KEARNEY – The Kearney girls could not keep their offensive rhythm going in the second half, falling to a talented Lincoln Southwest squad 61-42 on Saturday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney entered the contest at 9-5 on the season having fell to Lincoln Pius X on Friday night. Looking to get back to their winning ways, the Bearcats returned home where they held a 2-3 mark compared to their 7-2 record away from Kearney High School.
Kearney and Lincoln Southwest began the contest trading blows offensively and starting a shootout. Southwest had a big quarter from Brinly Christiansen who erupted for an early ten points. Scoring started with Aniya Seymore knocking down a triple to open the contest, but Kearney kept their cool and followed with a three pointer from Kierstynn Garner. Another triple later in the quarter came from Maddy Province, and added a lay-in as well. More explosive plays continued as Freddie Wallace added jumpers for four points, and Trumyne Lee knocked down a triple for Southwest. Kearney did add points from Haidyn Skeen and Kaleigh Hatcher as well, but trailed 24-12 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was owned by Kearney after the Bearcats went on an 11-7 run. Garner added another three pointer while Tatum Rusher had her first score of the day from a triple as well. Hatcher included another two points, but Southwest’s Wallace included another four points to keep Southwest in the lead. Lincoln Southwest had the advantage 31-23 entering halftime.
The Bearcats second half fell short starting in the third quarter as the Silverhawks erupted for a 19-6 run that put the game out of reach. Starting the third with Christiansen back on her run adding a three pointer, four other Silverhawks added scores to blow past Kearney. The fourth quarter was out of reach and Kearney was unable to find their momentum to get back to arms length, as the Bearcats fell 61-42.
Kearney falls to 9-6 on the season and has now lost their first back-to-back games on the season so far. The Bearcats had contributions from Kaleigh Hatcher with 11 points, Province finished with 10, Rusher and Garner each added 7, Kennidy Garner had 3, Skeen ended with 3, and Kiara Dutenhoffer added 1.
The Bearcats travel to North Platte on Thursday to take on the Bulldogs.
