Linn (3-24) saw its men’s basketball season come to an end last Tuesday in a 63-29 loss to North Callaway at the Class 3, District 7 tournament at South Callaway.

“It was a tough loss to end the season on,” said Coach John Viehland. “North Callaway was a big and well-coached team. Our district was no joke, filled with great teams and great coaches.”

From the start, it was a lopsided score, as Linn trailed 25-7 after the first quarter and 38-11 at the break. The team shot 25% from the floor.

Gus Peters (trey) and Craig Laughlin led with seven points apiece, as Nash Tyree (trey) put in five, Dawson Sprenger and Jackson Hamburg (trey) posted three each, and Tony Peters and Cody Heckman finished with two apiece. G. Peters led with five assists.

Laughlin’s 10 rebounds set the tone for the Wildcats, as G. Peters grabbed four, Colton Leivian had three, T. Peters, Heckman, and Peters counted two each, and Hunter Bish and Preston Keilholz added one apiece.

On the defensive side, G. Peters claimed two steals, and Aaron Starke (block), C. Laughlin (block), Ian Laughlin, and Hamburg had one each.

Viehland is pleased with his team’s resilience throughout the year. “The seniors had a good season,” he said. “The record didn’t show it, but man, did they play hard every game. Tony and Gus led us until we got Craig back. It was great to get to see all three of them play together. We started slow, and it’s hard to come back when things just weren’t clicking the way we wanted. Our record didn’t show all the wins we had this season on  and off the court.”

An encouraging aspect is that the underclassmen gained experience for next year.