Osage ‘a different team’ against Newman
By Kristi Nixon
OSAGE — Playing Mason City Newman in its first game of the season probably wasn’t the best thing for the Osage boys’ basketball team.
That game, a big loss against the Knights, ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press last week, propelled the Green Devils forward to the rematch on Tuesday, Jan. 11 in which they nabbed a 79-65 victory.
Coach Mike Brahn knows his team is so much better than it was the first time around.
“We’ve got guys who have really stepped up in roles, some of the bench guys,” Brahn said. “Madden Uhlenhopp and Luke Scharper off the bench. We didn’t go real deep tonight, but with the guys who did come off the bench tonight, they played some huge minutes for us and gave us some big rebounds and some big shots and things early in the season we just weren’t ready for yet.”
The Green Devils led from start to finish and had a 16-5 lead in the first quarter at one point.
“Obviously, from the opening tip the guys looked absolutely locked in,” Brahn said. “This is one we’ve had on the calendar since the start of the year when we went over there and got beat real bad.
“At the same time, we realize we have to take care of business every night now or it doesn’t mean anything if we win this game here.”
The full story appears in the Jan. 19 print edition of the Enterprise Journal
