Kearney High Girls Basketball v. Lincoln North Star 2024 // Mitchell Brandt
KEARNEY – The Lincoln North Star Navigators looked every part of a Top Ten team on Friday night, taking down the Kearney Bearcats 68-37 on Friday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney entered having won four of their last five contests, having only dropped a home tilt to Class B’s Beatrice in the Girls Basketball Showcase back on Jan. 6. North Star, however, was coming off their surprise state tournament bid a year ago and began the year on fire with a 10-2 record.
Both teams traded blows in the opening moments with Kearney setting the pace early as a three pointer by Paige Mailahn. Mailahn would knock down another, but the first quarter was set by the Bearcats picking up where the gaps were in the ever-changing zone defense by North Star. The Navigators trusted their hot-hand in the first quarter, leading all points through Sarah Gatwech with all ten points of the scoring for the team. North Star would have the 10-9 lead into the second quarter.
Libby Province, Kearney High Girls Basketball v. Lincoln North Star 2024 // Mitchell Brandt
Gatwech continued her scoring streak, adding another eleven points in the quarter in a multitude of different ways – a three pointer, mid-range jumpers, and drives to the basket. While the Navigators’ scoring picked up, Kearney’s was stifled as the Bearcats only mustered seven points in the period. Addie Snyder stepped off the bench with a big three pointer, but the Bearcats fell into a hole down 30-16 at halftime.
The third quarter watched Kearney begin to climb back, as Harley Straka provided multiple free throw chances to slow down the game and prevent further damage through short runs and turnovers by North Star. Bringing the game within seven, Kearney hit a three pointer by Mailahn to briefly appear ready to rattle the Navigators. Instead, the visiting team went on a scorched-earth methodical approach. Forcing multiple turnovers, limiting three point shots with various zone defenses, and adding in relief points by Kendall Anderson, Aleviah Anderson, and further feeding to Gatwech pushed North Star out of reach from a Bearcat comeback.
Addie Helmbrecht, Kearney High Girls Basketball v. Lincoln North Star 2024 // Mitchell Brandt
Kearney would end the final quarter in a 19-6 hole, failing to put up a point until after the midway point of the fourth quarter. The Bearcats would drop their home test 68-37.
Lincoln North Star improves to 11-2 on the season and will host Omaha Bryan on Saturday.
The Bearcats fall to 8-6 on the year and host Bellevue West Saturday afternoon. Pregame coverage on KGFW begins at 4:15 PM with tipoff at 430. Join Austin Jacobsen for the action on 1340 KGFW, 96,1 FM, on the free KGFW mobile app, and online at KGFW.com.
Kennidy Garner, Kearney High Girls Basketball v. Lincoln North Star 2024 // Mitchell Brandt
UNOFFICIAL KGFW SCORING TOTALS:
Lincoln North Star: Gatwech (30 points), Ani Leu (12), K. Anderson (11), A. Anderson (7), Joyce Johnson (4), Alex Kroll (2), Kaytee Irons-Buettner (2)
Kearney: Straka (10), Mailahn (9) Libby Province (7), Snyder (5), Addie Helmbrecht (5), Avery Franzen (1)
Harley Straka, Kearney High Girls Basketball v. Lincoln North Star 2024 // Mitchell Brandt
