The Class B No. 8 Blair High School boys basketball team earned second Friday and Saturday during the Cougar Classic Tournament at Omaha Gross.
The Bears beat Boys Town during the opening round Friday, 53-42, before playing Platteview for the championship on Saturday. Coach Chris Whitwer's team fell short in that challenge, losing 56-38.
First, though, BHS scored just 18 second-half points, but bested the Cowboys by 11. A 35-19 first-half ultimately carried the Bears to victory.
“We were, obviously, a little upset coming off of a loss,” senior Ben Holcomb said, noting Blair's Dec. 9 defeat at Hastings. “We just told ourselves, 'We're going to work this week during practice.' Which we did.”
The preparation led to a 19-7 first-period lead. Junior Easton Bosanek knocked down three 3-pointers during the opening 8 minutes, while Holcomb hit the first at the 5-0 mark.
“We showed up and we just laid it down,” the senior said.
The Bears' strong start extended into the second quarter, too. One Cooper Sorensen and two Nate Wachter buckets kept their team's lead at 12 points before back-to-back 3s by Holcomb and Bosanek pushed it to 31-15.
Bosanek ultimately finished with a team-best 17 points, while Holcomb scored six. They hit all six of BHS' long-range makes.
“It mainly comes from getting the ball inside,” Holcomb said. “When we get the ball inside, it spreads the outside guys out and gets us shots.”
Aidan Slominski and Bo Meier added Blair points down the stretch for a 35-19 halftime lead. The advantage hit 18 points briefly during the third period, but Boys Town battled back within nine.
Coach Tom Krehbiel's Cowboys never got any closer than that, though, even with Darien Whitaker's 16 points. They dropped to 2-4, while the No. 8 Bears improved to 4-1 going into the Cougar Classic title game.
BHS fell to 4-2 after Saturday's game with the Trojans, though. Platteview led 29-16 at halftime and outscored the Bears 16-9 during third period on its way to an 18-point victory.
Meier led coach Whitwer's team in defeat, scoring 17 points. Bosanek added nine, while Slominski had six points.
Jaxon Adams, however, had a game-high 26 points to win the Cougar Classic. The Trojan made four first-period 3-pointers, while Braden Staudt added 15 points.
Blair next competes Friday during the first round of the Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament. Matchups were not announced as of press time.
BHS BOYS HOOPS LINE SCORES
Saturday
Platteview 56, No. 8 Blair 38
BHS (4-2) 10 6 9 13 — 38
PHS (5-2) 18 11 16 11 — 56
Scoring: BHS — Bo Meier 17, Easton Bosanek 9, Aidan Slominski 6, Nate Wachter 3, Ben Holcomb 3.
PHS — Jaxon Adams 26, Braden Staudt 15, Elijah Steele 8, Eli Speth 5, Levi Ekue 2.
Friday
No. 8 Blair 53, Boys Town 42
BT (2-4) 7 12 13 10 — 42
BHS (4-1) 19 16 9 9 — 53
Scoring: BHS — Bosanek 17, Wachter 11, Crayton Macholan 10, Holcomb 6, Meier 4, Slominski 3, Cooper Sorensen 2.
BT — Darien Whitaker 16, DaShawn Gomes 9, Nyree Poteet 7, Hank Williams 3, Jamal Morris 3, Tyler Segar 2, Marqas Gray 2.
