The Dorchester girls basketball team had some low moments in the D2-4 district final on Feb. 28, but got it done when it mattered and defeated Dundy County-Stratton 46-44 for the D2-4 district championship.
This is the first time the Longhorns have made the state tournament since 2004.
“We didn’t play our best game, but the girls found a way to win,” Coach Brandon Bruha said.
Dorchester ended the first quarter tied at 11 and found itself trailing 21-18 at halftime.
With four minutes left in the third quarter, the Longhorns were trailing by 11, but they clawed their way back to only trail by three, 36-33, at the end of the quarter.
“We could have gotten down on ourselves at that point and the game could have gotten away but the girls dug in and made a run,” Bruha said.
The fourth quarter evened out to where both teams continued to trade baskets back and forth, but with the game tied at 42, Baylor Behrens hit a two pointer and then made a free throw with 18.8 seconds left to give the Longhorns a 45-42 lead. DCS scored with 3.7 seconds left to cut the game to 45-44, but Bailey Theis was fouled on the inbounds and made one of two free throws to secure the win.
“I am proud of our team. These girls deserve this,” Bruha said. “They put a lot of time and hard work into this program and it is nice to see it pay off. Hopefully we can keep it going and look forward to playing at Pinnacle Bank.”
Behrens led the Longhorns with 15 points and Gabby Theis scored 14.
Dorchester (22-2) is the fourth seed in the state tournament and will play at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Thursday, March 6, starting at 10:45 a.m. The Longhorns will face off against fifth seeded Silver Lake.
“First look at Silver Lake I think we will match up well against them,” Bruha said. “They look very similar to our team. Hopefully we play a little better than we did in our district final game. We have to do a better job at taking care of the ball. If we can do that I like our chances to move on.”
