Bobcats advance to district final after two subdistrict wins

By the time this edition of SAM lands in readers' mailboxes, they'll know if the Bobcats will make a trip to the 2024 state basketball championships.

Summerland was slated to play Perkins County, Tuesday, in the C2-6 district final at Kearney Catholic. The "Advocate-Messenger" went to press several hours before tipoff.

The route to Kearney began with what coach Brett Kaczor called "two very physical back-and-forth games" during subdistricts.

The Bobcats hadn't seen Valentine play. Kaczor and company "knew they were athletic and had some shooters."

"We made enough plays down the stretch to get out of there with a victory," the coach said.

Michael Koenig led the Bobcats with 15 points. Carter Bergman added 11 and Sam Cheatum made 10 in the 54-46 win.

Kaczor called Thursday's subdistrict final, against West Holt, "one of the most intense games I have been a part of since I started coaching."

"Emotions were high, the crowd was electric and everyone knew it was going to be another good game for the fourth matchup with West Holt."

According to Kaczor, the Bobcats' defense wasn't clicking in the first three quarters.

"We made enough plays offensively to keep it close going into the fourth quarter," he said.

That's when the Bobcats turned the defense up a notch.

Summerland outscored the Huskies, 17-5 in the final quarter to secure the victory.

Bergman led Summerland with 17 points. Preston Hoke grabbed three steals.

Kaczor said, "It was an awesome win to get after they beat us on our home floor for the conference championship."

He hopes the win parlays into a district victory.

"The guys have a lot of positive momentum going into district finals, which is exactly what we wanted," he said.