Lady Bears take home third-place honors in Conference tournament

LAUREL - Laurel-Concord-Coleridge ended up third in the Lewis & Clark Conference Tournament.

LCC competed in the division comprised of the top eight seeded teams in the league by virtue of Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) power points.

In fact, the Lady Bears were just three points away from a spot in the conference finals, falling to powerhouse Wynot, 47-44, in the semifinals on Jan. 30.

Laurel-Concord-Coleridge went on from there and defeated Wakefield 44-36 in the third-place contest played here on Feb. 2.

The win over the Lady Trojans was the second against them by LCC in just nine days, winning a 68-52 contest back on Jan. 25 in a game also played in Laurel, and two of five wins the Lady Bears have enjoyed in the past six games.

Both teams started slowly after the semifinals disappointment suffered just a couple of nights prior.

But the game heated up in the second half as the Lady Bears increased a 14-11 halftime advantage by scoring 30 second-half points to arrive at the 44-36 final score.

Rena Rasmussen led a fairly balanced Laurel-Concord-Coleridge attack with 16 points. Tali Erwin and Mallory Eriksen each tossed in nine. Erwin from the outside and Eriksen from in the paint. Lainey Schutte chipped in five.

Rasmussen completed a double-double with 11 rebounds, Eriksen was a point shy of her’s by also pulling down 11 missed shots.

Erwin handed out three assists and Eriksen swiped four steals in the contest.

The Lady Bears outscored the Lady Blue Devils in every quarter but the third, but managed only four points in that third and played from behind the rest of the way.

“I was happy the way we played in the tournament,” LCC coach Marcus Messersmith said. “We were right there against Wynot. It was a great game to coach.

“We won every quarter but the third, just not by enough.”

Eriksen led the way offensively with 16 points inside, Rasmussen added 13 and Erwin tossed in 10 on three 3-pointers and a free throw. Kaida Eriksen tacked on five.

Mallory Eriksen got her doubledouble with 11 boards on the night, Rasmussen grabbed seven caroms and Schutte hauled down five.

The Lady Bears will complete the regular season on the road with a trip to Norfolk to take on Lutheran High Northeast on Feb.6 before traveling to Wisner-Pilger to take on the Lady Gators on Feb. 8.

The SubDistrict brackets will be released later this week. LCC will play in the C2-6 SubDistrict Feb. 12, 13 and 15 along with Homer, Oakland-Craig, Wakefield and Wisner-Pilger.

The Lady Bears look like the solid No. 2 seed in the tournament which will be held in Oakland..

Wakefield 11 25 - 36 LCC 14 30 - 44

LCC (13-7): Tali Erwin 4-11 0-3 9; Mallory Eriksen 4-8 1-1 9; Lainey Schutte 2-5 1-2 5; Carlie Kvols 0-2 0-0 0; Rena Rasmussen 4-7 8-10 16; Kaida Eriksen 1-8 1-2 3; Toni Thompson 1-1 0-0 2. LCC 26 18 - 44 Wynot 23 24 - 47

LCC: Erwin 3-8 1-2 10; M. Eriksen 7-14 2-3 16; Schutte 0-4 0-0 0; Kvols 0-1 0-0 0; Rasmussen 5-11 3-4 13; K. Eriksen 2-8 0-2 5.

WYNOT (14-2):