The Blair High School basketball teams finished out their regular season slates Thursday at Norris.
The No. 9 girls lost a 41-39 game to the No. 2 Titans, while coach Chris Whitwer's boys won 42-39. The Bears' girls squad is 16-6 entering the postseason, while the boys are 12-9.
Bears even score with Titans
The Blair boys lost a three-point game at Norris on Jan. 24, but won one by that margin Thursday night.
The Titans put up two shots during the final 5 second and missed both, leaving the Bears as 42-39 winners. They next play 7:15 p.m. today against South Sioux City during the first round of the Class B Subdistrict 5 Tournament at Bennington.
First, though, Blair earned a 25-16 halftime lead after outscoring the Titans 15-3 during last Thursday's second period. Jacob Czapla scored the first nine of the quarter, finishing the half with 11 of his team-high 21 for the game.
The senior first scored from the foul line, pulling BHS within 13-12. His coast-to-coast bucket then put the Bears ahead by one.
Czapla next added three more points on a banked-in long-range shot, and finished off the scoring stretch with another drive. Kip Tupa's 3 gave the visitors a 22-14 advantage.
The Bears later led 33-28 after 3 quarters and 40-33 after J'shawn Unger's fourth-quarter free throw. Norris went on a 6-0 run from there, but couldn't extend it when Sawyer Lawton blocked a shot at the rim. The defensive effort led directly to Luke Ladwig's final two foul shots, which were made and pushed BHS' lead to the final margin of victory.
“Czapla had a great game getting to the rim,” Whitwer said. “A lot of our guys made great plays at the right time.”
BLAIR BOYS 42, NORRIS 39
BHS (11-9) 10 15 8
NOR (8-13) 13 3 12
Scoring: BHS — Jacob Czapla 21, Luke Ladwig 13, Kip Tupa 3, J'shawn Unger 3, Sawyer Lawton 2.
NOR — Wyat Wubbels 20, Mitch Hobza 6, Cooper Hausmann 5, Myles Hoehne 5, J.T. Behrends 3.
Norris girls top BHS by 2
BHS had its chances, but couldn't overcome Norris on Thursday.
After pulling within 30-29 during the third period, the Bears cut the fourth-ranked Titans' fourth-quarter lead to just two points with about a minute left.
Ahead 41-39, Norris turned the ball over with 36.2 seconds left to go. BHS coach Matt Aschoff took a timeout, but the long Kaitlyn Johnson 3-point attempt that followed missed.
The Titans rebounded the ball, but missed its free throw attempt, leaving the Bears with 1.9 seconds left for one more chance at a tie or win. They were able to inbound the ball, but Norris left the court winners.
Molly Ladwig led Blair in defeat with 11 points, while Leah Chance had nine with two 3-point makes and three free throws. Makayla Baughman added eight points and Johnson had six.
BHS next plays 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Class B Subdistrict 4 Tournament finals. The Bears will host the game against either South Sioux City or Schuyler.
No. 4 NORRIS GIRLS 41, No. 9 BLAIR 39
BHS (16-6) 13 6 10 10 — 39
NOR (17-4) 8 16 10 7 — 41
Scoring: BHS — Molly Ladwig 11, Leah Chance 9, Makayla Baughman 8, Kaitlyn Johnson 6, Maggie Valasek 3, Addie Sullivan 2.
NOR — Delaney White 12, Sydney Jelenik 10, Ella Waters 8, Sage Burbach 7, Anistyn Rice 2, Gracie Kircher 2.
