KEARNEY – The new-look Kearney Boys Basketball team responded with a gritty 61-53 win over Lincoln North Star at home on Friday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
After an inspiring win over the arch-rival Grand Island last Friday night, the Bearcats crashed back to earth on the proceeding night with a loss to Omaha South on the road. Added into the bitter defeat, Kearney lost key center Will Vanderbeek with an injury for the remainder of the season. As the Bearcats prepared for Lincoln North Star, a newly designed squad would be needed to continue Kearney’s success as they sat at 11-8 on the year.
A win would not come easy, as the past seven matchups dating back to 2018 between the Bearcats and Navigators had been determined by an average margin of victory of 7 points, including the prior season’s 55-53 overtime win by Kearney.
On their home court, the Bearcats started off hot with a triple connected by Kaden Miller after an opening bucket by North Star. In the opening six minutes of play, Kearney and North Star traded leads until Jack Mundorf connected on his second three-pointer of the quarter and extended Kearney’s lead 17-8. North Star was only able to add in two’s the entire first quarter.
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The Bearcats were only slightly outpaced in the second and third quarters as Kearney and North Star slowed the pace of play down significantly to focus on movement and inside post play. Jack Dahlgren began to get comfortable working inside as he added four points in the quarter, and freshman Ben Johnson – in his first career start – knocked down a triple of his own. The Bearcats held their 28-21 lead entering halftime.
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Kearney continued to weather the Navigator storm into the third quarter, as with every big shot made by the Bearcats, Lincoln North Star would react with a big make of their own. Miller and Mundorf added two three pointers combined, while Dahlgren gobbled up another four points. The Navigators Wesslund added five points in the third while Antallah Sindlin’el started his second half hot streak with two points in the third quarter. Kearney still held their advantage 43-38 entering the final quarter.
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The Bearcats continued their strong inside play while making the small plays that made the biggest difference. Dahlgren started the quarter four of four from the free-throw line, while North Star’s Sindlin’el quickly started scoring in droves. Inside or outside, Sindlin’el added 12 points in the fourth mostly playing with four fouls as well. His efforts weren’t enough however, as Karter Lee and Mundorf each had their own three pointer and the pace and lead were too much for North Star to overcome as Kearney won 61-53.
The Bearcats improve to 12-8 on the year and face Fremont on the road on Saturday. Kearney had contributions from Mundorf with 14, Dahlgren had 13, Miller ended with 10, Wise had 8 points, while Lee and Johnson finished with 7 each and Tristan Mailahn contributed two points.
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