Northern Valley vs Hoxie Indians - December 14, 2024 - Purple & Gold Consolation Championship (5th Place)
Coach Cole;
Northern Valley would play their third and final game of the Purple & Gold versus the 1A DI State Champion Football team, the Hoxie Indians. The Huskies first half of play would surprise the Indians, but the second half spelled tragedy for us as we would not run offense to save our lives.
In the first quarter the Huskies would switch between their flex offense and a 4-out offense and would put up 10 points, as Hoxie would also score 10 points in the quarter. Gavin Thalheim would hit 2 three pointers in the quarter to jump start the team, Griffin McKinney would have 2, and Tait Thalheim would make a pair of free throws for the other 2. Defensively, the Huskies would play their usually zone, and would have trouble boxing out the strong Hoxie team, and also had trouble keeping them out of the lane driving to the basket. The Huskies did not give up a three in the first quarter.
In the second, Northern Valley would score 9 to Hoxie’s 16. Gavin Thalheim would hit another 3, Tait found Griffin for an easy 2, and Owen and Tait both hit one jumper for the scoring. Hoxie would continue to run a 1-2-1-1 press and give the Huskies fits, as most of their points came off turnovers this quarter.
The second half was a disaster for the Huskies as we would score 8 points, throw the ball away, not run offense, and give up offensive rebounds. Hoxie would win the game 58 - 27.
The Huskies ended with 23 turnovers.
Games like these are hard to play as the negatives keep piling up, but they remind the team that they cannot win them all, and they cannot win the game by themselves. We have to trust each other, do our job (defensively and offensively) to the best of our ability, and play when we are down. This will not be the last time we struggle against good teams.
I dislike the excuse, “We are a young team,” but it is true, we are a young team. We simply need to be willing to get better. This will help the team in the future.
Northern Valley vs Osborne Bulldogs - December 12, 2024
Coach Cole;
The Huskies third game, and second in the Purple & Gold Tournament was versus the Osborne Bulldogs. Osborne would play a 2-3 zone against the Huskies in the first half as they started 3 small guards, 1 big man, and 1 senior guard who was their best player. In the first half the Huskies would score 27 points, lead by Gavin Thalheim with 12 coming off of 4 three pointers. Northern Valley would use their 2-2-1 press in the first quarter, but would get in foul trouble early, as Lucas Hansen got 3 in the first and had to sit the whole second quarter. Tait Thalheim would also pick up 3 fouls in the first half trying to cut off Osborne’s best player on the sideline.
In the second half, I put Tait and Lucas on the front of the press with Gavin and Owen in the middle and this worked a little better. Griffin would get a couple steals protecting the sideline passes in the back. Osborne would go Box-and-1 on Gavin in the second half and would keep him to 2 points. NV would go 4 out with Gavin at the free throw line setting screens for his teammates to score.
Griffin McKinney would lead the Huskies in scoring with 19 points and would have an ungodly, 10 offensive rebounds. I was very happy with his effort on the glass, as this has been an emphasis in practice as of late as our team is at a height disadvantage. Gavin Thalheim would end with 14 points, Tait Thalheim with 10 points on all 2 pointers, and Lucas Hansen would add 10 of his own. That is 4 Huskies in double figure scoring.
The Huskies would win 65 - 35 and get their second win of the season.
Northern Valley Huskies vs Hodgeman County - December 9, 2024 (Game 2)
Coach Cole,
OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Northern Valley boys faced the Hodgeman County Longhorns in the first game of the Purple & Gold Tournament. In the first quarter, the Huskies would show their 3/4 court press defense, dropping back to their 1-3-1, and ran their rotation perfectly. NV would only give up two 3-pointers the entire game.
The Huskies lacked in height compared to Hodgeman as the Longhorns would combat the zone with many offensive rebounds. The Huskies would only total 20 rebounds, as it felt like Hodgeman had 40 rebounds or more. Northern Valley would miss many shots, going in and out, as the first quarter score was 6 - 17, and the first have was 8 - 35.
