KEARNEY – The Bearcats rematch with Fremont went into extra time, as Kearney earned their second consecutive overtime win of the season with a 57-52 victory at home on Senior Night. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney escaped an overtime tilt with Columbus on Saturday afternoon, and was aiming to take down Fremont in a rematch from their HAC Tournament Opening Round contest from late December. In the 70-36 win, Kearney hit ten three pointers and had Tatum Rusher score her career high of 25 points. Things would not shape up the same way for the Bearcats in this tilt on Senior Night.
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Fremont came out quickly, hitting two triples from Kate Denker in the opening quarter and taking a quick 9-6 lead in the opening three minutes. Jenna McClain also added some scores as did Mattie Dalton, but Kearney found their offensive footing later in the quarter taking a 11-10 lead at the 4:09 mark. The two teams traded buckets as Rusher, Harley Straka, Maddy Province, Haidyn Skeen, and Kiara Dutenhoffer all added scores in the opening minutes. Kearney led after the first quarter 16-14.
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The second quarter was given the slight edge to Fremont, as the Bearcats gave up another three to Denker but failed to hit a three of their own for the second consecutive quarter. Rusher began to take control offensively, scoring six points in the quarter, but Kearney was only able to add two more points from Dutenhoffer and was outpaced 11-8 in the second. The Bearcats trailed entering halftime down 25-24.
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Rusher continued her strong offensive presence as she led seven more points for Kearney in the third quarter, while also having some help come from her friends. Harley Straka began to take strong drives to the iron, while Skeen added three more points from the stripe and the paint. Straka contributed five in the quarter. Fremont’s hot hand continued, knocking down three triples by McClain and adding four points by Denker to keep their pace. Ultimately, the Bearcats transition was too quick as they held an advantage going to the fourth quarter up 41-38.
Kearney’s cold shooting and mis-timed turnovers cost the Bearcats a chance to win in regulation as their defense clamped down to prevent Fremont from scoring on multiple possessions. However, Kearney allowed 9 points and only added 6, giving the contest extra life at 41-41 and heading into overtime for the second straight contest for the Bearcat girls.
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In overtime, the three pointer finally dropped for Kearney as Kelsey Hatcher ringed in the first outside shot of the game for the Bearcats, only to be followed by a bank triple by Denker. The Bearcats would hold on and earn the win 56-52 with Rusher adding four in the quarter, as well as Dutenhoffer coming up with a score.
The Bearcats close out the regular season on the road on Thursday night traveling to Lincoln Southwest for another HAC Tournament rematch.
Kearney had contributions from Rusher with 19 points, Dutenhoffer ended with 12, Straka with 9, Province wrapped with 6, Skeen concluded with 5, Hatcher had 4, and Kennidy Garner finished with 2.
