The fifth-place game wasn't the Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament championship game, but Blair High School sophomore Bo Meier said his team wanted to win it all the same.
“We want to get wins as much as we can,” he said.
The opponent didn't matter to the Bears either.
“We'll play hard no matter what,” Meier noted.
Unfortunately for the Bears, though, the Waverly Vikings picked up the win Saturday at Lincoln Standing Bear, 52-48. BHS dropped to 5-4 in defeat as the fifth-place Vikings improved to 3-5 with one of their five losses coming to coach Chris Whitwer's team earlier this season.
Ben Holcomb led Blair in the rematch with 15 points, while Crayton Macholan notched 11. Meier had nine and Easton Bosanek scored six points, too.
Ashton Heffelfinger scored the game-high tally for Waverly, though. He had 19 points, while Keaton Rine notched 13 and Nolan Maahs had 10, respectively.
In the consolation semifinals, Blair beat Lincoln Northwest on Dec. 29, 57-46. The Bears jumped out to an 11-0 lead with Meier contributing eight points, but struggled for the rest of the half.
Coach Whitwer's team led just 28-27 at the break, but built on its lead with an 11-0 scoring run during the third period.
“Our intensity level in the second half was much better,” Meier said. “Our defense led to our offense, fast breaks. That just carried on throughout the game.”
BHS' Aidan Slominski scored seven points during the third quarter alone, finishing one bucket through a foul before adding a made free throw against the Falcons.
“We really shared the ball well,” he said. “Found places that weren't open in the first half that were in the second half.”
Northwest cut Blair's lead to as little as seven points during the fourth quarter, but free throws by Meier and Bosanek kept the Falcons at bay. Meier finished with a team-high 23 points, while Macholan, a senior guard, scored 10.
Slominski, meanwhile, scored 13 points. He was in the starting lineup with Nate Wachter out on crutches.
“Started out the game a little rough. Just getting used to things,” Slominski said. “Second half, I really felt like I and the team did better. We really got it together there. Put them away.”
After the completion of the EMC Tournament, BHS next competes 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Bennington. Junior varsity play starts at 1.
BHS BOYS HOOPS LINE SCORES
Saturday
Waverly 52, Blair 48
BHS (5-4) 16 7 10 15 — 48
WHS (3-5) 14 12 10 16 — 52
Scoring: BHS — Ben Holcomb 15, Crayton Macholan 11, Bo Meier 9, Easton Bosanek 6, Chase Cottle 3, Colin McCabe 2, Aidan Slominski 2.
WHS — Ashton Heffelfinger 19, Keaton Rine 13, Nolan Maahs 10, Reece Bader 8, Evan Kastens 2.
Dec. 29
No. 10 Blair 57, Lincoln Northwest 46
LNW (1-7) 16 11 5 14 — 46
BHS (5-3) 17 11 17 12 — 57
Scoring: BHS — Meier 23, Slominski 13, Macholan 10, Bosanek 7, Holcomb 2, Cooper Sorensen 2.
LNW — Javarius Welch 13, Tayden Wynn 8, Ruot Rang 6, Miles Parra 6, Jaymi White-Soto 5, Elian Lozano 4, Myles Parker 2, Corsean Phillipi 2.
