By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

Junior Sam Carstens led the Islanders (16-4) with 23 points, but coach Dave Oman wanted to talk about his seniors on this night.

"Our seniors have had a great year up to this point," Oman said. "Slade Bolles and Pete Kropp have done a great job bringing the ball up the floor. Mike Lorenz had done a great job off the bench.

"Kash (Kalkowski) has played well all year. Jory Crouch has had a great year. Kyle Ludwig has come back from being injured. He's played pretty well the last two or three games and Jordan Pearson has been a great addition to our team."

Crouch had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Oman was certainly happy to see Crouch hit the boards hard.

"We've been after him to rebound so it's good to see him doing that," Oman said.

The Islanders jumped out to a 16-2 lead at the end of the first quarter against the Discoverers (4-16) as Lorenz came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers early on.

While Grand Island made 7 of 14 shots from the field in the opening quarter, the Discovers were going 1 for 8.

"I thought they shot really poorly," Oman said. "They didn't make a free throw. They made one bucket. They just didn't shoot very well the first half.

"I didn't think we were playing very well the first quarter, but yet we were up 16-2. Then we came out the second quarter and they outscore us 13-7."

The Discoverers battled back and got to within 45-37 with 5 minutes, 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they would get.

The Islanders spread the floor late and made 11 of their 12 attempts from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

"We shot free throws really well in the fourth quarter," Oman said. "We were 11-for-12.

"That was probably the difference in the game a good start and a good finish from the free-throw line."

Junior Kurt Farmer led Columbus with 14 points. Oman said the Discoverers battled hard to get back into the game.

"Columbus has some good shooters and good penetrators," Oman said. "We were concerned about that."

The Islanders are now off until they begin Class A, District 7 play against North Platte on Feb. 23 at Hastings High School.

"I want to congratulate our seniors on the regular season they've had," Oman said.

"They've been a great bunch. They've worked hard all year. I just think they need to be commended on that."

GRAND ISLAND 59, COLUMBUS 42

COLUMBUS (4-15)

Bouc 0-1 0-0 0, Groteluschen 2-6 4-6 8, Farmer 5-10 3-6 14, Grutsch 0-0 0-0 0, Cleary 3-14 0-0 8, Johnson 4-5 0-0 8, Beierman 0-0 0-0 0, Blatchford 0-1 0-0 0, Heier 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-5 0-2 0, Jarosz 0-1 2-2 2, Otten 1-3 0-1 2, Neil 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 9-17 42.

GRAND ISLAND (16-4)

Crouch 5-11 1-3 11, Bolles 0-1 4-4 4, Carstens 8-13 6-8 23, Kalkowski 1-1 1-2 3, Kropp 1-3 0-0 2, Ayoub 0-0 0-0 0, Scheuler 0-0 0-0 0, Lorenz 3-5 2-2 10, Pearson 1-1 0-0 2, Jeffries 0-0 0-0 0, Ludwig 2-2 0-0 4, McCarty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 9-17 59.

Columbus 2 13 17 1042

Grand Island 16 7 19 1759

3-Point goals Columbus 3-18 (Cleary 2-11, Farmer 1-3, Otten 0-1, Blatchford 0-1, Bouc 0-1, Thomas 0-1). Grand Island 3-10 (Lorenz 2-3, Carstens 1-5, Kalkowski 0-1, Crouch 0-1). Fouled out None. Rebounds Columbus 26 (Farmer 5). Grand Island 34 (Crouch 10). Turnovers Columbus 10, Grand Island 16. Total fouls Columbus 17, Grand Island 12. Technicals None.