NORFOLK – The Kearney girls basketball team held the Norfolk Panthers to single digits scored in the second, third, and fourth quarters as the Bearcats earned their third win on the season after a 41-29 road victory on Friday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast.
Kearney entered at 2-2 on the year looking to break from their .500 mark on the season. After back-to-back weekends in split games, the Bearcats traveled to Norfolk to take on the winless Panthers. Kearney had not won in Norfolk since December of 2018.
KGFW Sports
The Bearcats were off to a hot start to kick-off the game: senior Kierstynn Garner knocked down a three pointer in the opening minute, followed by a string of shots including another triple from Haidyn Skeen, Tatum Rusher adding two, and Maddy Province adding another lay-in to make the Kearney lead 10-0. Norfolk roared back, scoring 13 unanswered and taking the first quarter lead 13-10.
Kearney never allowed more than 7 points in a quarter the rest of the contest, as the Bearcats forced bad shots and created turnovers the rest of the evening. Meanwhile on the offensive end, Kearney had another three pointer land from sophomore Kennidy Garner and Province found more work in the middle with four added points. Likewise, Rusher continued to work for added shots connecting and converting on a three-point play. Kearney led 24-20 at the end of the first half.
KGFW Sports
Despite the small lead, Kearney never wavered in the second half. The Bearcats outscored Norfolk 10-4 and 7-5 in the final 16 minutes of play. Kearney only allowed five Panthers to score, with only Erin Schwanebeck hitting double digits. Schwanebeck started the second half with a runner, but was stopped the rest of the quarter and was flushed out defensively by the multiple scorers of Kearney. Kennidy Garner added another three pointer, while senior Kaleigh Hatcher added four points on back-to-back scores in the quarter. The Bearcats led 34-24 at the end of the third.
The fourth quarter slowed the pace significantly, as Kearney elected to work for passing and clock-controlling maneuvers to great success. One possession took nearly two minutes of game time, and the Panthers could not stop the Bearcats from taking the air out of the ball as the Bearcats won 41-29 on the road.
Kearney improves to 3-2 on the season and will face Columbus on the road Saturday afternoon. Pregame coverage begins on KGFW at 3:30 PM. Kearney had contributions from Kierstynn Garner with 11 points, 8 points came from Province, 6 each by Hatcher, Rusher, and Kennidy Garner, 3 points tallied by Skeen, and Harley Straka having 1.
