The Class B No. 7 Elkhorn girls basketball team started Tuesday's second half with a 13-0 scoring run, overtaking the host Blair Bears and shutting down their upset bid.
The Antlers improved to 13-5 with the 49-42 win, while coach Matt Aschoff's BHS squad dropped to 7-10 overall. The Bears are just 1-8 in their last nine games.
“We just need to make sure that we come out ready and locked in for third quarters,” junior Addie Sullivan said.
Her team took a 19-18 lead into halftime after freshman Laynie Brown went 2-for-2 from the foul line just before the end of the second quarter. She scored 10 points for the game, while Sullivan finished with a game-high 11 in just her second contest back from injury.
Elkhorn answered Blair's end-of-first-half push with a decisive push to start the third, however. The Antlers scored eight points in a row before Aschoff's timeout at the 6:04 mark and added five more points before Kate Wulf's 3-point make pulled BHS within 31-22.
Altogether, EHS outscored the Bears 23-9 during the third period.
“We outscored them in the fourth, so that was good,” Sullivan noted.
Blair pulled as close as 48-42 during the final 8 minutes when Kaitlynn O'Neill scored a bucket with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Brown set up the late push, hitting back-to-back 3s when the Antlers went ahead 44-30 during the early stages of the final quarter. The freshman guard made the shots with cotton in her nose after blood flowed from it earlier during the second half.
BHS was scheduled to face Omaha Concordia on Thursday and next competes Saturday against Omaha Roncalli. The home game starts at 1 p.m.
BHS GIRLS HOOPS LINE SCORE
Tuesday
No. 7 Elkhorn 49, Blair 42
EHS (13-5) 12 6 23 8 — 49
BHS (7-10) 9 10 9 14 — 42
Scoring: BHS — Addie Sullivan 11, Laynie Brown 10, Kate Wulf 6, Taytum Macholan 6, Kaitlynn O'Neil 4, Joslyn Policky 3, Hayden Frink-Mathis 2.
EHS — Emerson Karstens 15, Naomi Bertucci 11, Claire Nuismer 6, Ayshia Prince 5, Olivia Bailey 5, Reese Turman 3, Makailey Beekman 2.
