Softball team takes top spot in 2021’s top 10

What a year. 
We covered games from Omaha to Scottsbluff in 2021, doing so with plenty of high stakes moments big enough to lose your backwards hat. 
I thought it would be fun to keep track of how many games I went to in 2021, but after one week I lost count. 
My wife would say it was too many, but I’m still kicking myself over missing a few. 
Here are your top 10 games from 2021:
1. Lady Huskies upend York to win subdistrict finals
This one may be a bit of a surprise. Heck, I surprised myself picking a non-football game in the top spot. 
But this game had everything. 
Drama, a season on the line and the weight of the game hanging on every pitch. The moment wasn’t too big for Aurora. 
A clutch sequence gave Aurora the lead in the sixth and a tense seventh helped Aurora hang on to defeat York 7-6 and win the B-7 subdistrict title on their home diamond. With the win, Aurora advances to its first district title matchup in school history given the new district final process. 
Freshman Adi Fahrnbruch drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth before Taryn McKinney’s all-important insurance run. 
That’s because York hit a solo homer in the last ditch effort of the seventh, making it 7-6. After allowing a walk to the next batter, McKinney recorded a ground out and fly out to end the game and the hometown celebration ensued. 
2. Huskies rally past Skutt for return trip to finals
Aurora probably shouldn’t have won this game, but that’s why they play them all the way out. 
The Huskies rallied from 10 down to defeat Omaha Skutt 21-17 in the Class B semifinals, making its second consecutive state finals appearance and fourth overall since 2015. 
With Skutt up 10 early in the third after scoring again out of the half, Aurora drove down field but was stopped in the red zone. 
After that, Aurora scored for the first time in the fourth quarter on the back of Carlos Collazo before the biggest play of Preston Ramaekers’ football life. Ramaekers ran a drag route over the middle and once he turned upfield, the lane was clear. 
The Aurora senior and first-year football player wouldn’t be denied at the goal line as his 19-yard touchdown put Aurora out front, 21-17 with three minutes left. 
The Huskies still had to survive two other Skutt drives at the end, but the defense stood tall in another November classic. 
3. Lady Huskies beat Crete in OT
There’s nothing quite like watching overtime soccer. There’s a certain pressure that exists not really replicated in other sports. 
Aurora’s 1-0 overtime win against Crete at home last spring is a good example. 
The Lady Huskies had a plethora of scoring opportunities, but just never converted. 
Hutsell sent one off the post before nearly converting on a free kick, sending a crosser to Delaney Nachtigal that just missed at the 69th minute. 
With just two minutes left in regulation, Crete sent one past Jones in goal, though an offsides call wiped the goal off the board, sending the game to overtime. 
It wasn’t until the second 10-minute overtime session that the game changed. 
Aurora kicked the ball around in the box for a tense 20 seconds or so before Kennedy Smith got a good swing that found the back of the net and broke the tie with just a couple minutes left. 
4. Lady Huskies take down the Dukes in five
The Aurora volleyball team found themselves in a ton of high pressure situations this fall, several of which led to five-set matches. 
Aurora trailed 2-1 in this match when Lexi Jones absolutely took over. 
The Lady Huskies rallied to win the fourth and would not be denied in the fifth, defeating the Dukes in five, 25-17, 17-25, 27-29, 25-20 and 15-6.
Heading into the fifth and deciding set, Aurora coach Lois Hixson knew Aurora was in the position it wanted to be. Now, they just had to take it. 
They took it all right. 
5. Hampton holds off East Butler rally
I still haven’t quite figured out how Hampton won this one and I’m not sure coach Margo LaBrie has either. 
The Lady Hawks had no answer for East Butler’s full-court pressure a few weeks ago. Not only that, but the Tigers did some serious damage in the fourth quarter. 
The Tigers scored 28 points and completely erased a 13-point deficit. 
Despite losing that fourth-quarter lead, Hampton made a few big plays down the stretch to pick up a 58-57 win over the Tigers.
Hampton missed a pair of free throws up one with 15 seconds left and had to survive one final possession. 
The Tigers dribbled to the corner before passing back out near the top of the key for a three-point look that was no good at the horn. 
6. Knust goes perfect at the line in upset
Our reigning, defending athlete of the year showed time and again why she won that award. Cassidy Knust was a different breed. 
She proved once again to have ice water pumping through her veins with her impressive statline in an overtime win against Waverly last winter. 
