St. Elmo drops season-opener; beats Cowden-Herrick

A poor second quarter doomed the St. Elmo High School boys basketball team in its season-opener last Friday, as it lost to Neoga, 42-36.

Junior Jake Mansker led the Eagles with eight points, all of which he scored in the third quarter, when St. Elmo nearly erased an eight-point deficit.

The Eagles (0-2, 0-2 National Trail Conference) trailed 14-12 after the first period, but only scored two points in the second quarter to fall behind 22-14 at halftime.

Behind Mansker, however, St. Elmo worked its way back in the third, trailing just 31-29 at the end of the stanza.

Blaine Scholes’ 3-pointer was the only field goal for the Eagles in the fourth period, though, which allowed Neoga to take the game.

On Tuesday, the Eagles rebounded to beat Cowden-Herrick, 75-53.

Four Eagles scored in double-figures, including 18 from both Ben Sperry and Garrett Buzzard.

Tuesday, Dec. 8
at Cowden-Herrick
St. Elmo 75
Cowden-Herrick 53
Points – Buzzard, 18; Sperry, 18; Scholes, 14; Connor Beasley, 10; Blake Pruett, 6; Mansker, 4; Kase Stolte, 3; Patrick Schaal, 2.
Record – 1-1 (1-1 NTC, 1-0 EIC)
SEHS  13–17–21–24—75
CHHS  10–14–13–16—53
Up Next – at St. Anthony on Friday

Friday, Dec. 3
at Neoga
Neoga 42
St. Elmo 36
Points – Mansker, 8; Scholes, 6; Sperry, 6; Schaal, 5; Beasley, 4; Stolte, 4; Pruett, 3.
Record – 0-1 (0-1 NTC, 0-1 EIC)
Eagles  12–2–15–7—36
Indians  14–8–9–11—42