The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

Peetz's Bulldog Boy's Basketball team has had a rough go so far in the season, and have dropped three of their last four contests.

On January 12, the boys traveled to Anton to face off against Arickaree, and the Indians started strong on their way to a 27-to-11 halftime lead.

Peetz had a strong second half, putting up 11 points in the third quarter and 14 points in the fourth, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit, and fell by a score of 40-to-36. Sophomore Noah Naegele led the scoring with 14 points and sophomore Aiden Hill added 10 points in the loss.

On January 18, the Bulldogs traveled to Julesburg for a match up with Sedgwick County, and the Cougars came out hot and put up 17 points against Peetz's two points in the first period. Peetz settled in and started to score in the second period, and narrowed the gap a bit, going into the halftime down 33-to-17. A tight third quarter kept the Bulldogs in the game, which was followed by another close fourth quarter. However, the Bulldogs could not overcome Sedgwick County's first period scoring burst and fell by a final of 57-to-39. Hill led the scoring with 12 points while Naegele added 10 points in the loss.

Last Thursday the Bulldogs hosted Weldon Valley and started the game strong, with the offense putting up 12 points in the first period while the defense stymied the Warriors and held them to just four points. The second period was more competitive, with each team scoring 11 points, giving the Bulldogs a 23-to-15 lead at the half.

The defenses dominated in the second half, with both teams scoring in the single digits for each period, and the Bulldogs were able to come away with a 41-to-28 win on the strength of their first quarter scoring. Hill and Naegele again led the scoring with 12 and 10 points each.

Peetz matched up against Lone Star for the second time in the season last Friday, and the evenly matched teams struggled to score as the defenses dominated play. Lone Star held a 15-to-13 advantage at the half, then extended the lead by four with a 10-to-6 third period. Peetz furiously tried to come back in the fourth quarter, but fell short and Lone Star took the victory by a final of 35-to-31.

The Bulldogs are 2-and-8 on the season and travel to New Raymer on Friday to face the Prairie Mustangs.