LINCOLN – The Capital City comeback was ready to rock once Ben Johnson stepped on the floor. He had too much time to warmup, in fact. The extra time to prepare gave the sophomore all the confidence he needed to cruise to a new career high, aiding the Bearcats with half their scoring in a 70-66 comeback win at Lincoln Southeast on Friday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney had lost two consecutive contests at home against Pius and Northeast the week prior, with a dismal offensive effort in the Rockets contest. The Bearcats were set to prove they could still compete with the best of the HAC in a matchup with Lincoln Southeast, as the Knights had lost to two of Class A’s best teams in Creighton Prep and Bellevue West in the past seven days.
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The Bearcats start did not go according to script, as Kearney quickly fell into a hole down 4-0 in the opening minutes of the contest. That deficit turned into a 11-4 Knight advantage as Kearney struggled to hit the big shot from outside in a second consecutive contest. As the Bearcats defense attempted to slow down the Knights, Lincoln Southeast’s Bangot Dak opened up his big day with four buckets leading to eight points for the center. Southeast added scoring from all levels – outpacing Kearney 24-15 in the opening eight minutes to put the Bearcats in the hole early.
KHS BBB
The Bearcats took a new approach: inch their way back into the contest piece by piece. The best way to attack was by sending Johnson to the rim and hoping for a shot or contact: both usually came as the sophomore added 10 points from free throws and field goals in the quarter. Five different Knights scored – including a Jake Hilkemann triple – but Southeast never pushed out of reach of Kearney giving the Bearcats a 37-30 deficit into halftime.
KHS BBB
As the Bearcats left halftime, a seven point deficit turned into a 14 point hole in the third as Southeast racked up scoring from Dak, BJ Bradford with four, Taye Moore knocked in a triple and a lay-in for five, and Hilkemann another score. Karter Lee and Jack Dahlgren stepped up out of the locker room for triples to cut the deficit down immediately, while Johnson hit his own three and a three point play. Kearney’s third quarter rally only netted them a 16-14 advantage in the quarter, and trailed 51-46 entering the final eight minutes.
KHS BBB
Chaos ensued in the proceeding quarter as Southeast did everything to slow down Johnson who ended the day with a new career best 35 points. Johnson stepped into deep triples, stroking early and often for bigger and bigger shots while hitting all his free throws until his final attempt late in the contest. Southeast could only hope to keep pace, as the Bearcats regained a short lead with six minutes to play at 52-51. After taking back the lead, Southeast held off Kearney until Lee connected another triple and the Bearcats earned control with less than a minute to go.
KHS BBB
As Kearney led 65-61, late free throws and clutch plays devised by Kearney earned the Bearcats a road victory as Asher Endorf knocked in three of four free throws to earn the win while Southeast fell at home in a shocking defeat.
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The Bearcats improved to 14-6 on the season and face Columbus on Saturday evening. Pregame on KGFW begins after the KHS girls contest.
Kearney had contributions from Johnson with 35 (9th most all-time in Bearcat history), Lee with 12, Endorf with 12, Dahlgren with 10, and Colt Straka with 1.
Hear from Head Coach Drake Beranek and Ben Johnson in their post game thoughts;
