The Class B No. 7 Bennington Badgers left Blair on Tuesday with a 62-44 boys basketball victory, but the Bears did still meet some of their objectives at home.
Senior Cooper Sorensen said captains have taken on bigger roles in recent weeks to chase those intentions.
“We've been talking about leadership and goals,” he said. “And, with that, we've been talking a lot about physicality.”
The guard believes BHS brought it to the Badgers early, particularly during the first period when coach Chris Whitwer's squad built a 16-10 lead. Bo Meier and Sorensen hit 3-point shots during the quarter, but Brevin Leggott and Easton Bosanek, Aidan Slominski and Hayden Daggett scored at the rim, too.
“For the most part, I was proud of our team and how we were physical with them,” Sorensen said. “In that first half, it really showed. We were right with them.”
A Leggott buzzer-beater pulled the Bears within 30-26 at the break, but Bennington got to work from there. It outscored Blair by five points during the third period and shook off Leggott and Bosanek 3-point makes to open the fourth and won by 18 points.
Leggott led the Bears with 12 of his own points in defeat, while Meier and freshman Kalan Steinbeck each scored 10.
Jace Fitzgerald and Gavin Olson, meanwhile, totaled identical game-highs of 15 points for Bennington, which improved to 5-4.
“There are no moral victories, but they were happy with our physicality,” Sorensen said of Blair's coaching staff after the game. The loss dropped the senior's basketball team to 3-5 overall.
The Bears were scheduled to play at Plattsmouth on Thursday and next compete 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at home against Gretna.
BHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Tuesday
No. 7 Bennington 62, Blair 44
BEN (5-4) 15 15 14 18 — 62
BHS (3-5) 16 10 9 9 — 44
Scoring: BHS — Brevin Leggott 12, Bo Meier 10, Kalan Steinbeck 10, Easton Bosanek 5, Cooper Sorensen 3, Hayden Daggett 2, Aidan Slominski 2.
BEN — Jace Fitzgerald 15, Gavin Olson 15, Austin Kaiser 10, Blaize Jung 8, Cooper Johnson 7, Tyler Zach 4, Landon McCarville 3.
