Gretna wouldn't go away.
The Blair boys basketball team led its Eastern Midlands Conference foe for much of Tuesday's 58-53 home win, but the Dragons kept battling back and hanging around. During the fourth period, the Bears pushed their lead out to as many seven points, but their visitors still pulled even, 48-48, with a little more than 2 minutes left in the game.
Sophomore Andrew Smutny broke that tie.
“I've just got to hit a big shot there,” the guard said when asked about his go-ahead corner 3 with 1:44 remaining. “If I don't hit it, I mean, it's whatever — get back on defense.”
He didn't miss, though.
“Saw it go through the net,” Smutny explained. “A big relief and it helped the team out.”
Coach Chris Whitwer's Bears held the advantage from there with free throws and a Smutny fastbreak finish. While the sophomore's bucket pushed the home squad's late lead to 55-48, Easton Bosanek and Kalan Steinbeck knocked down attempts from the foul line to make the advantage last.
Smutny said down-the-stretch defense was important, too.
“Keeping the energy up as well,” he said. “It helps us.”
Blair led Gretna 16-10 through one period after back-to-back 3-point makes by Bo Meier and Smutny before the Dragons pulled within 27-24 at the half. The road squad was on a 10-2 run to end the second period before Brevin Leggott — who led the Bears with 15 points — broke a 27-27 tie early on during the third period.
A 10-0 BHS run ultimately produced a 37-27 lead, but Gretna again closed in just as it would during the fourth, forcing Smutny to act in the final minutes. He finished with 11 points — the same total as Steinbeck — as Coach Whitwer's team improved to 5-5 with its second consecutive victory.
“Two in a row, so that's great,” Smutny said.
The guard also noted, however, how coaches told the Bears to now look forward. They play at Class B No. 3 Norris today with a 7:30 p.m. start time before next Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. road game at Harlan, Iowa.
BHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Tuesday
Blair 58, Gretna 53
GHS (5-7) 10 14 14 15 — 53
BHS (5-5) 16 11 13 18 — 58
Scoring: BHS — Brevin Leggott 15, Andrew Smutny 11, Kalan Steinbeck 11, Bo Meier 10, Easton Bosanek 5, Cooper Sorensen 4, Hayden Daggett 2.
GHS — Brandtley Hack 19, Emmitt Dickes 12, Treven Wilkins 11, Lucas Hack 7, Ethan Zwiebel 4.
