The Boys Varsity Basketball team had a home game where they were hosting out of conference opponent Madrid on January 24th, 2020. The Cubs all around had a hard fought game but in the end lost 74-72. Kody Kruschwitz had an amazing night though dropping 24 points with four three-pointers. Even with Kruschwitz’s stellar night, Madrid outshined the Cubs by having three different kids scoring 19 points or more. Madrid’s point guard, Braden Gibbons, had a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists.
The Tigers from Madrid came ready to go outscoring the Cubs in the first three quarters. At the start of the fourth quarter, Madrid was leading 56-48. In the fourth quarter though the Cubs outscored the Tigers 24-18. Head Coach Tyler Struck said, “Our effort has been really good, it’s just been really directing that effort. A little bit better basketball wise, but more just through that confidence piece of it and making sure we are doing those things as well as we can. Not only game to game, but from quarter to quarter.”
A close matchup for the Cubs this season is a common occurrence though. Nevada’s average point differential this season is currently 2.0. With this game being another two point loss, how will the Cubs move forward to be successful the rest of the season? Struck had this to say in response: “We’ve worked a lot in practice of focusing on the basketball things, but for us right now it is mental. It’s that confidence and focus for us at the beginning of the game. We just have to make sure that how we are playing at the end of games is how we need to play the entire game.”
With this close loss it brings Nevada’s record to 6-8 overall and (3-3) in the Heart of Iowa Conference. Nevada’s next home game is against in conference rival the Gilbert Tigers on February 7th.