Kirt Manion
kmanion@cherryroad.com
Hard-fought victories against Beatrice and Plattsmouth by the Nebraska City girls’ basketball team avenged prior losses, evened the team’s season record at 9-9 and placed the Pioneers in a conference tournament final for the first time since 2006.
Back in 2006, the Pioneers defeated Plattsmouth and Elkhorn to advance to the Eastern Midlands Con-ference Tournament finals.
This year, as a member of the Trailblazer Conference, the Pioneers opened tournament play with a Be-atrice win that avenged a 33-point loss from the season-opener. And Nebraska City followed that up with a win over Plattsmouth, avenging an 18-point loss from earlier this season.
Coach Leisha Pickerill said the Pioneers entered the tournament with the aggressive mind set of having nothing to lose.
And that mind set was immediately apparent when the team traveled to play at Beatrice on Jan. 27. Nebraska City came out strong and led most of the game buoyed by the highest field goal percentage of the season at 41 percent.
“We took care of the ball and dropped our turnovers to one of our lowest as well,” said Coach Pickerill.
The defense stepped up as well as Nebraska City limited Alijah Stabler, Beatrice’s top scorer, to just sev-en points. Pickerill said Stabler had 22 points in the last meeting of the two teams.
“The girls did an excellent job communicating where she was on the court,” said Coach Pickerill.
Mackensie Briley, one of three double-figure scorers for the Pioneers, had seven of her 10 points in a fourth quarter that the Pioneers won by three points. The team won 42-40 on the final scoreboard. Joining Briley in double figures were Payton Harrah, 11 points, and Lexi Brown, 10 points. Tarryn God-sey had seven and Olivia L’Heureux had four.
On Jan. 30, the Pioneers returned to the court for a battle with Plattsmouth and had to fight back after being down double digits early.
Coach Pickerill said the Pioneers came out a little nervous but responded to an 11-0 deficit by going on a 14-0 run.
“After facing Plattsmouth just a few weeks earlier, we were able to learn from our mistakes, break their press, and capitalize on their turnovers,” said Coach Pickerill. “Defensively, we held Plattsmouth to one of their lowest scoring games and stayed mentally tough after two of our starters fouled out.”
Nebraska City trailed 15-14 at the half and 26-24 entering the fourth quarter. The Pioneers won the fourth quarter, 10-6 and took the game by a final of 34-32.
Payton Harah led the team with 11 points, while Lexi Brown had 10. Tarryn Godsey had eight points and Makenzie Briley and Olivia L’Heureux chipped in with four and one point respectively.
“The wins over Beatrice and Plattsmouth were very exciting, especially seeing the positive energy on the bench and the reactions of all the players after the buzzers,” said Coach Pickerill.
The Pioneers played their third straight road game on Feb. 1 when the team took on Wahoo in the Trailblazer Conference final.
Nebraska City enjoyed a lead after one quarter before Wahoo went on a run that put them ahead by eight points at the half on the way to a 39-17 victory on the final scoreboard.
Scoring points for Nebraska City were Makenzie Briley, seven; Tarryn Godsey, six; and Lexi Brown, four.
“Although the conference tournament didn’t end how we wanted after upsetting the first two teams, it is not the culmination of our season,” said Coach Pickerill. “Seeing how far we’ve come from only hav-ing eight players a few years ago to earning second place in the conference is a huge accomplishment
“It has only made us dream bigger,” said Coach Pickerill. “If we keep putting in the work in practice and in our last few regular season games, we can make that dream a reality.”
