The last home basketball game of the season was last Friday. It was a big night, as it was "Senior Night", which honored the Class of 2022 Seniors and their parents. Charles Fessenden was also recognized for being inducted into the 2022 KSHSAA Hall of Fame. Below are the coaches' summaries of the basketball games against Golden Plains.
'On Friday, Feb. 18, the 2024 N.V. Seniors and their parents were honored during "Senior Night". The boys' Husky basketball squad dominated their home court by defeating the visiting Golden Plains Bulldogs 86-35. "This win improved our record to 18-1," said Kevin Sides, Northern Valley boys' head coach. "Senior Eric Loya led the Huskies with 20 points on Senior/Parent night, and he only played in the first half. Eric put in four three-pointers - of our team's (total of) 13 in the game." "We started out good tonight, and played really well throughout the game. It was nice to able to play everyone tonight, because we had a large crowd for the Seniors. We end our regular season this Monday night in Phillipsburg, and then head on to Sub-State (in Beloit) in two weeks." Three Seniors are on this year's 2021-2022 boys' basketball roster for the Huskies. Bailey Sides, Eric Loya, and Aaron Henrickson are the Seniors graduating this May. Scoring for the varsity Huskies, against the Bulldogs - Eric Loya led his team with 20 points. Kenton Thalheim scored 19; Jeremiah Hansen, 15; Bailey Sides, 12; Brody Preston, 8; Gabe Rudd, 4; Foster Brands, 2; Drew Schemper, 2, Jason Cox, 2; and Aaron Henrickson, 2.
During two quarters of junior varsity action, the Northern Valley J.V. boys beat the Bulldogs 38-11. Scorers for the Huskies were: Brody Preston led with 12 points; Drew Schemper and Gabe Rudd each contributed 10 points; Kyle Speer, Caden Lowry, and Aaron Henrickson each made 2 points. For their final regular season game of the 2021-2022 season, the Northern Valley Husky boys will play the Panthers in Phillipsburg on Monday, Feb. 21 beginning at 6:00 p.m.'
'The Lady Huskies took on the undefeated #3 rated Golden Plains Bulldogs on February 18th for the team’s final home game of the season. The final score of the game was 23-50. The Lady Huskies came out with something to prove coming off a sub-par performance earlier in the week. The Huskies were able to stay within reach of the Bulldogs through the first three and a half quarters of the game. The Bulldogs relied heavily on their Senior Kassie Miller to score over half of the team’s points, with 8 of her 27 in the fourth quarter. The Huskies defense was able to keep pressure up for most of the game and left everything on the court against the very fundamentally sound Bulldogs. Scoring for the Huskies: Austyn Cox- 7, Shaylee Vsetecka- 6, Delaney Sides and Stephanie Whitney- 4 apiece, Mary Baird- 2.
The JV Lady Huskies took on Golden Plains in the first action of the night. The final score of the game 2-29. The Lady Bulldogs ended up playing 7 of the 10 players that would see varsity action. The Lady Huskies fought all the way through the 2 quarters of action but were unable to find scoring against the dominating man defense of the Bulldogs. This concluded the JV season for the Lady Huskies. Overall, the girls grew tremendously from the beginning of the season both individually and as a team. The girls grew in confidence and ability and are poised to take the next step in their development over the off-season. Scoring for the Huskies: Tatum Lentz- 2. The Lady Huskies now look toward their sub-state matchup on Feb. 25th vs Pike Valley in Scandia at 7:00 pm.'