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WAYNE — Cedar Catholic dropped its opening game in the girls’ division of the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout to the top team in Class D1 and two-time defending state champ Pender, 68-41, at Rice Auditorium at Wayne State College.
The Lady Trojans responded the next day with a 58-46 win over South Sioux City to grab a spot in the fifth-place game Dec. 30 with Plattsmouth.
Pender and Wayne were set to play in the finals.
In the game with the Lady Cards, Cedar methodically built a lead from the opening tip to come away with the 12-point win.
Cedar outscored South Sioux City in the first three stanzas; 13-10 in the first, 1512 in the second and 19-13 in the third.
The teams played to an 1111 stalemate in the final eight minutes as the Lady Trojans improved to 5-3.
Anisten Wortmann and Addison Walter shared scoring honors for Cedar Catholic as each poured in 16 points.
Lauren Bernecker added 11. The Lady Trojans played right with the Pendragons through the first three quarters and even tied the score early in the third.
Pender scored first in the third period but a 3-pointer by Walter and a baseline drive by Wortmann brought Cedar back to within 31-29.
Walter drove to the basket and was fouled while scoring to tie the score at 31-31. Walter couldn’t convert the and-one and Pender went on an 8-0 run.
Wortmann hit 1-of-2 free throws then McKinlee Lammers canned a pair of free shots to close the gap to 39-34.
Back-to-back threes by the Lady Pendragons caused Cedar Catholic coach, Craig Wortmann to ask for a timeout with 1:23 left in the third period.
Katelyn Arens grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in the basket to get the Lady Trojans to within seven early in the fourth, but Pender would outscore Cedar Catholic 23-5 in the frame to post the win.
Trojans will hit the road to take on Dakota Valley in McCook Lake, SD Jan. 3.
CC (5-3) 13 15 19 11 - 58 SSC (2-6) 10 12 13 11 - 46 CEDAR CATHOLIC: Anisten Wortmann 16; Addison Walter 16; Lauren Bernecker 11; Katelyn Arens 6; McKinlee Lammers 4; Bailey Hochstein 3; Savannah Pick 2. SOUTH SIOUX CITY: Bailee Durant 15; Keyana Weaver 11; Naomi Aldrich 10; Yoselin Aldrich 3; Abby McCoy 3; Autumn Porter 2; Bryleigh Robinette 2. P (9-0) 14 15 16 23 - 68 CC (5-3) 6 18 12 5 - 41 PENDER: Hadley Walsh 30; Madalyn Dolliver 13; Maya Doliver 11; Myra Hansen 8; Jala Krusemark 5; Brylea Mosser 2.
Wynot girls fall to West Point-Beemer
In the second period the Cadets got four more points from Hunter Doggett along with a trey each from Bayden Doggett and Peyton Penrose. Wynot got a three pointer each from Andrew Haberman and Devin Brummer but fell behind 27-21 at halftime.
The third quarter saw the Cadets widen their lead. A pair of long range threes by Hunter Swanson, five points by Bayden Doggett and a trey by Peyton Penrose fueled a 21-17 run.
Wynot stayed in sight thanks to eight points from Kotner Koch a second trey by Devin Brummer and a one by Lane Heimes. Wynot trailed 48-38 going into the final period.
In the final quarter Wynot tried to rally behind seven big points from Andrew Haberman, five points from Kasen Koch and a third trey by Devin Brummer but the Blue Devils would hurt their chances hitting only 2 of 9 free throws down the stretch.
West Point Beemer held steady in the final minutes with five more points from Hunter Swanson and a basket plus one each from Blaze Brockmann and Myles Neilson to advance to the championship with the 66-55 win.
Wynot will play Crofton in the consolation game at 1:30 on Monday.
Wynot 11 10 17 17—55 WPB 12 15 21 18—66 SCORING Wynot- Kotner Koch, 15; Andrew Haberman, 15; Devin Brummer, 9; Kasen Koch, 7; Nixen Heimes, 4; Lane Heimes, 3; Killian Steinhaus, 2. WPB- Bayden Doggett, 17; Hunter Swanson, 16; Hunter Doggett, 9; Myles Nielson, 7; Blaze Brockmann, 6; Peyton Penrose, 6; Ian Schiller, 3.
