Titans Play Benson and Kearney in East/West Classic

by Chandler Thomas
2.8.08

Fighting and clawing their way back into the game, the PL South Titan boys basketball team defeated Omaha Benson by four points in the first game of the East/West Classic.

Down by 15 points with seven minutes left in the game, the Titans pulled off the comeback.

“We were flat going into halftime,” senior Ben Williams said. “But we came out in the fourth quarter and took care of business.”

Meanwhile, No. 8 ranked Kearney Bearcats won their game against Columbus handily, making the championship game a face-off between two top 10 teams in the state. The finals against Kearney started off with all the momentum in the Titan’s favor. With a 14-point lead with 1.9 seconds left in the first half, Kearney hit a half court shot, cutting the lead to 11 at halftime.

“That shot right before halftime took some of the momentum away from us,” Williams said.

In the second half, the Bearcats got to the free throw line 34 times to the Titans' seven times. This was a big factor as Kearney pulled the upset over the No. 5 ranked Titans, 63-60.

“This loss really hurt because we lost to them last year at their place and we didn’t redeem ourselves,” senior Josias Hueser said.

After the weekend, the new rankings came out with Kearney ahead of the Titans at the No. 4 spot with PL South remaining at No. 5.

photo by Rob Nielsen