The Kearney Catholic Stars have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They opened the new year with a less-than-successful 44-32 defeat to Grand Island Central Catholic. Kearney Catholic has not had much luck with Grand Island Central Catholic recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.
Londyn Carnes and Callie Squiers certainly did their best on Friday to try and avoid the loss. Carnes scored 11 points, while Squiers scored nine points along with five rebounds. The game was Carnes' third in a row with at least ten points.
Kearney Catholic struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only two offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Grand Island Central Catholic got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Carolyn Maser out in front who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Maser is on a roll when it comes to blocks, as she's now posted two or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery O'Boyle, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Kearney Catholic's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 6-3. As for Grand Island Central Catholic, their victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-1.
Kearney Catholic will take on North Platte at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. North Platte will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings (they are ranked 149th, while Kearney Catholic is ranked 43rd). As for Grand Island Central Catholic, they will head out on the road to face off against Doniphan-Trumbull at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully Doniphan-Trumbull focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 18 on Thursday.
