The Blair High School girls basketball team dropped to 2-3 without injured senior Addie Sullivan on Tuesday, falling 47-19 at Class B No. 3 Gretna East.
The Bears (11-9 overall) lost their Dec. 28 meeting with the Griffins by just seven points, 38-31, with the future University of Nebraska-Kearney Loper in the lineup.
“We're not making shots,” BHS coach Matt Aschoff said after his team's season low offensive output. “The other team is making shots, and it's just compounding pretty quickly.”
The Bears trailed 15-1 through one period, failing to make their first field goal until Kate Wulf's 3-pointer with about 4:30 left during the second. She finished with a team-high seven points in defeat, while Cadence Field scored six.
“Tonight, we didn't have as many turnovers and our shot selection was better,” Aschoff said, comparing the loss to last Saturday's against Seward.
Even so, though, the third-ranked Griffins dominated. Taryn French sank six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the game, outpacing Blair's entire lineup.
Gretna East improved to 15-5 and has two regular season matchups remaining. Blair, meanwhile, had three games left after Tuesday's loss. It was scheduled to face Omaha Concordia on Thursday and next plays at Omaha Roncalli on Saturday before next Tuesday's regular season finale at Elkhorn.
As the schedule winds down and subdistrict play approaches, Aschoff said the Bears continue to work on their confidence by getting shots up during practice drills. His staff is asking its players to play more aggressively, too.
“We have to figure out the best way to build the confidence in the kids and coach them without making them overthink it,” he said.
Altogether, Aschoff knows he has BHS student-athletes — even with Sullivan out injured — who can hit shots.
“They're just not falling right now,” he said.
Saturday's game at Roncalli starts at 2 p.m.
BHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Tuesday
No. 3 Gretna East 47, Blair 19
BHS (11-9) 1 9 3 6 — 19
GE (15-5) 15 13 10 9 — 47
Scoring: BHS — Kate Wulf 7, Cadence Field 6, Taytum Macholan 3, Ally Sullivan 2, Beau Wendt 1.
GE — Taryn French 20, Addie Larock 8, Karli Williams 7, Sophia Lindsey 3, Hailey Levinson 3, Lily Frederick 2, Heather Wadsworth 2, Madi Shelburne 2.
