FHS rebounds from Norfolk loss

The Fremont High boys basketball team awoke after first-half jetlag to defeat North Platte Saturday night at FHS.

Coming off a 66-60 loss to Class A No. 1 Norfolk on Friday the Tigers experienced sluggish play in the first and only led 17-16 at halftime. But FHS regrouped in the second half and outscored the Bulldogs by 10 in the second to win comfortably 46-35.

“I guess if we hit a few more shots than maybe it wouldn’t have been that way in the first half; we obviously didn’t shoot the ball as well as we did (Friday) night,” FHS head coach Mark Williams said. “Maybe we didn’t have the normal bounce in our step but we expended a lot of energy Friday night so I tried to play as many guys as I could to keep us fresh.”

The sluggish play continued into the second half but only for a brief moment.

The Bulldogs took a 21-17 lead two minutes into the third quarter on a jumper and 3-pointer by Trey Moore.

But Fremont ended the quarter on a 13-0 run that put the Tigers up 30-21 entering the final quarter.

The Tigers increased their lead to 43-27 in the fourth quarter by outscoring North Platte 13-6.

Fremont’s Michael Hahn paced the fourth quarter for FHS with seven of his 10 points on the night.

“I didn’t play very well in the first half but I started to attack the hole more in the second half and shots just started falling,” Hahn said.

“Michael is a glue for us,” Williams added. “He’s just been so solid for us defensively all year and tonight he found a way to get the ball in the basket for us; he’s the type of kids who’s going to do whatever the team needs him to do to win and he’s gotten progressively better and we need that fourth scorer because if you really want to get it done you need that fourth and fifth guy and he can provide that for us.”

The Tigers leading scorers Connor Niehaus and Garrett Cobb were held to four and three points respectively.

“You’re not going to be a good team with just two players,” Williams said. “It’s not going to happen very often but it happened tonight and we still came out with a win.”

Alex Hamilton was the only other player in double figures for Fremont as he led the Tigers with 11 points.

FHS couldn’t find the hoop in the first quarter hitting just two shot from the floor and led 7-2.

The Bulldogs took a 14-11 lead with 2:17 remaining in the first half but Ian Nick drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give Fremont a 17-16 lead at halftime.

“(Friday) night we came out with great intensity but we just didn’t come out with that tonight,” Hahn said. “I don’t know if we were tired or what but I’m just happy to come out with a win.”

Moore led the Bulldogs with a game-high 16 points.

“He got a few points late that probably got him his scoring average but I think for the most part we did a pretty good job,” Williams said. “I think we made him earn his points and that’s what we asked our kids to do.”

Fremont High is off until Friday night when they travel to Lincoln Northeast for a 7:30 tipoff. The Tigers follow with their final home game of the year against Elkhorn at 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

North Platte 2 14 5 14 – 35

Fremont 7 10 13 16 – 46

North Platte: Armstrong 2, Moore 16, Kemper 3, Lauber 9, Schramm 3, Scharton 2.

Fremont: Strong 8, Hamilton 11, Nick 6, Voss 2, Niehaus 2, Hahn 10, Myers 4, Cobb 3.