Free throws in final seconds lift West to win

It took nearly every second they had available to get the job done, but the West earned a 56-54 victory over the East Saturday night in the 19th annual Southeast Nebraska All-Star Girls Basketball Game at Southeast Community College-Beatrice's Truman Center.

Two free throws by Crete's Katie Hollman with 2.3 seconds left on the game clock gave the West the win.

“What do you say,” West coach Mark Ortmeier of Utica-Centennial said. “She (Hollman) has played in the state tournament. This was nothing for her.”

Ortmeier said Hollman simply stepped up to the line and made the shots.

“She (Hollman) made a great defensive play (before being fouled),” Ortmeier said.

Ortmeier said Hollman was “overlooked” by many when it came to the Crete team this year, because of the team's other “stars.”

“Tonight, she had a chance to shine and she did,” Ortmeier said.

The East jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game and maintained an eight-point lead, 18-10, advantage and the end of the first quarter.

By halftime, however, the West had gained a 19-18 lead.

“We came out pretty tight,” Ortmeier said. “We've heard for the entire day how the West had won 19 (games) in a row and all this stuff.

“I think we put a little too much pressure on ourselves.”

Ortmeier said once the West players “loosened up” in the second quarter, they were able to get a “flow” going.

After three quarters of play, the West led 43-28.

With three minutes left in the game, however, the East took a 50-49 lead.

A three-point swing gave the advantage back to the West as Bruning-Davenport's Brittany Hoins hit a single charity toss.

Hoins missed her second attempt from the line, but Beatrice's Kristina Gould grabbed the rebound and got the ball back to Hoins, who scored from the field.

With 2:11 left, the West led 52-50.

Syracuse's Abby Beach hit two free throws for the East to tie the score at 52-all with 1:16 remaining.

The score remained tied until Adams Freeman teammates Kristin Kroese and Stacie Goracke combined efforts to put the East back in front, Kroese stole the ball with 31 seconds remaining in the game and fed it to Goracke, who scored, giving the East a 54-52 lead.

With seven seconds left on the clock, Henderson-Heartland's Amber Block scored from the field for the West, tying the game at 54-all.

The East called a timeout with 4.2 seconds left, but was unable to score when play resumed and ended up fouling Hollman.

Hollman went to the line with 2.3 seconds showing on the game clock and sank a pair of free throws, which gave the West the two-point win.

The West's Block led all scorers in the game with 15 points.

“Amber Block did a good job on the low block,” Ortmeier said. “When she got down there, she was tough to stop.”

Kroese, who played the final quarter with a broken nose, led the East in scoring with 14 points and earned the game's Most Valuable Player Award.

East 18 10 10 16-54

West 10 19 14 13-56

East ( 54 )

Skylar Osovski, Nebraska City Lourdes, six; Tasha Goracke, Sterlng, five; Hayley Milam, Falls City, four; Stacie Goracke, Adams Freeman, nine; Morgan Hallstrom, Syracuse, three; Abby Beach, Syracuse, two; Katelyn Hill, Falls City Sacred Heart, did not score; Leah Petersen, Auburn, three; Kharisa Salberg, Sterling, two; Tara Meyer, Johnson-Brock, two; Kelsey Schiebur, Wymore Southern, four; Kristin Kroese, Freeman, 14.

West ( 56 )

Katie Hollman, Crete, three; Whitney Hiebner, Henderson-Heartland, did not score; Whitney Plessel, Milford, five; Molly Underwood, McCool Junction, two; Brittany Hoins, Bruning-Davenport, five; Kylie Helmink, Fairbury, two; Michelle Hermesch, DeWitt Tri County, three; Ali Turan, Deshler, injured-did not play; Kelly Winterfeld, Seward, 11; Sarah Bruns, Utica-Centennial, four; Kristina Gould, Beatrice, six; Amber Block, Heartland, 15.

Three-point goals: East three (Osovski two, Hallstrom one). West five (Hermesch one, Winterfeld three, Block one).