WAUSA – A week of one win and two losses for the Wausa boys basketball team doesn’t mean the squad still hasn’t learned more about itself and the feeling is that onward and upward is a realistic outlook for the rest of the 2023-24 season.
Wausa improved to 3-4 overall after defeating the Niobrara/ Verdigre Cougars (0-7) 67-33 at home on Dec. 18. The Vikings lost 6856 to the Gayville-Volin (S.D.) Raiders (2-1) on Dec. 12 in Wausa and 76-34 to the Wynot Blue Devils (5-1) on Dec. 15 on the road.
Junior Brady Bloomquist, senior Cashe Carlson and freshman Matthew Schindler each scored 13 points for the Vikings in the loss to Gayville-Volin, which broke open the game with a 25-18 push in the final frame.
Carlson (nine points), Schindler (eight points) and junior Colton Baue (seven points) led Wausa against Wynot.
The Vikings led 11-9 after the first quarter at Wynot, but the Blue Devils outscored Wausa 50-13 over the middle quarters to put the game away.
“We played some pretty good ball,” Baue said. “But in the times we fall apart as a team, that’s when we really start to lose our momentum and lose our flow that we have in the game.
“We just can’t score,” he said. “I feel like our defensive game is pretty good all around. Once we lose that little click between our teammates, we just can’t score the ball. No good ball movement.”
He said sometimes he and his Wausa teammates get “wrapped up in our own heads” and the action on the court becomes a bit clunky.
“If we just keep focusing on the game and what we’re trying to get to, I feel like we can do some really great things,” Baue said.
He said the Vikings may still be searching for that leader to take over the team and settle the nerves and concerns of the players around him.
“We’re still trying to find that one person that’s out there, but if we all find it within ourselves, we can spread it (within) the team and even the three to four guys that come off the bench,” Baue said. “That’s really the main thing that we got to figure out.”
He said developing a bit more mental toughness should go a long way because the physical side of the game is evident for Wausa.
“Physically, we’re a great team; athletically, we have the players, we have the strength, we have the knowledge to win games,” Baue said.
“It’s just really the mental strength that it comes down to in those tough games, especially against Wynot when they’re pressuring us,” he said. “We got to have our team remain calm and just keep pushing forward and do what we do.”
He said the Vikings’ inner mood remains high as there is a lot of the regular season left to play.
“It’s just a matter of getting it all together,” Baue said.
Wausa will return to the basketball court on Dec. 29 for the 2023 Creighton Holiday Tournament.
The Vikings are scheduled to play the rival Bloomfield Bees at 3:45 p.m.
