Clippers win holiday trophy

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Posing for a championship photo has been a rare occurrence. In the more than 25-year history of the Malcolm Boosters Holiday Tournament, the Malcolm boys walking off the court as victors has happened just a few times. A pair of victories in the Dec. 27-28 event earned that photo for the Clippers.

After a Preston Kucera three-pointer on Malcolm’s final possession secured a 52-50 game one win, handing Centennial its first loss of the season, the Clippers held on for a 42-38 victory in the title game over a physical group from Grand Island Northwest.

“When you look at the quality of teams, we might have been considered the number four seed in the tournament,” Malcolm Coach Chris Lewandowski said about a field that also included previously unbeaten and ninth-ranked Oakland-Craig. “To win it against competition like that was wonderful for our guys.”

Kucera had the hot hand in the second half against the Broncos. The sophomore nailed three from long-range in the third quarter before Carson Frank found him in the corner for the game winner.

“The play was drawn up as an isolation for Carson to take the last shot,” Lewandowski said. “But, we preach, ‘trust your teammates.’ They double or triple-teamed Carson, so he kicked it out to Preston and trusted him to deliver.”

The Clippers only led twice in the contest – after the opening possession and after the final shot.

Centennial’s Devin Slawnyk led all scorers with 21. For Malcolm, Kucera had 18 points while Frank added 15. The same duo accounted for all but eight of Malcolm’s points the next night as Frank scored 22 while Kucera had 12.

Malcolm was scheduled to host Louisville on Jan. 4. The games were postponed due to a predicted winter storm.

The Clippers (6-2) host Milford (2-5) Thursday, Jan. 9.

“That’s a team that I’m certain is better than their record indicates,” Lewandowski said. “Their length will present some difficult matchups for us.”

After opening with a 54-31 defeat of Centennial, the Malcolm girls faltered in the championship game as Class C2 No. 2 Oakland-Craig remained unbeaten with a 62-56 win.

“Coming off the Christmas break and no practice, I thought we played pretty well the first night,” Malcolm Co-head Coach Troy Pritchett said. “We got kind of undisciplined on defense in the third quarter. Other than that, I was pleased.”

Payton Dolliver led Malcolm with 19 against the Broncos while Baylor Bratrsovsky added 16. Meryl Paul scored 10.

Oakland-Craig’s full court pressure was a bit too much to handle in the title game. After Malcolm took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, the Knights turned up the heat on defense, forcing multiple turnovers and converting them into points. Four O-C three-pointers down the stretch opened up a lead too great to overcome.

“We let their press get to us and we panicked a little bit,” Pritchett said. “A turnover or two will happen against good teams like that. But you can’t panic.”

Malcolm (5-3) will face more tough challenges this week as they host No. 4 Milford (7-1) on Thursday, Jan. 9, before traveling to Kearney on Saturday, Jan. 11, for the Nebraska High School Girls’ Basketball Showcase for a matchup with Class D1 No. 1 Pender (10-0). The Pendragons are two-time defending state champions.

“It would’ve been nice to get that game in against Louisville,” Pritchett said. “A two-week layoff between games isn’t ideal. Especially with the kind of teams we’re about to face.

“We’ll need to take care of the ball to stay in these games. But, we’re not too far off from being a really good team.”