An offseason leg injury cost Blair High School senior Nolan Slominski his final cross-country season, but he was good to go and in the starting lineup Saturday for the Bears' 70-34, season-opening win against Ralston.
“It felt really good,” the 6-foot guard said. “But, I mean, best part about tonight was probably six guys with nine or more points. That's a really good stat line.”
Slominski tallied 12 points himself, scoring six of BHS' first 11. His efforts helped coach Chris Whitwer's team to a 17-5 advantage before the Rams' Rex Buettenback sunk a half-court shot at the end of the first period.
“I was supposed to be back in a month from now, but I'm already back two months before,” Slominski said. “I'm happy about that.”
J'Shawn Unger and Greyson Kay combined to score 14 of the Bears' 24 second-quarter points, too. They finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while 6-foot-5 freshman starter Bo Meier notched 12. Ben Holcomb and Crayton Macholan had nine apiece, too.
“Just passing it, and the fast breaks were really nice,” Slominski said when asked what was key to Blair's attack. “We just worked as a team.”
Nate Wachter capped Blair's scoring with a fourth-period free throw as the home team moved to 1-0 comfortably. His Bears squad faces Waverly on the road tonight at 7:15 p.m.
“This year, came out really strong,” Slominski said with a 36-point win in the bag. “We're really looking forward to that conference game next week.”
