The Velva High School boys’ basketball team traveled to Mohall Lansford Sherwood Public School Friday night, Jan. 9, to take on the Mavericks in an effort to maintain their winning record. Though the Aggies ended the first quarter of the game with the lead, the Mavericks’ offence was able to overwhelm them, and the Aggies dropped their game 67-83.

The first quarter showed a lot of promise for the Aggies. While the Mavericks scored the first points of the game, the Aggies were quickly able to follow up, with senior Reese Steffen scoring his first points of the game, giving the team a tie at 2-2. The Mavericks reclaimed their lead, but the Aggies took the lead for themselves at 7-4 when junior Wesley Nickelson made his first three-pointer of the game. The Aggies kept the lead through the rest of the first quarter, outsourcing the Mavericks 20-14 by the time the buzzer sounded.

The Mavericks came back into the second quarter with a vengeance.

The teams had a short back and forth before the Mavericks scored back to back threes, putting them within just two points of a tied game at 26-24. Velva fought hard to maintain their lead, but gave it up as the Mavericks took back control of the game.

The Aggies kept up the pressure and tried to work their way back up to a tie, getting as close as a single point behind the Mavericks at 35-36, but they were unsuccessful.

The Mavericks surged back ahead, ending the second quarter with the Aggies at a nine-point deficit at 35-44. The Mavericks flew way ahead in the second quarter, scoring 30 total points as compared to their 14 in the first quarter. Velva on the other hand, fell behind in their second-quarter scoring, earning just 15 additional points before the half ended. Senior Kason Larsen was the top scorer for the Aggies at halftime, earning the team 12 points on four made three-pointers. Senior Cooper Kittleson was runner-up with seven points at the time.

The Mavericks kept their momentum through the second half of the game. The third quarter started with senior Reese Steffen scoring his first points of the second half for the Aggies with a two-point shot.

The Aggies were once again back to a single digit deficit, but two back to back three-pointers by the Mavickers gave them their double-digit lead back.

The Mavericks continued to outscore the Aggies through the rest of the third quarter, totalling 22 made points as compared to the Aggies’ 16.

Kittleson kicked off the fourth quarter of the game when he earned his first two points since the first quarter.

hrough the rest of the fourth, the Mavericks stayed just out of reach of the Aggies’ offence, ending the game with an Aggie loss on the road at 67-83.

Reese Steffen ended the night as top scorer for the Aggies, totalling 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half of the game.

Junior Wesley Nickelson followed close behind with 16 total points on the night.

The Mavericks were led in points by junior Eli Undlin, who scored 30 points for the team over the course of all four quarters.

The Mavericks had 12 turnovers over the course of the game, while the Aggies allowed 16.

The Mavericks improved on their season record to 6-1 while the Aggies fell back to an even record at 3-3.

The Aggies are heading back home for their next game as they are scheduled to take on Westhope/Newburg on Tuesday, Jan. 13.