Five Blair High School seniors closed out the boys basketball season on the floor Feb. 26 at Elkhorn North.
Trailing Bennington by double-digits during the fourth period of a 78-61 Class B-4 Subdistrict Tournament loss, coach Chris Whitwer substituted in the Bears to end things together. Cooper Sorensen, Alex Just, Easton Bosanek, Nelson Kosch and John McKeon all shared takeaways from their 12th-grade seasons after the fact.
“It's really about the moments you spend with your team,” Just said. “The practices. The team dinners. When that's the stuff you're going to remember, I think it's really important to make the most of it with what you've got.”
“Attitude is everything,” McKeon added. “People pick up on the way you hold yourself, the way you talk and how you act when things are down and when things are going well. You've just got to stay positive.”
Sorensen, Kosch and Bosanek said players leaned on one another during the 10-13 BHS season.
“I'm definitely just going to remember the brotherhood of this team,” Sorensen said. “This is one of the closest bonds with a team I've had.”
Everyone got along, he noted.
“It just felt like everyone was brothers,” Sorensen said.
Kosch agreed.
“It made everything better just being with them,” he said.
Above the baskets and wins, Bosanek said he'll remember the people most when reflecting about his Bears experience.
“Definitely my boys,” he explained. “My teammates. My coaches. Just the community, the supporters — everybody. Blair is such a good town and it's full of the best supporters.”
Several were in the crowd as BHS took a 15-13 lead through one quarter against the Badgers. Aidan Slominski, Brevin Leggott and Kalan Steinbeck all hit 3s during the opening 8 minutes.
From there, though, Bennington — the tournament's second seed — took control. It outscored the Bears 24-8 during the second period and added 23 more points during the third.
Junior Bo Meier ultimately led Blair with 16 points for the game, while Leggott scored 10, but the postseason matchup was too out of reach down the stretch. As a result, though, the senior class was able to get into the season finale together for one last time.
CLASS B-4 SUBDISTRICT TOURNAMENT
Feb. 26
Bennington 78, Blair 61
BHS (10-13) 15 8 17 21 — 61
BEN (15-8) 13 24 23 18 — 78
Scoring: BHS — Bo Meier 16, Brevin Leggott 10, Kalan Steinbeck 9, Aidan Slominski 8, Andrew Smutny 7, Easton Bosanek 4, Cooper Sorensen 4, Alex Just 3.
BEN — Gavin Olson 17, Jace Fitzgerald 16, Austin Kaiser 15, Kale Lamberty 9, Blaize Jung 9, Landon McCarville 3, Cooper Johnson 3, Tyler Zach 3, Brady Nichols 2, Aidan Smith 1.
