The Lincoln Southwest varsity basketball team fell to Grand Island High School 70-57 on Sat. January, 11, 2020 at Lincoln Southwest.

Beside this disappointing loss for the Silverhawks, sophomore forward Grant Mielak had a career night with 15 points which included 5 threes.

“I think I knew that Grand Island was a good opponent… so before the game I made sure I was focused in,” said Mielak on what he thought helped him perform so well. “I knew my teammates would help me out and give me the ball when I was open too.”

Southwest got off to a slow start in as they trailed the Islanders 19-11 going into the second quarter. However, the Hawks erupted for 26 points in the second quarter to head to half time with a 37-33 lead.

“We got a lot of stops defensively [in the second quarter],” said sophomore guard Ben Hunzeker, who also had a career high 13 points in the contest. “That really allowed us to get out in transition.”

Southwest failed to hold on to this lead as the Islanders, led by senior center, Them Koang with 29 points, pulled away from the Hawks in the third and fourth quarters to win 70-57.

“We let [Koang] get really good positioning in the post and he was really strong with the ball and finished really well,” said Hunzeker. “I think more consistent defense in the post will be key [to stop Koang in the future].”

Up next for the LSW varsity boys basketball team is an out of town match up against the 1-10 Fremont Tigers in at Fremont High School on Fri. January 17, 2020 at 7:45 p.m. The Hawks beat the Tigers earlier in the year 81-55 on Dec. 27, 2020.