Feb. 4 found the Oilers traveling to Otis-Bison. The Oilers were hit with influenza and they were absent one of their key players, Jerred Bieberle. Bieberle, a senior, has been a major leader of the team in all aspects of the game. This opened the door for the bench to find their game. They did that and more. Dylan Kitchen came off the bench to show his defense and reboundary ability. Cole Lamatsch also powered the team with his D as well.

The game at half time was held in a balance of 19-19. The first half had the Oilers struggling with shooting woes. We came out in the second half holding the Cougars to 12 points for the half and the Oilers tallying 22 points to finish the night with a 41-31 victory.

Lawson Oeser lead the scoring with 14, followed by Tyler Holmes, 12; JJ Heredia, 11; Dylan Kitchen and Ethan Hurley 2 points each. Some early fouls caused the Oilers some problems to start the game. Micheal Menges also played one of his best games.

Oilers traveled to St. John Feb. 7.

The Oiler boys traveled to St. John again, but this time without five players. We only played a varsity game due to the lack of team. Two varsity starters, Tyler Holmesour, post, and our number two guard Ethan Hurley.

The Tigers were at full strength with two 6’7” shot blockers as well as a full line up of 10. We chose to play a Jack Hartman-style of slow-pace basketball. We had only six players total so we played a tough 2-3 zone and we kept the Tigers in check.

The final buzzer sounded with a loss of 38-24 and that was somewhat of a win for the Oilers. Early in the season without our point guard Lawson Oeser, the Oilers were pointed with a running clock by this powerhouse of a team. The previous Tuesday the Tigers beat a very good Hoisington Cardinals team.

Lawson Oeser lead the scoring followed with JJ Heredia, Jerred Bieberle, Cole Lamatsch and Dylan Kitchen. Great ball control by this very disciplined team.

The Oilers opened up the Saturday afternoon game versus the Concordia Panthers. This time we had our post, Tyler Holmes, back but still absent was Ethan Hurley. The Oilers played a more up tempo game but were very disciplined both offensively and defensively. This was a great ball game to watch as a fan and especially as a coach.

The Oilers tossed in 50 points to the Panthers 28 and everyone got to watch a team play basketball to a perfection. We did not shoot our free throws to the best of our ability but every other skill of the game we did it to championship fashion.

Lawson Oeser led scoring with 16, Bieberle 12, Heredia and Holmes 9, Kitchen and Menges 2. Kitchen, Bieberle and Holmes tore the boards up with a total of 27 rebounds. Those young guys are very disciplined at their game. We have great hopes for our season.

We traveled to Meade Tuesday, Feb. 11, a very long trip and to play a team that loves to shoot the three.