The Blair girls basketball team improved to 5-1 with Thursday and Saturday wins during the Cougar Classic at Omaha Gross Catholic High School.
The Bears beat Omaha Duchesne first, 61-45, before toppling Platteview 63-45 in their second game.
On Saturday against the Trojans, Makayla Baughman led coach Matt Aschoff's team with 24 points. She scored 20 during the second half, while Mya Larson scored 13 for the game.
Against Duchesne, the Bears started fast in the first period and closed out the Cardinals with an 18-13 fourth.
Senior Ella Ross went scoreless for 24 minutes, but scored eight points over the final 8 minutes as her team put away its Thursday night foe at Gross.
“I warmed up,” she said.
The Bear's 3-pointers at the start of the fourth period sandwiched a Duchesne timeout and pushed BHS' lead from 10 to 16 points.
An hour earlier, Blair opened up a 13-4 advantage through one quarter. Larson knocked down two 3s, while both Maggie Valasek and Leah Chance scored second-chance hoops to earn it.
“It's hard, but you enjoy it,” Valasek said of offensive rebounding. “It's worth it when you get (the ball).”
The Bears' offense couldn't extend the lead during the second and third periods, but its grit held the advantage.
“You work your butt off in practice for this,” Valasek said.
Ross and she scored eight poitns apiece, while Larson had 16, Baughman notched 11 and Chance totaled nine.
