hard. He injured his leg as he fell and would be unable to return to the game.
His contributions were enough though and Otis-Bison was unable to get back into the game during the final minutes. The Cardinals finished strong and walked out with a 56-39 victory over the top-ranked Cougars.

Hoisington 8 11 18 19 — 56
Otis-Bison 7 10 12 10 — 39
HHS — Brenner Donovan 2-5 4-5 8, Grant Dolechek 7-15 6-11 20, Braxton Donovan 2-5 0-1 5, Kyle Lang 2-5 0-1 6, Cameron Davis 3-9 1-2 7, Eric Barrett 1-5 0-0 2, Alex Schremmer 1-5 2-2 4, Tyler Specht 1-3 2-4 4; Totals 19-53 15-25 56.
OB — Blake Bahr 2-7 0-0 5, Clade Anderson 3-6 0-2 6, Kade Urban 3-9 4-7 12, Anton Foust 2-6 3-6 8, Maitland Wiltse 3-10 0-1 6, Tanner Loucks 0-0 2-3 2; Caleb Cheely 0-1 0-0 0, Lucas Higgason 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 13-44 9-20 39.

3-point goals—H 3-9 (Lang 2-4, Braxton Donovan 1-3. Brenner Dovovan 0-1, Barrett 0-1), OB 4-12 (Urban 2-6, Foust 1-2, Bahr 1-3, Wiltse 0-1). Rebounds—H 39 (Dolechek 12), OB 41 (Anderson 12). Assists—H 13 (Lang 3, Brenner Donovan 3), OB 5 (Foust 2, Urban 2). Steals—H 10 (Davis 2, Lang 2, Brenner Donovan 2), OB 3 (Foust 2). TO—H 13, OB 21.