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WAYNE - The Cedar Catholic Lady Trojans basketball team took care of the challenge in the opening round of the 2023 Elkhorn Valley Bank Northeast Nebraska Shootout here on the campus of Wayne State College and at Rice Auditorium.
The Lady Trojans turned away Winnebago, 52-47 to advance to the semifinals against undefeated Pender, on Dec. 29.
Cedar Catholic earned an advantage in the third quarter of the contest after trailing 14-12 and 23-21 after the first 16 minutes of the afternoon.
After trailing for the first two periods, Lauren Bernecker knotted the score at 23-23 on an offensive rebound and put back early in the frame to get even with the Lady Indians.
After a Winnebago Free throw, Bernecker canned a 3-pointer to give Cedar Catholic a 26-24 lead with just under six minutes left in the stanza.
The teams traded free throws until Bernecker got on the offensive boards and scored again inside to make it 29-28, then Katy Jones found Katelyn Arens on a fast break to make it 31-28, forcing Winnebago coach, Marquel Harlan to ask for a timeout with 1:44 left in the third.
A Lady Indian 3 tied the score but the Lady Trojans went on a 10-0 run which extended into the final eight minutes.
Jones opened the run with a free throw before a Katelyn Arens offensive rebound and basket made it 34-31.
The Lady Trojans would add five points to the lead before Addison Walter grabbed an rebound and scored to make it a 10-point game, 41-31.
Winnebago came storming back and got back to within 47-45 after a long ball from Charlize Frenchman, but Cedar Catholic would score five in a row to make it 52-45.
The Lady Indians would score the final two points in the game, but the damage was already done and the Lady Trojans advanced to the championship semifinals.
WINNEBAGO (3-5) 8 6 20 15 - 47 CEDAR CATHOLIC (3-6) 12 9 13 18 - 52 CEDAR CATHOLIC: McKinlee Lammers 1 0-4 2; Katy Jones 2 4-6 9; Katelyn Arens 6 0-0 12; Lauren Bernecker 3 0-0 7; Anisten Wortmann 3 2-4 9; Grace Wortmann 3 0-2 6; Addison Walter 2 3-8 7.
