The Blair High School girls basketball team handled business Dec. 20 during the first round of the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) Tournament.
Coach Matt Aschoff's Bears routed Hastings at home, 51-26, with a particular goal in mind.
“We really just wanted to play Waverly tomorrow,” junior Claire Anderson said. “We want another chance.”
BHS got its wish Saturday against the team it lost to Dec. 10. This time, though, the Bears knocked down 12 3-pointers and knocked off the second-seeded team in the tournament, 50-48.
“Girls did a great job. We were down 11-0 and came back,” Aschoff said. “They shot very well.”
With the win against the fifth-ranked team in Class B, Blair next plays at No. 3-seeded Gretna East during the EMC semifinals. The game is noon Saturday with the third-place and finals games to follow Monday at Lincoln Standing Bear.
BHS had to earn its matchup against the Griffins first, though. Despite five first-period 3-point makes, the Bears trailed Waverly after one quarter, 20-17, on the road.
Coach Aschoff's team controlled the second period, however, outscoring their opposition 14-5. Both freshman Cadence Field and sophomore Taytum Macholan knocked down their second 3-pointers of the game during the quarter.
Macholan was only halfway done from long range, though, finishing with four makes from beyond the arc and 15 points overall. Senior Addie Sullivan also hit four 3s for the Bears, finishing with a team-high 17 points altogether.
Fields scored 12 points, too, while Anderson and Kate Wulf added three points apiece from 3-point range.
“The girls fought hard and earned the win today,” Aschoff said.
The upset victory pushed Blair's season record to 4-1.
Bears rout Tigers
To earn its second game of the season against Waverly, the Bears dominated the Hastings Tigers by 25 points 24 hours earlier. Coach Aschoff's team jumped out to a 20-4 lead through one period, building upon it from there.
“I felt like it was a really good start,” Anderson said. “Our first quarter, we came out really energetic and pumped up. We just wanted to set the mentality-game high first.”
The junior pulled down an offensive rebound ahead of BHS' first score of the tournament game. Her effort led to Wulf's 3-point make, which put the Bears on the right path.
Anderson said her squad came into the game against the Tigers well-prepared.
“We watched quite a bit of film,” she said. “Today, we watched film before we came and got ready.”
Anderson's bucket made the score 5-0 before Hayden Frink-Mathis added to Hastings' deficit with her own.
Altogether, the first quarter proved to be the Bears' most-productive of the game. Seven players scored during the 8-minute time frame with Wulf tallying five points and Sullivan four. Sullivan, as it turned out, finished out the game with a team-best 21.
Field added eight points for BHS, too, and both Anderson and Wulf scored five.
BHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORES
Saturday
Blair 50, No. 5 Waverly 48
BHS (4-1) 17 14 10 9 — 50
WHS (4-1) 20 5 7 15 — 48
Scoring: BHS — Addie Sullivan 17, Taytum Macholan 15, Cadence Field 12, Claire Anderson 3, Kate Wulf 3.
WHS — Parker Christiansen 12, Annie Harms 11, Kenna Kottman 7, Mia Jackson 7, Berkley Lambrecht 6, Ava Amos 3, Breeley King 2.
Dec. 20
Blair 51, Hastings 26
HHS (2-4) 4 7 7 8 — 26
BHS (3-1) 20 9 9 13 — 51
Scoring: BHS — Sullivan 21, Field 8, Anderson 5, Wulf 5, Beau Wendt 4, Renn Dresden 2, Madeline Chikos 2, Ally Sullivan 2, Hayden Frink-Mathis 2.
HHS — Lauryn Boutin 9, Hadyn Laux 5, Kenzie Nollette 3, Brooke Ochsner 2, Brienna Campbell 2, Sophia Reynolds 2.
