It was good, just not quite good enough.
Despite playing what Coach Mike Kennedy called their “most complete game of the season,” the Boone Central/Newman Grove Lady Cardinals lost a 43-39 decision to Mid-State Conference rival Wayne in the 5th place game of the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout Monday, Dec. 30, at Wayne State College.
Boone Central/Newman Grove (6-4) got off to a good start, leading 12-8 through the first quarter, before the Blue Devils forged to a 23-22 halftime edge with a 15-point second period.
The teams battled on even terms following intermission and were knotted at 33-33 entering the final stanza. The Cardinals trimmed a Wayne lead to two points with six seconds to play, but the Blue Devils’ Jalyn Zeiss broke BC/NG pressure and sank a layup as time expired.
Kennedy noted there were pluses and negatives in the contest.
“We played our most complete game of the season. We rebounded well, took good care of the ball and shot free throws well,” the veteran coach commented. “We just fouled too many times in the first half and let them stay in the game.”
Boone Central/Newman Grove had opened the Great NEN Shootout holiday tournament event with a disappointing 55-53 loss to Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Dec. 26.
The Cardinals opened with a 19-point first-quarter burst and recorded their fourth-highest point total of the season coming off the NSAA-mandated five-day competition/practice moratorium, but were unable to step up defensively in the second half.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge scored 29 points following intermission, helped by a 20-of-29 performance at the foul line.
BC/NG bounced back the following day with a 42-30 victory over West Point-Beemer – holding the Cadets to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters while building a 37-20 advantage.
“It was a great way to get past a disappointing loss by getting right back on the court and competing again,” Kennedy stated. “We had our strongest rebounding effort of the season.”
Further details in Print & Online editions of Albion News
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