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No Jokes

Tommy Johnson calls his Lincoln North Star girls basketball team “funny”.

But there ain’t a whole lot that’s funny about what the Gators are doing during the toughest stretch of basketball any team in the state will see before March.

Sure, it’s probably fun for Class A No. 1-ranked North Star (No. 2 in our Power 20), which laughed its way to a 59-44 win over Kearney Tuesday night in a matchup of the final two unbeaten teams in Class A.

But the No. 4 (No. 5, Power 20) Bearcats (14-1) had about as much fun as the previous 13 teams North Star has taken care of in what is quickly becoming an all-time season for the team from the north side.

“I got a funny group. They’re so loose, and a lot of laughter,” Johnson said. “So I really don’t know until the game gets going (what our mindset is).

Johnson found out quickly his team was in a good spot last night.

It was 16-5 Gators before the end of the first quarter. A few minutes later it was 25-9.

And while Kearney, one of the best stories in Nebraska girls hoops this season, fought back with a 10-0 second-quarter run. This night, like all the others so far, belonged to North Star.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said North Star’s KJ Pinchon, who finished with a game-high 21 points to go with five rebounds. “Our 1-3-1 (defense) works pretty well, and we just have trust in each other.

“We don’t look at anyone too big or too small. We just come in with confidence.”

The one game at a time approach is cliche, sure, but it has helped North Star (14-0) make a meat-grinder stretch of hoops look like a walk in the park so far.

By the end of this week, the Gators will have played the Nos. 2, 3, and 4 teams in Class A in a span of seven days. They’ve already dispatched No. 3 (Millard West) and No. 4 (Kearney) by double figures.

Next up? A Friday trip to No. 2 Omaha North (11-3), which has yet to lose to a Nebraska opponent while having the full power of its transfer-heavy roster available.

“We’re excited to go play North on Friday,” Johnson said. “These are the games you want to play. At the end of the day it won’t make a big difference one way or another for our confidence, but these are the games that get you ready for the big ones in February and March.”

Kearney will be ready for February and March, too, and Tuesday was a good look at what the Bearcats will see when they get there.

North Star’s 59 points were the most Kearney has allowed in a game this season, 13 more than previous high, and just the fourth time the Bearcats have given up more than 40. The Bearcats’ only lead came at 2-1, 43 seconds into the game.

Kearney committed half of its 14 turnovers in the first quarter as North Star quickly built a double-digit lead. And while the Bearcats did a much better job against North Star’s long, athletic 1-3-1 the rest of the way, actually finishing with fewer giveaways than North Star, and making 12 of their 24 2-point attempts, the early damage was too much to overcome.

Kearney was led by freshman Hallie Garner’s 15 points. Addy Snyder and Libby Province each finished with 11.

Since surviving a 44-43 win over unranked Papillion-LaVista last week, North Star has scored 64, 57, and 59 points in its last three games — the last two coming against defending state champion Millard West and the previously undefeated Bearcats.

North Star outscored Kearney 27-9 from 3-point range, finishing 9-for-24 from downtown one game after going 9-for-18 from beyond the arc against Millard West.

Ani Leu did Ani Leu things for the Gators. The Omaha pledge finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Joyce Johnson had 12 points of her own.

Now, North Star has a few days to get ready for some more fun.

Catching Up

Stay up with all the basketball action right here.

Boys Scores | Girls Scores | nebpreps Boys Coaches Poll | nebpreps Girls Coaches Poll

The Big One Out West

Class C-1, No. 1 Ogallala improved to 11-0 with a 74-62 win over Scottsbluff (10-3) on Tuesday night. A big one for both teams. Tanner DeCastro (28) and Sawyer Smith (25) combined for 53 points in the win as the Indians pulled away from a 34-30 halftime advantage.