Fresh off winning first at last week’s Western Conference tournament, the Bearcats of Scottsbluff hit the court Friday night with a contest against Alliance. The Bulldogs had their moments but in the end red hot shooting by the Cats was too much too overcome. Scottsbluff made 7 three pointers and went on to post an 86 to 48 win over the Dogs in a battle played in Alliance. With the loss, AHS now has an 11 and 8 record. Up by just 8 midway through the second quarter, the Bluffs ran off 11 points in a row which included three straight 3s to take a big lead right before half. Senior Seth Meyring was the Dog’s top scorer with 13 points while fellow senior Payton Boyer added 10. A quick start by Scottsbluff in the JV matchup powered the Cats past Alliance 78 to 60 in a game played at AMS. The Bluffs used a full court press on the Dog’s junior varsity squad to gain a big lead and were never threaten.
A hoop by Meyring and a 2 by Boyer helped AHS take an early lead in the opening minutes of period 1. Down 4 to 2, the Bluffs responded with 6 in a row to take an 8 to 4 lead at the 4 minute stage. Boyer ended the run with his second basket as the Bulldogs moved within 2. Following a 3 by the guests, junior Espen Lanik then got into the Alliance score column with a deuce but 5 consecutive tallies by the Cats made the score 16 to 8 in favor of the visitors with less than 3 minutes left in the quarter. Freshman Jaden Guerra then answered with a 2 pointer that cut the Alliance deficit to 6. The period came to a close with another 3 by the Bearcats and bucket at the buzzer. After one quarter of action, Alliance was down 21 to 10.
Twenty three big second period points by the Bluffs made an Alliance comeback difficult. The stanza began with back to back Meyring scores as AHS pulled within 7. Five straight by the Cats ensued that gave SB a 13 point cushion. A goal by Lanik plus a three by Lexton Salcido gave the Dogs hope at the 4 minute stage. Momentum then went to the side of the guests. The Cats ran off 11 in a row to surge ahead 38 to 19. Boyer stopped the spurt with a score and a Meyring goal kept the Dogs in striking range. The teams then traded points at the end of the half. Alliance got buckets by Lanik and Boyer and the squads went to half with Scottsbluff in control at 44 to 27.
Scottsbluff would get the better of Alliance in period #3. The Cats put 19 more points on the board compared to 14 for the Bulldogs. Five quick tallies by the Bluffs pushed their advantage to 22 in the opening minutes of the third. A triple by Alliance’s Trevor Zurn plus a pair of free throws by Boyer slightly closed the Bulldog gap at the 6 minute stage.
A brief Alliance spree of 6 to 2 sliced the Dog margin was next. Scoring for AHS during the run were Zurn, Meyring, and Lanik. The quarter came to a conclusion with a free throw by Meyring and a 2 pointer by Zurn. After three period of play, SB led ALL 63 to 41.
A trey by the Bluffs started the fourth. Minutes later, a score by Meyring made the score 68 to 43. Scottsbluff salted the game away with 8 in a row to go up 76 to 43 at the 4 minute mark. A Guerra two pointer ensued and a three by Bulldog Devin Graham finished the scoring for Alliance. Final Scottsbluff 86 Alliance 48
SB 21 23 19 23 86
ALL 10 17 14 7 48
Scoring for Alliance Meyring 13 Boyer 10 Lanik 8 Zurn 7 Guerra 4 Graham 3 Salcido 3
Alliance was on the road Saturday with a game at McCook.