The Blair High School boys basketball team forced one Lincoln Northwest shot-clock violation Saturday during the Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament's ninth-place game.
Coach Chris Whitwer, however, wanted a second during the Bears' 68-46 home win.
“We didn't quite get it, but I felt our defense really, really helped us there in the second half,” junior guard Aidan Slominski said.
The Falcons knocked down six 3-pointers during the first two periods, but added just one after halftime.
“We shut them down on defense,” Slominski said. “Ball pressure was there.”
The win pushed BHS' season record to 3-3, while Northwest dropped to 2-3. The Bears led 12-0 early during the first quarter, but watched as the Falcons went on a 16-2 run and led 16-14 during the early stages of the second.
A Cooper Sorensen bucket at 20-19, however, gave Coach Whitwer's team the lead for good. Blair led 30-23 at halftime with freshman Brevin Leggott scoring all 10 of his points for the break.
Slominski, meanwhile, came off of the bench and scored six of his team-best 18 points during the opening 16 minutes.
“I'm always going to come out there and give my best effort no matter what,” he said.
The 6-foot guard attacked the ball for rebounds throughout, producing second-chance opportunities offensively.
“Rebounding is a mentality,” Slominski explained. “If you want to get boards, it's easy if you know what you're doing and you're always going hard.”
Bo Meier added 14 points for BHS, too, while Kalan Steinbeck had 11 with three 3-point makes. Easton Bosanek totaled eight points as well.
The Bears were scheduled to host Hastings on Thursday and next compete 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Bennington at home.
BLAIR BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Saturday
Blair 68, Lincoln Northwest 46
LNW (2-3) 10 13 10 13 — 46
BHS (3-3) 14 16 23 15 — 68
Scoring: BHS — Aidan Slominski 18, Bo Meier 14, Kalan Steinbeck 11, Brevin Leggott 10, Easton Bosanek 8, Alex Just 3, Cooper Sorensen 2, Ty Tessendorf 2.
LNW — Jaymi White-Soto 12, Roman Stepanyuk 11, Xavier Schwartz 8, Myles Parker 6, Sammy Juergens 6, Corsean Phillippi 3.
