BEARCAT BASKETBALL FALLS IN DOUBLEHEADER AT PIUS:
The Kearney High basketball teams traveled to Lincoln for Day 2 of the Heartland Athletic Conference tournament, but fell short in the doubleheader to Lincoln Pius X and concluded their tournament runs on Tuesday afternoon.
The #6 Kearney Girls had #3 Pius on the ropes, up 41-40 with less than 2 minutes to play, but a 7-0 run by the Thunderbolts ended the contest in favor of Pius.
The #6 Kearney Boys were tied after the first and second quarters with the Thunderbolts in a back-and-forth defensive struggle, but a dismal third quarter only allotted 4 points squandered any chance for an upset as Pius ran away with a 58-38 win.
Both Kearney teams are now off until Tuesday, January 3 as they await to travel to Garden City, Kansas to kick off the new year.
OTHER NOTABLE HAC SCORES/SCHEDULES:
BOYS:
Tuesday: (Higher seed hosts)
#1 Lincoln Southwest 68 – 59 #9 Grand Island
#4 Lincoln Northeast 57 – 43 #5 Lincoln Southeast
#3 Lincoln Pius X 58 – 38 #6 Kearney
#7 Lincoln North Star 54 – 42 #2 Lincoln East
Wednesday: (Games @ Lincoln Southeast)
#3 Lincoln Pius X v. #7 Lincoln North Star
#1 Lincoln Southwest v. #4 Lincoln Northeast
GIRLS:
Tuesday: (Higher seed hosts)
#1 Lincoln Southwest 40 – 9 #10 Columbus
#4 Fremont 60 – 47 #5 Lincoln Northeast
#3 Lincoln Pius X 47 – 41 #6 Kearney
#7 Lincoln East 42 – 40 #2 Lincoln High
Wednesday: (Games @ Lincoln High)
#3 Lincoln Pius X v. #7 Lincoln East
#1 Lincoln Southwest v. #4 Fremont
LEGENDARY COACH, BROADCASTER JOHN MADDEN DIES AT 85
John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach-turned-broadcaster whose exuberant calls combined with simple explanations provided a weekly soundtrack to NFL games for three decades, died Tuesday morning, the NFL said. He was 85.
The league said he died unexpectedly and did not detail a cause.
Madden gained fame in a decade-long stint as the coach of the renegade Oakland Raiders, making it to seven AFC title games and winning the Super Bowl following the 1976 season. He compiled a 103-32-7 regular-season record, and his .759 winning percentage is the best among NFL coaches with more than 100 games.
John Madden was also a pioneer in sports broadcasting, being one of the first and most popular broadcasters to champion the telestrator. Madden was also the key figure in the namesake and creation of the popular simulation football video game, Madden.
FORMER BEARCAT FOOTBALL STAR RETIRES FROM FOOTBALL:
Wyoming Cowboy left tackle and former Kearney High Bearcat football star Rudy Stofer has ended his playing career, as he announced on Twitter yesterday.
The reserve lineman for the Pokes was a key rotator for the offensive line this past season, and was second on the depth chart at the left tackle position. He also started one game in 2020 while starting 12 times in 2019 and seven in 2018.
Stofer was a First Team Super State honoree, and was also named to the All-State team for Class A in 2017. Stofer aided Kearney in their run to the 2017 Class A quarterfinals and an 8-3 finish that year. The former Bearcat was also the No. 10 overall rated prospect in Nebraska in 2017.
BOWL GAMES CONTINUED TO BE AFFECTED BY VIRUS; SCHEDULE TODAY:
As more bowl games continue to be affected by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, there are still plenty of fun games to watch for this week. So far, 5 bowl games have been outright cancelled due to COVID protocols. These include: Hawai’i Bowl, Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Arizona Bowl, and the Holiday Bowl.
Here is a list of bowl games for today:
Wednesday:
PINSTRIPE BOWL:
Virginia Tech v. Maryland – 2:15 PM on ESPN
CHEEZ-IT BOWL:
No. 19 Clemson v. Iowa State – 5:45 PM on ESPN
ALAMO BOWL:
No. 14 Oregon v. No. 16 Oklahoma – 9:15 PM on ESPN
NEBRASKA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SPORTS NIGHTLY COMMENTS:
WILLIAMS – HUSKERS BLOCKING OUTSIDE NOISE, REMAIN FOCUSED
The Nebraska Women’s Basketball continues its winning ways and is now the main focus of love and adoration from Husker faithful. Nebraska women’s basketball head coach Amy Williams joined Sports Nightly Tuesday night, and spoke on how her team is handling the praise…
The Husker women are currently undefeated at 12-0 but still outside of the Top 25 in the coaches poll; dropping from 27 last week to 29 this week.
