A wounded Bear, especially a hungry one, is dangerous.

Just ask Norfolk after the state's No. 1 team won't hold onto that ranking after Saturday night's 62-55 loss at Omaha Bryan.

The Bears were without two starters, injured guard Ben Imig and NSAA-suspended forward DK Augustine.

They also were starving for a quality win after losing in their past two games against top-six teams, Lincoln High and Omaha Central, by a total of five points.

“We just needed that little oomph, keep our composure after those two close losses,'' said junior guard Galen Gullie, who led all scorers with 18 points.

The replacements for Imig, who has a broken wrist, and Augustine, who had to sit out after receiving two technicals against Central, each had career games.

Telly Mason, in for Imig, had 11 points, six assists and only one turnover. Chris Kerwin, in for Augustine, had a double-double by the end of the third quarter and finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Tarir Gatuoch had 10 of his 11 points after halftime and Reath Jiech eight of his 10 as all five Bryan starters — only two subs got into the game — were double-figure scorers.

“Kerwin and Gatuoch were really good tonight,'' Bryan coach Tim Cannon said. “They were getting a lot of rebounds, layups. It helps Galen. And I thought Telly had his best game.”

Norfolk (15-2) never led after its opening basket, managed its last tie at 21-21 after once trailing 11-2 and found itself trailing by 13 points three times in the second half.

“I thought Bryan played very hard and dealt with its adversity,'' Norfolk coach Ben Ries said. “When it shoots 70 percent in the second half, trying to mount a comeback, you're probably not going to get the job done.''

The Panthers didn't return home, though, without trying. Four consecutive 3-pointers by brothers Jalen (three) and Jonah (one) Bradley made it 54-50 with 1:35 left.

Before that, Norfolk was shooting only 25 percent from 3-point range.

“Our first goal was to take away the 3, because you saw how they shot it at the end,'' Cannon said. “That's why we played more man-to-man than usual.''

Kerwin cut off the Panthers' rally with a basket off a press-break pass by Gullie. Bryan made six of its final eight free throws after a 7-for-16 start at the line.

Jalen Bradley led Norfolk with 14 points. Brady Lollman added 12.

Bryan outscored them 13-2 at the line and 16-5 on points off turnovers.

“I thought our kids showed a little bit of heart in coming back, trying to find a way to win,'' Ries said. “But the hole was dug early on, right from the get-go. Our first possession was one pass, dribble, and that's not typical of our team.''

Cannon said he hopes that the win has a positive aftereffect for the Bears.

“We really did need this,'' he said. “It could be a little pep in our step the rest of the way.

“And I can't say enough about how they played together. Whenever I chewed on them on the bench, they'd grab each other and say, ‘Don't worry about it, play the game.'''

Norfolk (15-2)..................................10 11 10 24—55
At Omaha Bryan (13-4)..................15 9 18 20—62

N: Jalen Bradley 5-10 0-0 14, Jonah Bradley 1-5 0-0 5, Nathan Marsh 4-9 1-1 9, Brady Lollman 5-13 0-0 12, Tanner Lancaster 2-3 1-2 5, Garrett Johnson 2-5 0-0 5, Alex Starkel 2-2 0-0 4, Jarvis Green-Smoot 1-1 0-0 3, Tyson McGill 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Vogel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 2-3 55.

OB: Telly Mason 5-8 1-3 11, Galen Gullie 6-11 5-7 18, Tarir Gatuoch 4-10 3-7 11, Chris Kerwin 5-8 2-3 12, Reath Jiech 4-8 2-3 10, Joe Imig 0-1 0-0 0, Ethan Montalvo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 13-24 62.

3-point goals: N 9-22 (Ja. Bradley 4-7, Jo. Bradley 1-5, Lollman 2-7, Johnson 1-2, Green-Smoot 1-1), B 1-6 (Mason 0-1, Gullie 1-2, Kerwin 0-1, Jiech 0-1, Imig 0-1). Total fouls: N 22, B 10. Fouled out: Jo. Bradley. Technicals: none. Turnovers: N 14, B 7. Rebounds: N 27 (Lollman 7), B 28 (Kerwin 10). Field-goal percentage: N .458, B .522. Free-throw percentage: N .667, B .542. Officials: Shillinglaw, Mitchell, Rump. A: 800 (est.)

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com