HOLDREGE – The Overton Eagles led from start to finish in their Fort Kearney Conference semifinal win over S-E-M 51-42 and Amherst had to sweat out the victory over Wilcox-Hildreth 42-34 to advance to the championship game.
Overton jumped out to a 12-0 lead and used it’s constricting defense to disrupt S-E-M the entire night. The Eagles forced 30 turnovers and found success, scoring consistent points off the takeaways. The Mustangs would make a couple of pushes throughout the game to get within six points, but failed to overcome the turnovers and struggled rebounding. Overton’s balanced offense saw eight different players score and two Eagles in double digits. JoLee Ryan finished with a 14 points and 15 rebounds. Ashlyn Florell chipped in 11 points including converting all seven free throw attempts. Adysen McCarter scored nine after knocking in three three pointers. Overton gave the ball away 17 times. In the loss, both Taryn Arbuthnot and Mikah O’Neill scored 13 points for S-E-M. Only five total players scored for the Mustangs.
The second FKC semifinal saw both Amherst and Wilcox-Hildreth get off to a slow start as the Broncos led 9-5 after one quarter. However, Amherst would explode for 16 points in the second quarter and eventually grab a double digit lead. Wilcox-Hildreth would punch back coming out of the half, outscoring the Broncos 15-10 and eventually retook the lead in the third quarter. Amherst would go on a later third quarter run and with both teams struggling to score in the fourth, it came down to the Broncos sinking late free throws to secure the win. In a defensive battle, both teams struggled to score at times and both had issues with turnovers. Amherst finished with 18 turnovers while the Falcons gave the ball away 21 times. In the win, Hannah Herrick led the Broncos with 18 points including sinking all four of her free throws in the fourth quarter. Grace John scored eight points. For Wilcox-Hildreth, Sarah Jensen scored 10 points while Madison Bunger finished with nine points while going 7-10 from the free throw line.
Up next: Amherst will attempt to defend their FKC title when they battle Overton. The championship is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday at Holdrege High School. Listen to the game on 880 KRVN and krvn.com. Wilcox-Hildreth and S-E-M will play in the consolation game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Holdrege.
Listen to the games below.
Source: Regional Sports
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