Kearney Falls to Mexico in State Sectional Game 55-49

Senior Brennan Watkins drives to the paint, on his way to 28 points in the contest.

The clock ran out for the Kearney Bulldogs last night as the Mexico Bulldogs secured a 55-49 victory in the Class 5 State Sectional game in the Kearney Fieldhouse.

Coming off a 54-50 district win over Platte County, Kearney had hopes of moving a step closer to a state championship. High-scoring Mexico advances to the quarter-final game after holding junior forward Ashton Holloway scoreless in the first half.

Mexico effectively controlled the game from the beginning. Kearney threatened late in the fourth quarter, when senior Drew Gentry grabbed an extra rebound and passed to Ashton Holloway for the score, making it a 38-37 game.

While it kept Kearney in the game, ultimately, the hometown Bulldogs couldn’t overcome Mexico’s defense coupled with a 17-12 fourth quarter run.

The prolific senior, Brennan Watkins carried the scoring load with 28 points on the night. The balance of Kearney’s scoring went as follows: Ashton Holloway had 9 points with Dawson Meinert, Tyler Carr and Drew Gentry each scoring 4.

102.7FM play by play analyst Dan Hermon summed up his thoughts post-game: “They (Mexico) are really good. I could see them moving on to the final four. I think we did a good job of holding them to 55. That’s well below their season average. It’s tough to see another team celebrating on your floor, but Kearney has nothing to hang their heads about. Asking these kids to handle all of that (quarantined season) I’m real impressed with this group. The future is bright.”

KPGZ Sports – Mike Davis contributed to this story.