Knust had a game-high 22 points, including a perfect 15 of 15 from the free throw line in the Lady Huskies’ 56-52 overtime win at home over Waverly. 
It bears repeating. Cassidy made 15 consecutive free throws. She didn’t miss one all game. 
I couldn’t make 15 consecutive granny underhand free throws. 
Many of those foul shots were in the fourth quarter and overtime, the most pressure-packed of all situations!
Aurora was up one in the overtime session before Wavery had to send Knust to the line, making several free throws in the clutch to win it. 
7. Huskies fall to eventual state champs in district finals
Aurora’s loss to Beatrice last March in the district finals had a finality to it for a few reasons. 
It marked the end of the season, but it was also the last game coached by Rick Bell, a former basketball coach of mine. 
I hope I haven’t hurt your legacy too much, Rick. 
Beatrice held off a pair of game-tying shots from Aurora in the final seconds as the Orangemen moved past the Huskies 39-36 in the O-Zone.
Beatrice went on to win the Class B state tournament a week later in what some believed to be a bit of a surprise. 
Instead of waiting for the last shot, Aurora stayed aggressive and even passed up a game-tying three as Collazo made a shot down low, cutting the Beatrice lead to 37-36 with 24 seconds left. 
This time, though, Beatrice was able to make both foul shots to extend its lead to 39-36 as Aurora was once again faced with a last-second shot. 
The Huskies moved the ball to Tate Nachtigal over on the right after a dribble-drive from our other defending athlete of the year, Jameson Herzberg. 
Nachtigal’s shot bounced wide, but a total effort play from Mitchell Pachta tipped the ball backward to Herzberg, who had enough time for a NBA three. Unfortunately for Aurora, that shot sailed long too as the final horn sounded.
8. Crazy Collazo does it again
People close to Aurora have known the name Carlos Collazo for awhile. After this past football season, everyone else does, too. 
The Aurora junior ran through and past Scottsbluff’s defense, tying Aurora’s single-game school record for rushing yards with 285 on 29 carries and four touchdowns as Aurora defeated Scottsbluff 34-14 in the Class B quarterfinals. 
The game wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the final score and the game included one of the greatest single high school football plays I’ve seen. 
Aurora’s offensive line parted up the middle and Collazo quickly gained 13 yards before contact. 
Two Bearcat defenders missed from behind while Collazo ran through a third and hit paydirt just before a final stiff arm at the goal line. The 33-yard score sent the momentum flooding back to the home sideline and broke a 14-all tie. 
9. Wilson’s heroic efforts not enough against High Plains
I don’t make fun of her when I say this, but the shots Addison Wilson took late against High Plains in the opening week of the season were just plain wild. 
Even Giltner coach Nancy Lockmon didn’t understand the physics behind it!
The Lady Hornets trailed High Plains by seven with a minute left, only to come within one point by the end as the Lady Storm held on to defeat Giltner in its own gym 36-35. 
Wilson hit her second miracle three-pointer with 10 seconds left to cut HPC’s lead to 36-35.
However, Giltner was out of timeouts and unable to stop the running clock, which was now ticking inside 10 seconds. 
The ball was launched forward and skipped along the ground without either team possessing it as the final seconds ticked away and the Storm held on for the one-point victory. 
Pure chaos. 
10. Lady Huskies outlast GINW in five
Like I said, Aurora found themselves in a lot of stressful situations. A five-set match at Northwest definitely qualifies. 
It was another classic Aurora-Northwest dual with back and forth action and huge momentum swings. With a big hand from Lexi Jones, Aurora outlasted GINW in five, 25-21, 23-21, 25-23, 15-25 and 15-11 Sept. 21. 
GINW made a final push, but Jones put the final stamp on with her 25th attack of the night as the Lady Huskies picked up a solid road win.
We also need to recognize our state champions from the 2021 calendar year, which includes two wrestlers and a track star. 
Caden Svoboda and Trevor Kluck became Aurora’s first two individual state champions on the mat in nearly a decade with their wins at Omaha in February. 
It was a long time coming for those two, who were so close their first three years and to see them win it as seniors was special. 
There was also Gage Griffith at Burke in May, winning gold in both the shot put and discus events. 
Nothing says he won’t do the same once the ground thaws. 
Here’s to another solid list of thrillers to come in 2022. See everyone on the sidelines -- backwards hat and all.  

RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.