FIRTH — Thursday’s game at Norris was definitely a trap game for the Class B No. 1 Omaha Skutt boys basketball team.
Thanks to their full-court trapping defense in the second half, the SkyHawks escaped with their undefeated record intact.
Skutt scored 15 unanswered points in span of over 8 minutes in the third and fourth quarters to erase a six-point deficit and claim a 41-31 win over the No. 8 Titans before a crowd of 1,500 at the Norris Middle School.
“On nights like this, we have to have our defense come through,†said Skutt coach Kyle Jurgens, whose team improved to 18-0. “Norris played great defense and really made it tough for Tyson (Gordon) and Charlie (Fletcher). But we had other guys step up.â€
Gordon, a 6-foot-3 Skutt senior all-state guard, was held to nine points and Fletcher, a 6-1 junior, managed five.
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But Luke Skar and Andrew Merfeld answered the call when the SkyHawks needed them. Skar, a 6-4 junior post, finished with 12 points, six in the fourth quarter. Merfeld finished with nine points, a total that included an 8-foot jumper late in the third period that tied the game at 27 heading into the fourth quarter.
After Skar broke the tie with a reverse layup at the 6:40 mark, Merfeld nailed a three-pointer from right of the key to make it 32-27 with 5:51 left in the game. Fletcher scored on a driving layup and Skar finished the 15-0 spree with a basket inside off an assist from Merfeld to build an insurmountable 36-27 edge with 3 minutes to go.
Norris (16-4) led 20-12 in the second quarter after opening the period with a 10-0 run. Gordon, who sat out part of the second quarter because of foul trouble, hit a three-pointer and netted a follow shot in the final 1:35 of the half to cut the Titans’ margin to 20-17 at intermission.
“We only had nine possessions in the second quarter, so we knew we had to do something defensively to speed them up,†Jurgens said. “We tried to in the first half, but we couldn’t hit a shot to set up the press. Once we started making a few (shots), that made it easier to execute what we wanted defensively.â€
A three-point play by Trey Deveaux gave Norris a 27-21 lead with 3:19 left in the third quarter. The Titans, who had just 11 points in the second half, didn’t score again Deveaux banked in a 6-footer from the right side with 2:35 remaining in the game to cut Skutt’s lead to seven.
The 6-4 junior finished with a game-high 14 points and eight rebounds.
“lf you would’ve told me (before the game) that we would hold Skutt to 41 points, I would’ve taken that,†Norris coach Matt Shelsta said. “Skutt is one of the best defensive teams in the state, and their pressure got to us late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.
“I thought our defensive effort was outstanding,†Shelsta added. “We just needed to hit a few more buckets.â€
Norris girls 61, Omaha Skutt 20
Eleven Titans scored, led by Brianna Stai’s 20 points as Class B No. 5 Norris improved to 11-8 going into Saturday’s road showdown with C-1 No. 1 Lincoln Christian.