LINCOLN – The Ponca Indians began their state title defense Thursday evening in the Class C2 Boys State Basketball Tournament.
From Lincoln Southeast High School, #1 Ponca took on #8 Perkins County.
Ponca took control right from the get go with a 26-7 first quarter while adding a 17-2 second quarter. The Indians held a 43-9 lead into the locker room. With some subs getting valuable state experience in, Ponca added a 15-12 third quarter while winning the fourth, 14-8. Final found Ponca winning 72-29 to pick up their 13th straight game to improve to 28-1 on the season as Perkins County falls to 16-8.
Four Ponca Indians recorded double figure scoring as sophomore Carter Kingsbury hit four, three-pointers to lead the team with 14 points. Junior reserve Evan Anderson and senior Logan Kingsbury poured in 12 points each while senior Max Masin tallied another 11 points. Ponca went 12-19 from the foul line.
Senior Joshua Johnston paced Perkins County with 15 points. The Plainsmen hit 7-13 from the free throw line.
The top seed in Class C2, Ponca will next face #5 Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons Decatur at 3:45 p.m. from the Bob Devaney Sports Center Friday. BLRD defeated #4 Elmwood-Murdock, 48-47 in overtime. Pregame coverage will get underway at 3:30 p.m. on Big Red Country 104.9 and online at waynedailynews.com.
