GIRLS STATE BASKETBALL: Norris Hits From Outside To Shutdown Bennington

LINCOLN–(KLMS Mar. 2)–The Norris girls basketball team started to hit from long range in their Tuesday morning Class B state tournament quarterfinal against Bennington, after seeing a double-digit lead cutback to two late in the first half.

The No. 2 ranked Titans shot 40% from three-point range in a 62-41 victory over the Badgers at Pinnacle Bank Arena, in a game heard on ESPN Lincoln.

Norris (21-2) will play Friday at 1:30pm in the semifinals and face York, who beat Omaha Skutt 31-28 in the following game on Tuesday.

The first three-pointer of the game for the Titans came from senior Brianna Stai, about 15 seconds into the game. Five more threes would follow to help Norris to a 21-15 first quarter lead.

The lead for the Titans stretched to ten early in the second quarter, but Bennington cut the game down to two points, as Abbi Boyes hit a pair of three-pointers to help in the Badger run. Norris responded and finished the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 38-29 halftime lead.

As Bennington started to cool off, Norris kept attacking and shooting from long-range. Maddi Collier and Kalli Kroeker each had 11 points for the Titans.

Emma John, a 6-1 junior, led all scorers with 14 points for Bennington, while Boyes added 13 points in the loss. The Badgers return a lot of experience for next season and finish the year at 14-11.