• Photo Showcase: Prep basketball, Feb. 10

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LINCOLN — Lincoln Northeast used a strong defensive effort Friday night to cage the fourth-ranked Fremont Tigers.

The 10th-ranked Rockets led most of the game and went on to post a 40-31 home win. Northeast moved its record to 16-4 while Fremont, which was riding a six-game win streak, fell to 14-5.

“That was probably the best zone defense we’ve played this year,” Rockets coach Steve Bartek said. “Then we tried to slow the game down in the second half and they let us take some time off the clock.”

The Tigers, held to a season-low point total, were forced to take many of their shots from the perimeter. They sank 6 of 23 attempts from behind the arc and shot 29 percent overall, going 12 for 41.

“When you hold a team like Lincoln Northeast to 40 points on the road, you’ve got to be happy with your defense,” Fremont coach Tony Weinandt said. “But we didn’t make enough baskets offensively.”

The Tigers lost senior guard Liz Sajevic just three minutes into the game with a knee injury. Weinandt said that hurt Fremont at both ends of the court.

“She had 16 points against Papio this season and she’s our No. 1 defender inside,” he said. “She’s also a team captain, so we missed her leadership.”

Northeast led by seven at halftime but grabbed control of the game by starting the third quarter with a 10-0 run. Senior guard Brianna Craig, a Kansas State recruit, hit consecutive 3-pointers during the stretch.

Bartek said the Rockets concentrated on slowing down Fremont senior forward Allison Bachman, who is averaging a team-leading 17 points. She was held to nine Friday night, going 4 of 11 from the field.

“I told our team that we needed to hold her under 20,” Bartek said. “We knew where she was out there the whole time.”

Junior guard Devin Edwards led the Rockets with 13 points. Craig was held to 11 while center Toni Tupper had eight points and eight rebounds.

Bartek said his team was riding the momentum of its last-second road win earlier in the week over sixth-ranked Millard North.

“This is a tough stretch in our schedule, but I like it that way,” he said. “We’ve got another tough one coming up Tuesday night.”

That’s when Northeast will finish the regular season at home against second-ranked Lincoln Southeast. The Knights prevented the Rockets from reaching the state tournament last year, winning their district final game by two points.

The Tigers, seeking their first state tournament berth since 1985, host Elkhorn on Saturday night before finishing the regular season next week with road games against Omaha Burke and Lincoln North Star.

Fremont (14-5).....................................  9 5   2 15—31
At Lincoln Northeast (16-4)...................12 9 13   6—40

F: Erin Griffiths 0-1 0-0 0, Claire Meyer 2-10 0-0 6, Sherise Burnside 3-8 0-0 9, Jordyn Keeney 1-7 0-0 3, Allison Bachman 4-11 1-4 9, Kendall Niehaus 0-1 0-0 0, Shelby Riley 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 12-41 1-4 31.

LNE: Devin Edwards 4-6 2-2 13, Shaneequah Watkins 0-2 0-2 0, Brianna Craig 4-10 0-0 11, Madi Francis 1-2 0-0 2, Jamie Holscher 1-8 0-0 2, Morgan Ewing 2-4 0-0 4, Toni Tupper 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 16-40 2-4 40.

3-point goals: F 6-23 (Griffiths 0-1, Meyer 2-9, Burnside 3-8, Keeney 1-4, Bachman 0-1); LNE 6-12 (Edwards 3-4, Watkins 0-1, Craig 3-3, Holscher 0-3, Ewing 0-1). Rebounds: F 28 (Bachman 9); LNE 28 (Tupper 8). Total fouls: F 9; LNE 11. Turnovers: F 13; LNE 8. Field-goal percentage: F .292; LNE .400. Free-throw percentage: F .250; LNE .500. A: 400 (est.).

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402-444-1350, mike.patterson@owh.com

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