Lady Bears split games to open tourney

WAYNE - The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Lady Bears basketball team split the first two games of the Elkhorn Valley Bank Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout here at Rice Auditorium Dec. 28 and 29.

The Lady Bears had the unenviable task of taking on last season’s C2 state champions and the 2022 winner of this tournament in the opening round.

The Pender Lady Pendragons defeated LCC 70-42. The Lady Bears were able to right the ship and take down Winnebago in the consolation semifinals, walking away with a 66-43 win over the Lady Indians to earn a spot in the consolation finals on Dec. 30.

Against the Lady Indians, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge got going a little slowly in the early part of the game and didn’t really pull away until a 16-6 final quarter on the way to the win.

In the opening eight minutes, the score was 10-7 in favor of the Lady Bears when freshman, Kaida Eriksen drew a charge.

Tali Erwin spotted Mallory Eriksen inside for a bucket then hit a couple of charity tosses herself with 1:45 left in the opening frame to make it 14-7.

Rena Rasmussen grabbed an offensive rebound and passed the ball to Carlie Kvols inside where Kvols was fouled.

Kvols concerted the free throws to make it 16-7 with 1:20 left in the first.

After a Lady Indian free throw, Kvols canned a 3 to make it 19-8 and Winnebago closed out the quarter with the final five points to head to the first break with the Lady Bears up 19-13.

In the second eight minutes, the Lady Indians got back to within 22-21 but a Mallory Eriksen gifter and shot inside off her own offensive rebound, made it 25-21.

Kvols spotted Lainey Schutte inside then a steal and layup by Erwin made it 29-21, forcing Winnebago to call a timeout.

A 3 by Erwin, who finished with a game-high 18 points, ended scoring in the first half with Laurel-Concord-Coleridge in front 34-24.

In the second half, the Lady Bears lead dwindled to 38-34 but an Erwin 3 and a pass from Rasmussen to Kvols, who hit a 10-foot jumper from the baseline, pushed the lead back to 43-37 with 2:37 left in the third period.

Erwin splashed another 3 then Rasmussen grabbed her own missed shot three times before being fouled.

She converted both free throws then got a pass from Schutte inside to close out the third with Laurel-Concord-Coleridge in front, 50-37.

The Lady Bears took care of business from there heading to the 66-43 final score.

Rasmussen wound up in double figures with 12 points, Kvols added 10.

In the opening round against the undefeated Lady Pendragons, the Lady Bears hung around for the first half before Pender took over and won the game by a 70-42 final score.

Rasmussen and Mallory Eriksen paced Laurel-Concord-Coleridge with 17 and 13 points respectively as Laurel-Concord-Coleridge tried to make a game of it in the second quarter.

After falling behind 23-7 in the first eight minutes, the Lady Bears responded taking the second quarter 20-17 before a final stanza which saw Laurel-Concord-Coleridge only manage three points, put them in the consolation bracket.

LCC (7-3) 19 15 16 16 - 66 WIN (3-6) 13 13 11 6 - 43

LCC: Tali Erwin 7 3-4 18; Mallory Eriksen 3 2-6 8; Lainey Schutte 2 0-2 4; Carlie Kvols 3 2-2 10; Brynlee Stanley 1 0-0 3; Haley Hart 1 0-0 2; Rena Rasmussen 5 2-2 12; Kaida Eriksen 2 2-4 7; Delaney Johnson 1 0-0 2.

WINNEBAGO: Breezie Treglia 1 0-0 2; Haylie Lovejoy 1 1-2 3; Daynee Harlan 3 0-0 8; Jolon Blackbird 2 1-2 5; Gianna Grant 2 0-0 4; Charlize Frenchman 3 0-0 9; Khallen Kennedy 1 0-0 2; Tressa Bigbear 3 3-6 9; Caly Wolfleader 0 1-2 1.

WAYNE - Laurel-Concord-Coleridge dropped Saturday’s fifth-place contest to Pierce, 54-38, here in the Elkhorn Valley Bank Great Northeast Nebraska Holiday Tournament.

Laurel-Concord-Coleridge did have a very balanced offensive attack with four Lady Bears within a basket of double-digits, but none of the four reached the criteria as Mallory Eriksen, Lainey Schutte and Rena Rasmussen each had eight points, Kaida Eriksen chipped in seven.

Tali Erwin added four and Carlie Kvols rounded out the scoring with three points.

The Lady Bluejays led 18-13 after the opening eight minutes, and extended the lead to 31-21 at the intermission.

The teams played even in the third quarter before Pierce closed out the game with a 12-6 advantage in the final stanza.

The Lady Bears were set to host Cedar Catholic on Jan. 4 with road trips to Winnebago on Jan. 5 and Wayne on Jan. 9 to follow.

LCC 13 8 11 6 — 38 Pierce 18 13 11 12 — 54

LAUREL-CONCORD-COLERIDGE (7-4): Mallory Eriksen 4 0-0 8; Lainey Schutte 3 0-0 8; Rena Rasmussen 3 2-2 8; Kaida Eriksen 2 2-2 7; Tali Erwin 2 0-0 4; Carlie Kvols 1 0-0 3.

PIERCE (5-4): Abbie Cone 9 3-4 21; Hadley Wragge 6 0-0 12; Skylar Scholting 4 2-4 10; Ava Knox 3 0-0 7; Emily