KEARNEY – The Bearcats girls basketball team stayed within arms reach all contest long, finally exploding in the final two minutes of play to earn a win over conference foe Lincoln Northeast at Kearney High School on Saturday afternoon. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney entered the Saturday afternoon tilt having lost their previous matchup on Tuesday night with Lincoln Pius X. Despite the loss, the Bearcats aimed to keep their confidence as they invited the 10-8 Rockets to their home gym. Northeast had lost the previous night to Lincoln Southwest 48-45.
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Beginning the contest Northeast started their show of force with a lead with strong inside play as Doneelah Washington scored early with four points in the opening quarter. Serena Heeren added two points as well, but Yelaniya Bradley’s three pointer connected to give the Rockets an extra push. Kearney never backed down however, as Harley Straka hit a triple coming off the bench, re-energizing the Bearcats. Kiara Dutenhoffer scored, while Maddy Province opened her scoring with a runner as well. Tatum Rusher rounded out the Kearney attack, but the Bearcats would trail into the second quarter down 11-10.
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Into the second quarter, The back-and-forth continued as Heeren began to heat up with six points and Washington adding five herself. Monica Gutirrez hit a triple to stave off the Kearney attack, but the Bearcats continued to step up when needed. Rusher hit a triple, as Dutenhoffer added six of her own points. The hot shooting added fuel from sophomore Kelsey Hatcher who drilled back-to-back three pointers. Kearney added sixteen but could not outpace Northeast as they added eighteen. The Bearcats trailed into halftime 28-26.
The third quarter kept Kearney in the game, tying the contest by the end of the period scoring 13 and holding Northeast to 11. Rusher began to take the game into her hands, adding seven points in the third while Dutenhoffer added four herself. The hero of the day was Maddy Province who assisted on multiple scores, led the team in rebounds, was an active defender with steals and blocks, and pushed her extra effort for scrappy play. Northeast had five different scorers but none adding more than a field goal, as the tie game entered the fourth quarter at 39-39.
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Kearney trailed early in the fourth quarter and was kept quiet for the first half of the final period, but stayed just close enough to close out the final two minutes. Kearney took a 45-44 lead with 1:58 remaining then maneuvered the Rockets out of position with steals, transition scores, and free throws. Rusher added four points, Province hit six free throws, and Dutenhoffer added four more points as the Bearcats carried out a perfect final gameplan to complete their 54-48 victory over Northeast.
The Bearcats improved to 11-9 on the season and travel to Lincoln Southeast on Friday night with a home matchup against Columbus next Saturday.
Kearney had contributions from Dutenhoffer with 17 points, Rusher with 16, Province with 8, Hatcher ended with 6, Straka and Haidyn Skeen each had 3, and Kennidy Garner ended with 1.