The Huskies would score 11 points in the second half, went into their press defense again, and would play some man to man. There would be no answer for the long, athletic, Longhorn team as the final score was 19 - 64. Hodgeman County ran man to man defense all but one minute of the game, and would pressure the Huskies relentlessly as soon as they passed half court. They will be a winning team this year for sure.
The Huskies next matchup will be against the Osborne Bulldogs on December 12, at 4:30 p.m.
STATS BELOW
#5 - Gavin Thalheim - 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 1 block, 7 TO
#11 - Tait Thalheim - 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 6 TO
#12 - Caden Lowry - 0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 TO
#13 - Zane Brown - 0 points, 1 rebound
#15 - Owen Hammond - 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 4 TO
#24 - Lucas Hansen - 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 TO
#33 - Griffin McKinney - 0 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TO
Take 2 for Week at a Glance so sorry I attached the wrong picture. Here is the 12.9.24 Week at a Glance. Christmas Concert is Tuesday night @ 6:30 p.m. There is a combined song at the end with all students K-12. Come out and celebrate a great night of Music!
Hey guys!! Here is our Week at a Glance!! It will be a super fun but busy last couple of weeks. Our K-12 Christmas concert is Tuesday night and it is a little different than the last few years it is a combined concert and they end the night with a group song! I cannot wait! Have a great week Huskies!
Northern Valley Huskies vs Tri-Plains/Brewster Titans - December 6, 2024 (Game 1)
Coach Cole,
Quarter 1 - The Huskies came out firing Friday night as they opened the first quarter, scoring 28 points to the Titans 2. NV showed a 2-2-1 press defense that the Titans could not handle, and when the Huskies stole the ball, every player ran the floor in their respective lanes. The Huskies had so much adrenaline running through their bodies that some players forgot to set up the press after making baskets, so I had to give them a vocal reminder every make. The Titans showed man to man defense, as the Huskies ran their new offense, “14”, with some success, but had some turnovers.
Quarter 2 - In the second quarter the Huskies took off the press and ran their half court 1-3-1 zone defense. They switched between regular, and trapping in the corners. The Titans switched from man to zone, and the Huskies ran their “Overload” offense. Gavin Thalheim would put in two 3-pointers in the zone. The first half score was 46 to 6.
Quarter 3 - In the third the Huskies continued to run their zone offense. On the defensive side, we tried sporting our 1-3-1 to man defense, but the Titans would score 6 points to combat the man to man. Owen Hammond would lead the Huskies to the 3rd quarter by scoring 10, as he hit two corner 3’s.
Quarter 4 - The start of the fourth quarter score was 64 to 12, as there would be a running clock. The Huskies would start slow but would pick up the pace in their zone offense as Gavin Thalheim would pour in two more 3’s and Tait Thalheim made one 3. The final score was 81 - 12.
Final Thoughts - Overall I was very surprised by the successful execution that the Huskies showed, I was not surprised by the level of effort. We had conditioned in practice a lot, and the intensity level was high. Those first couple weeks of practice became redundant after a while as I had the team practice two offenses and three defenses over and over and over again. We still had some rotation errors on defense and our shot selection could use some work. I tell the team to shoot when they are open, and they did, so I cannot be mad about that. I would like to give Gavin Thalheim and Owen Hammond Co-Players of the Game as they combined for 50 points, 34 rebounds, 14 steals, and 5 blocks. They both played 31 minutes of the total 32 minutes. Tait Thalheim came in with a close second with 23 points in his first high school game.