WILLIAMS – HUSKERS FLATTERED BY COMPARISON
The Nebraska Women’s Basketball team is off to another 12-0 season to start this year, as the last time the Huskers’ did that was back in 2009-10 when the Huskers finished the regular season a perfect 30-0. Head Coach Amy Williams said it is too early to focus on those comparisons…
Williams and her Huskers are looking to continue their winning streak on Thursday taking on Michigan State.
NEBRASKA WOMEN AWAIT SPARTANS TO CLOSE OUT CALENDAR YEAR:
The Nebraska women’s basketball team resumes Big Ten play on Thursday when the Huskers travel to East Lansing to battle Michigan State.
Tip-off between the Huskers (12-0, 1-0 Big Ten) and the Spartans (7-6, 1-1 Big Ten) is set for 2 p.m. (CT) at the Breslin Center
The Huskers are coming off one of the best non-conference slates in school history, as the Big Red went 11-0 against non-league foes while adding a 70-67 Big Ten-opening win at Minnesota (Dec. 6).
Nebraska is one of just five remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I women’s basketball, joining South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona and Colorado. NU is No. 7 in the NET rankings (Dec. 23).
HUSKER FOOTBALL PAYNE: “HUSKERS NEVER WANTED ME TO LEAVE”:
Nebraska Football outside linebacker Pheldarius Payne entered the transfer portal earlier this off-season to explore his playing options outside of the Huskers. After only a few weeks, Payne re-joined the Huskers program. The senior said it was never awkward being brought back into the fold…
Payne was hosted on Sean Callahan’s HuskerOnline chat. Payne started the 2021 season hot with 2 sacks against Illinois to start the season opener.
AMY WILLIAMS NAMED COACH OF THE WEEK:
The Nebraska women’s basketball team is finally getting some national attention for all the hard work they have done on the hardwood. More importantly, head coach Amy Williams is the one this time around with the ESPN National Coach of the Week honors.
Amy has guided the Huskers to a 12-0 start and are sitting on the precipice of being ranked in the top 25. Their most recent victory was a 72-61 game against Wyoming last Wednesday.
This is Amy’s sixth season at Nebraska as head coach. She was also a player for the Huskers from 1994 to 1998. She is 84-75 all-time as the Huskers head coach.
The last time the Huskers made the NCAA Tournament was back in 2017
HUSKERS’ STEWART EARNS BIG TEN HONOR:
Nebraska’s Annika Stewart earned the first Big Ten honor of her career when she was named to the conference’s weekly honor roll (Dec. 27) for her career performance in a win over Wyoming to close non-conference play.
Stewart, a 6-3 forward/center from Minneapolis, erupted for a career-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting in just 15 minutes of action off the bench to help Nebraska complete an unbeaten regular-season non-conference schedule against Wyoming. Stewart hit 3-of-7 three-pointers and recorded a career-high three blocked shots in the win over the defending Mountain West Conference champion Cowgirls.
For the season, the second-year Husker is averaging 7.2 points and 2.6 rebounds while hitting 54.2 percent of her shots from the field, including 41.4 percent (12-29) of her three-pointers.
HUSKERS OFFER FLORIDA STATE PORTAL QUARTERBACK:
On Monday Nebraska officially offered Florida State’s Chubba Purdy. New Husker offensive coordinator Mark Whipple conducted an in-home visit with Purdy less than 24 hours before he resigned at Pittsburgh on Dec. 7.
Purdy also visited Pitt the weekend of Dec. 11, but the Panthers took a commitment from USC transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis on Dec. 21.
Purdy also made it known he obviously would like to have his decision made in time to enroll at his new school for the start of the second semester.
Purdy would technically be able to visit NU as early as Jan. 14 when the recruiting dead period ends. Classes resume back on Jan. 18 in Lincoln. Purdy is the younger brother of Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: HAC TOURNAMENT (Day 2)
- #6 KHS @ #3 Lincoln Pius X
- #3 Pius 47-41
- #6 KHS @ #3 Lincoln Pius X
- BOYS BASKETBALL: HAC TOURNAMENT (Day 2)
- #6 KHS @ #3 Lincoln Pius X
- #3 Pius 58-38
- #6 KHS @ #3 Lincoln Pius X
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: HAC TOURNAMENT (Day 2)
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: KCHS Holiday Tournament
- BOYS BASKETBALL: KCHS Holiday Tournament
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: KCHS Holiday Tournament
- BOYS BASKETBALL: KCHS Holiday Tournament
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- MENS BASKETBALL: v. Graceland @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 5 PM
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Rogers State – 1:30 PM
- MENS BASKETBALL: @ Rogers State, 3:30 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. No. 23 Briar Cliff @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 2 PM
- MENS BASKETBALL: v. Briar Cliff @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 3:45 PM
