Lauren Baker led all scorers with 24 points Tuesday as the Class D1 No. 5 Fremont Bergan Knights defended their home floor and bested Class B No. 9 Blair, 46-40.
Coach Matt Aschoff's Bears went ahead 38-37 on Mya Larson's free throw with less than 3 minutes remaining, but the Knights (7-2 overall) regained the lead and held off the BHS girls basketball team(7-3) with their own effective foul shooting down the stretch.
While Baker led all scorers, senior Ella Ross led Blair with 15 points, according to Bergan's Striv.tv broadcast. Her fourth-quarter 3-pointer pushed the Bears out front 37-35 after Makayla Baughman had previously given them a 34-32 advantage to open the period.
Larson scored 12 in the BHS defeat, while Baughman had 10. Maggie Valasek had two points and Nessa McMillen had one.
Blair jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the game before the Knights answered with six straight points. The Bears led 12-8 after one period before both the second and third each ended with a tie on the scoreboard.
Blair is next scheduled to play at home against Wahoo. The game is 6 p.m. Tuesday.
