The Blair girls basketball team forced overtime and a second extra period Tuesday night in South Sioux City, but it wound up only delaying its Class B Subdistrict 5 finals loss.
The hometown Cardinals (13-11 overall) overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to beat the Bears in double overtime, 74-68.
“Both teams had opportunities,” said BHS coach Matt Aschoff, noting the Bears may have missed theirs at the foul line. They were just 16-for-31 on free throws, and were forced to wait and see where their final NSAA Wild Card standing would send them for Saturday's district round. They'll play at York with a 1 p.m. tip.
“I thought the girls kept fighting hard, though,” Aschoff said Tuesday.
Blair opened the fourth period ahead 45-42 before back-to-back Joslyn Policky buckets made it 49-42. SSC responded, however, with a 8-0 scoring run to take a 50-49 lead.
The Cardinals held an advantage until the final seconds of regulation, too, before Blair senior Kaitlyn Johnson hit a running 3-pointer to tie the score just before the buzzer.
Policky, again, scored back-to-back buckets to open the first overtime period. SSC then evened the score at 59-all with 1:20 left, but Johnson gave her squad a two-point lead again with a shot off of the backboard and through the cylinder.
Still, the Bears needed a Hayden Frink-Mathis free throw with 15.5 seconds left to force a second overtime period. Her freebie made the score 62-62.
BHS' Addie Sullivan — who finished with a team-best 24 points — scored five points across the final four minutes and Leah Chance hit a free throw, but the Cardinals won in two OTs. Bailee Durant scored 19 points for the home team, while Brooklyn Heineman added 18.
In addition to Sullivan's total, which included a 9-for-11 foul line showing, Policky scored 19 Blair points. Johnson had 14, too.
“We'll start preparing tomorrow,” Aschoff said of Saturday's to-be-determined district final.
The coach was going to start looking for game film to study on the bus ride home from South Sioux City.
Bears rout Schuyler
The Bears started B-5 Subdistrict play Monday with a 38-point victory against Schuyler, which it topped also topped by 43 Dec. 13.
BHS led 19-3 after one period and 37-9 at halftime before closing it out 54-16. The loss ended the Warriors' season with a 5-18 record.
The winners, meanwhile, were led by Policky's 13 points. Sullivan added nine points and Marin Sather had seven as 12 Bears played and 10 scored to advance deeper into the postseason tournament at South Sioux City.
BHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORES
Tuesday
South Sioux City 74, Blair 68, 2 OTs
BHS (14-9) 14 17 14 10 7 6 — 68
SSC (13-11) 11 10 21 13 7 12 — 74
Scoring: BHS — Addie Sullivan 24, Joslyn Policky 19, Kaitlyn Johnson 14, Hayden Frink-Mathis 5, Claire Anderson 3, Leah Chance 3.
SSC — Bailee Durant 19, Brooklyn Heineman 18, Abbi Aitken 14, Bella Moret 11, Bryleigh Robinette 6, Keyana Weaver 3, Charlotte Coleman 2, Ali Groves 1.
Monday
Blair 54, Schuyler 16
SHS (5-18) 3 6 0 7 — 16
BHS (14-8) 19 18 9 8 — 54
Scoring: BHS — Policky 13, Sullivan 9, Marin Sather 7, Chance 6, Sophia Wrich 4, Anderson 4, Frink-Mathis 4, Johnson 3, Kate Wulf 2, Norah Cloudt 2.
SHS — Abby Reyna 4, Shirley Trejo 3, Allison Vavricek 3, Gabby Rodriguez 3, Niurka Castro 2, Addison Varicek 1.
