Terry Douglass, Central Nebraska Today
HASTINGS — A scoring drought that lasted more than a quarter doomed top seeded Adams Central in the Central Conference Tournament championship Saturday afternoon.
Second seeded Aurora, ranked No. 10 in Class B by the Omaha World Herald, held the Patriots scoreless for 11 minutes and 5 seconds — including the entire second quarter — and earned a 44-36 victory on Adams Central’s home floor.
In an unusual twist, the teams scored the same number of points in three of the four quarters. The difference came in the second, when the Huskies shut out Adams Central 8-0. The Patriots missed all 10 of their field goal attempts in the period after Brodie Luksan hit consecutive 3 pointers to tie the game at 13-13 late in the first.
Adams Central didn’t score again until Weston Nienhueser made a free throw with 4:56 left in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 23-14. The Patriots shot 27.3% from the field (12 of 44), while Aurora finished at 33% (16 of 48) and went 3 of 22 from beyond the arc.
Kowen Rader led Adams Central (12-6) with 11 points and seven rebounds. Aurora (16-3) was led by Jaxson Slagle’s 15 points and 16 rebounds, while Canon Allen added 13 points for the Huskies, who outrebounded Adams Central 37-31 and committed just four turnovers.
Despite the long scoring drought, Rader’s 3-pointer with 2:26 remaining pulled the Patriots within 37-33. But Aurora closed the game on a 7-3 run, overcoming a 6-of-16 performance at the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Aurora 44, Adams Central 36
Aurora (16-3)…………………13 8 10 13—44
Adams Central (12-6)……..13 0 10 13—36
AURORA—Jaxson Slagle 15, Canon Allen 13, Sam Jones 4, Brooks Handrup 4, Ryan Staehr 8.
ADAMS CENTRAL—JJ Foster 3, Riley Propp 7, Brodie Luksan 8, Trey Slechta 6, Kowen Rader 11, Weston Nienhueser
