Niobrara/Verdigre tried to knock the Summerland girls' basketball team off the consolation podium, Saturday, at the Niobrara Valley Conference Tournament played at Summerland.

A last-second three-pointer got nothing but net for the Cougars, but it was one point too little as the Bobcats held on for a 59-58 victory.

Birch said his team had good energy after a tough Thursday night loss.

"I thought our girls all played well together. Ady (Mlnarik) had an outstanding performance with 39 points, nine rebounds, several steals and a couple of assists. Preslie Robertson did a great job of chasing Joslyn Miller around all day long. Lydia Robertson did a great job and played with all out hustle. Bolling was on the floor, diving for loose balls and playing her tail off. Jenn battled well inside and rebounded well. Caydence Schumacher came off the bench and gave us a great spark, great energy and a scoring punch. I saw all of the other girls on our bench brought great bench energy as well. It was a great team effort and a good win to finish third in a tough NVC conference," he said.

How did the Lady Cats get to this point? It started Jan. 29, when they played North Central in the first round.

Coach Jacob Birch said in a game where the Bobcats were down early, his team did a great job of overcoming adversity and a slow start and slowly battling away to get a great win against a good North Central team.

"A 21 to 8 third-quarter really helped us in that ballgame.

We were able to seize the lead and then keep it in the fourth quarter," Birch said. "In our conference, it is tough to even get past the first round of the tournament so that was nice to see.

Semifinals

Jody Schindler | SAM

Consolation • The Summerland girls' basketball team displays the third-place plaque after defeating Niobrara/Verdigre, 59-58, in the Niobrara Valley Conference tournament consolation game played Saturday at Summerland. Team members include (front row, l-r): Charlee Wagner, Bailey Ahlers, Adyson Mlnarik, Preslie Robertson, Ella Bolling, Jaycee Reynolds, Kenzie Sanne; (back row, l-r): Coach Jim Schutt. Coach Jacob Birch, Tessa Janak, Caydence Schumacher, Lydia Robertson, Jenna Funk, Abryelle Kester, Aislynn Kester, Kelsey Schlecht and Coach Carrie Kucera.

Adyson Mlnarik scored 22 points in the Bobcats semifinal 45-46 loss to Elgin Public/Pope John.

Birch described the contest as a "back-and-forth game with an electric semifinal atmosphere for the NVC."

Statistically, it could've come down to free throws. The Bobcats made only four of 16 shots from the charity stripe.

"I thought our girls battled incredibly hard and did a great job with our effort and energy. Unfortunately, we came up short by one point. But I thought our girls had an outstanding effort, outstanding game, and outstanding comeback."

Remainder of season

Birch said the Bobcats are looking forward to this week's games.

"We have a rematch with EPPJ. They are extremely good and it will be another great ball game. We are excited to get to compete again with them. You want to be playing teams like that this time of year heading into subdistricts. We also play Lutheran High this week who has had a tough season, but is very capable and battle tested.