STATS BELOW…
#3 - Conner David 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
#5 - Gavin Thalheim 34 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 9 steals, 1 TO
#11 - Tait Thalheim 23 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 4 steals, 3 TO
#12 - Caden Lowry 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
#13 - Zane Brown 0 points, 1 assist, 1 steal
#15 - Owen Hammond 16 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 5 steals, 3 TO
#24 - Lucas Hansen 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TO
#45 - Griffin McKinney 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO
TEAM STATS 81 points, 48 rebounds, 19 assists, 7 blocks, 22 steals, 11 TO
TEAM SHOOTING FG 32/73 (44%), 2PT FG 23/45 (51%), 3PT FG 9/28 (32%), FT 8/14 (57%)
Here is the weekly agenda for the week of 12.2.24. We are starting the last 3 weeks of the first semester! We start the high school winter sports season this week and have a Junior High BB Tournament on Saturday. This is an A team tournament and more information will be posted later. Sunday is also the Old Fashioned Christmas hosted by the HS STUCCO. Have a great week!!
Hey all!! Here is our Weekly Agenda for the week of 11.25. We hope you guys get a bunch of relaxation over Thanksgiving break and get to spend some time with loved ones!
The YouTube live feed for the JH GBB A Team game is now up.
Husky Fans come cheer on our 2024 Husky Cheerleaders as they head to state cheer on Friday @ 11:45 AM
Hello all!! Here is the weekly agenda! Have a great week!
Hey guys!! There was a change in the Cheer Showcase... it will now be Friday 11.15.24 @ 6:30 p.m. in the High School Gym. Come on out and support the Husky Cheerleaders!!
Hey guys!! Here is our weekly agenda! Friday and Saturday we have some great things going on in the Valley!! Friday, the Cheerleaders will have their Cheer Showcase which will show their routines for the state competition coming up next weekend!! Saturday @ 7:00 p.m. is the Valley Vibes Performance - Tickets are $5 for Adults and $3 for children. See you there! Valley let's show out for these two performances!!
11.8.24 FB Regionals Postponed to 11.9.24 @ 1:00 p.m. More information in flyer.
Travel Information for 11.8.24 Regional FB in Kiowa. Please take the suggested route. If you have any questions let me know!
11.8.24 Regional FB information. We have quite the drive ahead of us this Friday for football. If you guys have any questions let me know! Go Big Green!!
Here is our Week at a Glance for the Week of 11.4.24. We have our first High School Scholars Bowl Meet, 7th/8th Grade Play, Middle School Visit to the Da Vinci Display at the Hansen Museum and another round of Post Season FB!! Have a great week Huskies!! Go Big Green!
The Northern Valley Lady Huskies finished out their 2024 season in Greensburg on October 22nd competing in the Class 1A DII Regional 3 Tournament. The Huskies started the night off playing Cunningham the #5 seed. The Huskies lost the first set 17-25 but came back out strong winning set two, 25-23. The final deciding set was hard fought by both teams but the Huskies fell just short losing 23-25. The Huskies faced Bucklin, the #4 seed, next losing in a two-set match taking away their chance of moving on to substate. The Huskies faced Natoma for their last game of the season determined to finish their season with a win. They were successful winning 25-21, 25-14
The Huskies finished out their season with a record of 8-26. Coach Hansen’s final comments on the season, “I am so proud of the work these girls have put in this season. We knew coming in this year that we would face some challenges and that we would have to be adaptable. This group came to practice every day ready to put the work in. Of course, we would have loved to continue our season or see more success, but they left it all out there every time they stepped on the court. We wish our 5 seniors the best, they will be missed.”
2024 WKLL All League Honors:
Delaney Side and Tatum Lentz – 2nd Team
Stat Leaders for 2024 Season (per HUDL):
Kills – Delaney Sides with 157
Digs – Haley Hansen with 242
Blocks – Tatum Lentz with 20
Assists – Haedyn Cox with 204
Ace Serves – Delaney Sides with 49
Serving – Landry Gebhard with 93.8%
Thanks to all of the fans for your support this season! Go Huskies!
Don't forget the FFA Haunted house tonight from 7-9. Free will donation. Come and have a Spooky time.
Congratulations Tatum Lentz and Delaney Sides for making WKLL All League Volleyball 2nd Team! Great work ladies!!!
