.jpg)
WAYNE — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Lady Bears finished up 2025 with a fifth-place finish in the Elkhorn Valley Bank Northeast Nebraska Shootout then opened 2026 with a loss to Archbishop Bergan on the home court here in Laurel.
The Lady Bears dropped the opening game of the Shootout to highly regarded, undefeated and returning state champion Pender before gathering themselves to win the next two tourney games before the loss to Bergan.
Bergan came to town on Jan. 2 and went back to Fremont with a 57-52 win over the Lady Bears.
Rena Rasmussen led the way in that contest for LCC with 23 points on the evening and posted a doubledouble with a dozen rebounds.
Kaida Eriksen added 18 and Carlie Kvols tacked on nine.
Eriksen and Kvols also grabbed seven rebounds apiece while Eriksen and Hattie McCorkindale handed out five and four assists respectively.
Eriksen rounded out a good game with six steals. In the fifth-place game of the tournament against Cedar Catholic, the Lady Bears used a strong second half to extend a nine-point halftime advantage into a 70-52 win.
Rasmussen, Kvols and Eriksen poured in 21, 20 and 19 points respectively to post the win.
LCC got to the fifth-place game with a thrilling 55-52 win over Omaha Concordia in the consolation semifinals.
Concordia led throughout the first half and the teams went to the break with the Lady Mustangs in front, 3427.
The Lady Bears got defensive in the final two quarters, holding Concordia to just 18 points the rest of the way and pouring in 28 to earn the win.
LCC got the lead when Kvols nailed a 3-pointer with just under four minutes left in the final eight minutes to make it 47-45.
She added a free throw a little over a minute later to make it 48-45 then Boston Brown scored on a fast break to make it 50-45 with 2:40 left.
The Lady Mustangs converted a couple of charity tosses then Eriksen canned one-of-two to make it 51-47.
A Concordia baseline jumper and a Rasmussen free throw made it 52-49 when the Lady Mustangs hit a long ball to tie the score at 52-52 with 1:10 left on the clock.
The two teams traded turnovers then the Lady Bears got the ball and Kvols splashed a 3 with 9.2 seconds left to take the 55-52 lead.
A Concordia shot at the buzzer was off the mark and Laurel-Concord-Coleridge moved on to the fifth-place contest.
In the opening round, Pender flexed its muscles and sprinted out to a 37-24 lead at the half then held the Lady Bears to just 11 points the entire second half to post a 66-35 win.
Rasmussen was the lone Lady Bear in double figures in the contest with 20 points. Eriksen added eight.
The Orange and Black was set to travel to Tilden Jan. 6 to take on undefeated Elkhorn Valley before returning home to take on Cedar Catholic on Jan. 8.
The Lady Bears will also host Humphrey/Lindsay Academy Jan. 9 before finishing a very busy week with a trip to take on Wayne in Wayne on Jan. 13.
AB (4-6) 57 LCC (6-4) 52 LCC Hattie McCorkindale 1-5 0-0 2; Carlie Kvols 3-8 0-0 9; Rena Rasmussen 10-16 3-5 23; Kaida Eriksen 5-15 5-10 18; Karli Ferris 0-1 0-0 0; Boston Brown 0-3 0-0 0. Cedar Catholic 12 10 16 14 - 52 LCC 16 15 18 21 - 70 LCC Rasmussen 21; Kvols 20; Eriksen 19; McCorkindale 4; Ferris 3; Brown 3. LCC (6-4) 12 15 12 16 - 55 Omaha Concordia (4-4) 16 18 9 9 - 52 LCC McCorkindale 1-5 3-6 5; Tyler Recob 0-1 0-0 0; Kvols 6-8 1-2 16; Rasmussen 9-18 4-7 22; Eriksen 2-12 2-3 6; Ferris 1-2 0-0 2; Brown 2-4 0-0 4. LCC (6-4) 6 18 6 5 - 35 PEN (10-1) 14 23 19 10 - 66 LCC McCorkindale 0-2 0-0 0; Recob 0-1 0-0 0; Kvols 1-9 0-0 3; Rasmussen 5-9 9-10 20; Eriksen 3-11 0-4 8; Ferris 1-2 0-0 2; Brown 1-3 0-0 2.
