ODELL, Neb. - The two teams that were favored going into their legs of Friday night’s basketball doubleheader both came away with comfortable, wire-to-wire, milestone wins: the Diller-Odell girls defeated Exeter-Milligan/Friend by 26 to earn their 15th win of the season, while the Bobcat boys bested the Griffins by 35 to earn their 20th.  

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Diller-Odell (15-7) defeats EMF (8-14) 57-31 

Myleigh Weers turned in another stellar all-around game for the Griffins and her team’s defense was tenacious throughout, paving the way for a wire-to-wire for D-O in the final game of the regular season for both teams. Weers hit five threes in the game and steals from Ashley Duis and Baileigh Vilda set up three straight fast break buckets for Weers in the home stretch of the first half, helping Diller jump out to a 42-16 lead at the break.  

With subdistricts starting this coming Tuesday, both teams settled in as the second half elapsed, and the scoring outputs dropped for both sides. EMF held D-O in check and both teams scored exactly 15 points after halftime which did little to change the outcome of the game – the Griffins never trailed, led by as many as 30 briefly in the third, and coasted to a 26-point margin in the season finale.  

Weers was stellar as usual for Diller-Odell, dropping a game high 33 poiints – her third 30-plus point performance of the season – along with a handful of assists and steals, to pave the way. Duis and Vilda scored seven apiece in an all-around effort; Taylin Schluter paced the Bobcats with nine points.  

 

BOYS BASKETBALL: EMF (20-3) defeats Diller-Odell (11-10) 73-38 

The only team to defeat EMF this year has been D1 powerhouse Johnson-Brock – and the Eagles got the Bobcats three times this year as part of their 56-game win streak that ended earlier this week. But EMF has defeated everyone else they’ve played so far, and they’ve dominated in a lot of those game – and this was just another step in a path towards the postseason for an EMF program that’s produced a historic season in its second year together. 

Trailing 31-9 early in the second quarter, Diller-Odell put together a great run to end the first half, scoring 12 of the final 14 points to halve the defict and go into halftime down 33-21. But the Bobcats regrouped during the break and came out firing – they hit three straight threes to open the half, and that opened the floodgates. EMF then scored the final 13 of the third to put the score out of reach and coasted to a 35-point win in both teams’ penultimate game of the season.  

14 players saw the floor for EMF in this contest, and 13 of them scored at least two points, headlined by Grady Bresson, the team’s leading scorer for the season who also led all players with 20 points; five other Bobcats scored six, seven or eight. Xavier Zaboktrsky paced Diller-Odell with 12 while Cooper Morgan had 11 in another strong all-around outing.  

 

UP NEXT: The Diller-Odell girls are the #1 seed in their own subdistrict and will begin play next Tuesday, February 18 

The EMF girls are the #2 seed in the subdistrict hosted by High Plains and will begin play next Tuesday, February 18 

Diller-Odell boys @ Weeping Water / EMF boys vs. Cross County next Friday, February 21 

 

NEXT ON OL RED: To be determined following the conclusion of coverage of wrestling state championships