Cats post wins, move to 2-2

After four games the Superior Bobcats are starting to find out their identity as a basketball team, and after last weekend they should like what they see.

The Bobcats went 2-0 last week, with a 78-54 victory over St. Regis at home Friday and a 54-38 road win against Troy Saturday.

"We really came together as a team last week," said Superior coach Dan Lucier. "We're starting to figure out who we are and what we do well."

What Superior did well against St. Regis was pressure the ball. Superior's persistent defensive pressure created 18 steals for the Bobcats, with Bajin Smith leading the way with four. Lucier said he likes his team to be "terrors on defense" and thinks his team is moving in that direction.

"We like to be relentless," he said.

St. Regis got off to a good start and only went into the half trailing Superior by seven points before succumbing to pressure from the Bobcats in the second half. Superior's defense seemed to wear on the Tigers in the third quarter and they started to make sloppy mistakes. Superior used these mistakes to fuel a 26-to-12 quarter, putting the game out of reach for the Tigers.

As good as Superior's defense was in the game, they couldn't stop Tiger senior Nate Cantrell-Field. Cantrell-Field finished the game with 29 points, which included two three-pointers and nine-for-11 shooting from the foul line. Cantrell-Field has led the Tigers in scoring every game this year and has scored at least 20 points in the last three games.

Superior used a balanced offensive attack and had four players finish in double digits. Senior guard David Repke had two three-pointers and led the Bobcats with 14 points. Repke also had four assists and three steals. Tyler Stenberg put in 13 points for the Bobcats and had nine rebounds, six of which were on offense. Drew Walen finished with 12 points and eight boards and Wesley Yarnall had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Jordan Kinney went five-for-five on free throws and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers. Patrick Quinlivan finished tied for the team-high for rebounds with nine and also had four points. Jon Kelley pulled down eight rebounds and put up two points and Zane Worrall finished with four points.

Superior took an early lead in Troy and never looked back. The Bobcats took a 27-21 lead into half time and outscored Troy 27-17 in the second half for a 54-38 victory. Superior was led by Repke, who finished with 16 points and five steals. Stenberg put in 14 points and finished tied with Brian Labbe for the team-high in rebounds with eight. Labbe also had nine points. Travis Stroot had seven points and three assists.

The two victories improve the Bobcats' record to 2-2 and 1-0 in conference play. Superior's next two games will be on the road. They play Two Eagle Thursday and Plains Friday. St. Regis dropped to 0-4 on the year. The Tigers travel to Lincoln to take on the Lynx Thursday.