A referee's whistle stopped play Monday night during a boys basketball exhibition game at Fort Calhoun High School.
Pioneers senior Travis Skelton looked like he heard it, but fired a 3-pointer up just after anyway, sinking the shot. Once second-period play resumed, though, he sunk another just like the first.
It was that kind of night for TJ O'Connor's team, which routed Oakland-Craig 64-38 in both squads' final warmup before the start of the regular season.
“It was good to see (Skelton) get going and make some shots,” the FCHS coach said. “I'm excited for him. I'm excited for Chase (Premer). Senior year is always special.”
FCHS was scheduled to open its year Thursday at Fremont Bergan and next competes 3:45 p.m. Saturday at Syracuse.
Junior Dylan Keyser, who scored nine points against the Knights on Monday, said it's the start of what the Pioneers hope is a campaign that ends with a deep postseason run.
“Every person would say that, I'd say,” he said. “We've just got to keep working toward it.”
A new season
Fort Calhoun made seven 3-pointers against Oakland-Craig with many more pull-up jump shots and makes inside the arc. It did so with, seemingly, a lot of confidence after last year's 18-5 season.
“I think a lot of people throw out, 'Oh, you've got to be confident,'” O'Connor said. “Well, you're going to have to earn the right to have confidence. You've got to put in the time.”
The Pioneers have taken and continue to take steps toward that.
“I think our guys have put in the time to have confidence and I hope they continue to have that throughout the year,” the coach said.
O'Connor's roster includes three returning starters and seven overall returning letter winners, who'll work to make up for last year's seniors' production.
“We're going to need multiple guys to step up on a lot of nights,” O'Connor said. “It might not be the same guy night in and night out.”
Keyser said the Pioneers' camaraderie will help them overcome such challenges.
“We're all close with each other,” he said. “We're all friends with each other.”
The 6-foot-2 center is a returning letter winner, while Adam Elofson, Skelton and Colby Bentley are Calhoun's returning starters. Skelton scored a team-best 16 points against Oakland-Craig on Monday, while Elofson had 11.
Returning letter winner Blake Welchert scored 14 points against the Knights, too, while Premer had eight and Eli Tinkham scored four. Sophomore Conner Hart made a 2-point bucket during the fourth period as well.
Skelton and Blake stood out for their efforts.
“I think those two bring great energy for us,” O'Connor said. “They're just real active players. They're active defensively and they just get after it.”
Welchert, the coach said, puts his head down and works hard. Skelton, meanwhile, has always been able to shoot, but he's grown and is physically in position to have a strong final season.
“Their points will stick out, but they just trigger a lot of stuff for us defensively,” O'Connor said. “They really bother other people's guards.”
The Pioneers aren't complete going into the season, though. While Arlington transfer Jaxson Burns can't play varsity minutes until the end of the year due to his school change, Bentley, Kade Foy, Colton Miles and Max Halford all missed Monday's exhibition due to injury. Some will be out longer than others.
“We have the potential to look a lot different toward the middle of the year and we'll just kind of see how that plays out,” O'Connor said.
“We just go harder in practice and make sure we do everything right,” Keyser added, giving the players' perspective on the situation. His coach certainly isn't making his team's health an excuse or an explanation for what's to come, though.
“We're going to take the guys that are healthy and we're going to roll,” O'Connor said. “If and when we get those other guys back, we'll find a way to get them involved and get them ready to go.”
Either way, more buckets are on the way.
FCHS BOYS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Monday
Fort Calhoun 64, Oakland-Craig 38
OC 11 6 7 14 — 38
FC 21 16 15 12 — 64
Scoring: FC — Travis Skelton 16, Blake Welchert 14, Adam Elofson 11, Dylan Keyser 9, Chase Premer 8, Eli Tinkham 4, Conner Hart 2.
OC — Braylon Anderson 10, Mason Pearson 9, Isaak Maxwell 7, Jeremiah Druckenmiller 3, Preston Rost 3, Dawson Meyer 2, Nolan Magnusson 2, Corbin Guill 2.
