KEARNEY – The Bearcats boys basketball team rocked their traditional black uniforms, styling their way to a bruising win over Papillion-LaVista on Thursday night with a 71-55 victory. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney entered the contest at 3-1 on the year having rattled off three consecutive wins after falling in their opening game of the season to Creighton Prep. The Bearcats were riding high with strong offensive performances and looked to continue their dominance at home.
Papillion-LaVista entered the year in a new transition as head coach Will Pope took over the reins in his first season, as the Monarchs came to Kearney rocking a 1-3 start to the year.
KHS BBB
Kearney had fallen to a 4-0 hole in each contest to start the season, but was quick to keep the game in reach early as the Monarchs earned a brief advantage prior to a Ben Johnson three-pointer to gain Kearney’s first lead at 7-6 with 4:41 remaining in the first. Asher Endorf opened the first four points of the game, but the first quarter was owned by Jack Dahlgren with his eight points. Karter Lee added his own three pointer and the Bearcats owned a first quarter lead 18-10.
KHS BBB
Treyven Beckman owned downtown in the second quarter, knocking in three consecutive triples to pour open the lead for the Bearcats. Papillion-LaVista’s Garin Maley answered the bell more often than not, coming off the bench to score eight points in underneath post play. The Monarchs were outgunned in the second 18-11 however, as the Bearcats three-point barrage opened up inside cuts for Karter Lee and Endorf, adding four and three respectively. Bearcats led at halftime up 36-19.
Entering the second half, Kearney continued to control the pace of the game and never allowed the Monarchs to get within 12 points or less, as the third quarter was more of a back-and-forth affair. Each team scored 21 points, but Kearney answered every time that Papillion-LaVista cut the deficit down. The Monarchs continued to feed Maley as he added another nine points in the third, while Tyler McDade connected on a three pointer as did Chase Williams.
KHS BBB
Kearney had six different scorers in the quarter, as Beckman added two more three-pointers and Lee added his own as well. Dahlgren contributed another four points, as did Endorf. Ian Piper was able to find offensive momentum, scoring a lay-in along with Ben Johnson’s fifth point. The Bearcats held their seventeen point lead into the fourth quarter up 57-40.
The Bearcats kept their starters on the floor for more time to maintain their control, and ended the contest with reserves scoring late to earn their fourth consecutive win 71-55.
KHS BBB
Kearney had contributions from Dahlgren and Endorf with 16 points each, Beckman had 15 points all from beyond the arc, Lee contributed 10, Johnson ended with 8, while Piper, Justin Murray, and Turner Bertrand all concluded with 2 each.
The Bearcats continue their weekend-long stretch of contests traveling to Omaha Buena Vista on Friday night. Hear the contest on KGFW with Austin Jacobsen on the call.
Listen below to Head Coach Drake Beranek’s post game thoughts on the win:
