KEARNEY – The Kearney High Bearcats shocked the No. 8 rated Lincoln Southwest Silverhawks with a stunning 59-58 win that turned into a classic at Kearney High School Saturday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast.
Kearney seemed lifeless in their trip to Lincoln the previous night, falling to Lincoln Pius X 74-26 without the help of injured starter Kaden Miller. Having less than 24 hours to respond from the loss, head coach Drake Beranek wanted his team to completely forget the experience in Lincoln to focus on their upcoming matchup at home.
The Bearcats quickly moved on and started off trading blows with the Silverhawks as Kearney opened up the contest with a 9-0 led by three-pointer after three-pointer knocking down shots from Jack Mundorf, Will Vanderbeek, and a three point play by Parker Wise. Southwest would not fall early however, as Ben Hunzeker quickly followed the first score by the Silverhawks with four more points added at the charity stripe. Aided by two Chuck Love three pointers, Kearney fell into a 12-11 deficit to end the first quarter.
The Bearcats did not toy with their opponent in the second quarter – ripping off 22 points and stalling Lincoln Southwest to only 11. Vanderbeek erupted for 8 points in the quarter and Jack Dahlgren returned to his scoring ways after being held scoreless the previous 5 quarters of action dating back to the prior Saturday at Papillion-LaVista South. Dahlgren added 7 points in the quarter. Ben Johnson began to feel his shot coming as well, drilling a deep right-wing three pointer as Kearney led 33-23 entering halftime.
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The lead stayed with Kearney throughout the third quarter, but Lincoln Southwest crawled their way back from their double-digit deficit. Fouls piled up on both sides, but shooting opportunities quickly became apparent for Kearney. The Bearcats knocked down a triple from Parker Wise and another from Johnson, but steady runs from Hunzeker and Bhan Buom for Southwest kept the Silverhawks in the contest. At the end of the third, Kearney held a lead 46-40.
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The final eight minutes of play may have caused heart palpitations for Bearcat fans as Kearney never earned a score outside of the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Lincoln Southwest bullied their way inside but Buom finding eight additional points while Hunzeker contributed another five including a crucial and-one opportunity that resulted in a foul-out against Parker Wise. The Bearcats struggled with key players holding four fouls, as both Wise and Vanderbeek would be removed from the contest picking up their final personals.
In the final moments, tied at 58, Chuck Love fouled Jack Mundorf with only 1.1 seconds remaining. At the line for a double-bonus opportunity, the Kearney senior (who was a perfect 23-23 on the season from the free-throw line) stepped to the charity stripe. After knocking down the first free throw up 59-58, Mundorf gave up the perfect free-throw record to win the game for Kearney as an expert snipe of the front-iron miss did not allow Lincoln Southwest to find a better shot selection and instead had to fire a 75 footer that missed by mere inches, giving Kearney their seventh win on the year.
The Bearcats improve to 7-7 on the year and face a busy week of action traveling to Omaha Northwest on Tuesday, followed by a trip to North Platte on Thursday then back at home on Friday night against Lincoln High. Kearney had contributions from Vanderbeek with 14, Wise and Dahlgren had 13 each, Mundorf finished with 8, Johnson also had 8, Kaden Miller finished with 2, and Karter Lee had 1 point.
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Listen to Kearney Head Coach Drake Beranek’s thoughts after the win over Lincoln Southwest:
