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Cedar - Mack Kuehn, 2; Charlie Schroeder, 1.

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“The thought was always there (about being shut down), but there was hope for the season and for the best. If something did happen, we would just deal with it and move on and we’ve been good so far.”

Arens said the practices that occurred without the seniors went very well and last week they were finally able to join forces.

“You could tell they were dragging a little bit and were out of shape after two weeks, but it didn’t take long for them to be back in full,” Arens said. “We told ourselves we would bounce back from the loss. We would have liked to have won, but you learn more from a loss.”

Arens noted the team will start practicing without masks which could help limit the amount of any potential spread.

“We just have to be smart about it,” he said.

HARTINGTON — The Cedar Catholic boys basketball team had to wait an extra week to start its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic moving into the school’s hallways.

The halt to practices and games showed as the Trojans dropped a 56-47 decision to O’Neill in Friday’s season-opener, but now that they finally are playing, that alone is enough to rejoice for the time being.

Cedar got off to a slow start, but kept clawing back, only to have the Eagles nail a three-pointer. O’Neill ended up hitting on 7-17 from beyond the arc on the night and 50 percent from the field.

“It was O’Neill’s second game and they played very well,” Cedar Catholic Coach Matt Steffen said. “We missed many easy shots and never got into a rhythm.”

Steffen had hoped the Trojans size advantage would play a big factor. Cedar did earn a 38-34 rebounding advantage, but they were not able to get the ball into the paint enough for that to pay off. The Trojans ended the night with 20 points from the paint, while O’Neill hit 24 from the inside.

“The key for us in this game was we had a size advantage and needed to get the ball inside. We, unfortunately, did not do that,” he said.

O’Neill led 31-21 at halftime and then staved off any rally efforts by the Trojans who got 14 points from Charlie Schroeder, 11 points from Myles Thoene and 10 points from Tate Thoene. Jaxson Bernecker added 11 rebounds to aid Cedar’s cause.

Cold shooting really hurt Steffen’s team, though as the Trojans hit only 27 percent of their shots.

Cedar Catholic traveled to Crofton Tuesday. Next week the Trojans head to Fremont for the start of the annual Knights Tournament.

“Crofton has a new coach and I expect them to pressure us, and to be very scrappy,” Steffen said. “We are struggling with executing our offense and defense. The only real good thing about the O’Neill game is that it is our first game and not our last.”

Junior Carter Arens was happy to have the seniors back with he and the other players who toiled in practice for two weeks without

SCORING

Cedar - Charlie Schroeder, 14; Myles Thoene, 11; Tate Thoene, 10; Carsen Arens, 6; Jaxson Bernecker, 4; Carter Arens, 2. O’Neill - Parker Heiss, 14; Peyton Mathews, 13; Keegan Moore, 12; Landon Classen, 10; Keaton Wattier, 4; Kyler Dean, 3.

REBOUNDS

Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 11; Carsen Arens, 7; Carter Arens, 5; Charlie Schroeder, 4; Mack Kuehn, 3; Tate Thoene, 2; Myles Thoene, 1; Dagen Joachimsen, 1. O’Neill - Keaton Wattier, 14; Landon Classen, 4; Parker Heiss, 3.

ASSISTS

Cedar - Myles Thoene, 3; Charlie Schroeder, 3; Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Tate Thoene, 2; Carsen Arens, 1; Carter Arens, 1.

STEALS

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 5; Charlie Schroeder, 2; Jaxson Bernecker, 1.

BLOCKS

 

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