By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

Petri scored in double figures for the third consecutive game off the pine Tuesday night as the Lopers beat Chadron State 80-52 at the UNK Health and Sports Center. The 5-foot-10 freshman guard finished with 13 points 11 in the second half to help Nebraska-Kearney notch its third consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory.

Petri started the first 21 games of the season for the Lopers (19-5, 12-2 RMAC) before coach Carol Russell decided to tinker with the UNK lineup. Petri has responded by averaging 12 points in her last three games, all coming off the bench.

"Whatever coach feels is best for the team is great," Petri said. "I just go in there and play hard. That's all you've got to focus on."

Jade Meads and Melissa Hinkley scored 17 points apiece to lead the Lopers, who shot 50.8 percent from the floor. Petri added 13 points and Amy Mathis finished with 12 for UNK.

Petri reached double figures with an efficient 5-of-7 shooting performance from the floor. She was 2-of-2 from 3-point range and ranks second on the team with 26 treys, hitting 36.6 percent from beyond the arc for the season.

All the more reason for Petri to continue looking for her shot, Russell said.

"Kaitlin is a good shooter for us," Russell said. "It's just a matter of getting her confidence and getting her ready to shoot that ball. We've got such good post play that they sag off our guards and I thought Kaitlin was ready to catch and shoot tonight.

"She keeps the defense honest and that's what we need to have. She's been doing a great job of that for us lately."

Although Petri is the No. 17 all-time scorer in the history of Nebraska girls high school basketball with 1,766 career points, Russell said the Kearney Catholic graduate has at times been too tentative on the offensive end.

"She's very coachable almost to a fault," Russell said of Petri. "She's sometimes running the play so much that she forgets to play the game and that's what we talk about with her.

"I think she's come a long ways, just having recognition to how she's being guarded or where she's being guarded and getting herself ready to knock those down."

Petri has certainly been listening to Russell's advice.

"She has just been telling me that instead of just running the play to look and see where the open spots are and read the defense a little bit more," Petri said. "It has just taken a little time to get used to the offense and the way we run things.

"It has been nice, feeling more comfortable and being able to do a few more things in the offense."

Chadron State (6-15, 4-10) trailed just 26-20 with 4:48 left in the first half before Nebraska-Kearney finished the half with a 9-0 run to lead 35-20 at the intermission. The Lopers pulled away in the second half as Meads gave UNK its largest lead of the night at 75-39 with 4:04 to play.

"I didn't think we were very focused for this game at all," Russell said. "That's probably one of the biggest things we've learned from this game is that we've got to show up and be ready for every game, no matter who the opponent is."

Trysta Gruber scored a game-high 18 points to lead Chadron State. Alyssa Lyman added 12 points off the bench for the Eagles, who committed 24 turnovers and shot 34 percent.

Game notes

Nebraska-Kearney swept the regular-season series against Chadron State, having also defeated the Eagles 90-58 on Jan. 22 at Chadron. Russell said UNK 6-foot-2 junior center Ashlee Schneider remains day-to-day with a shoulder injury. The Centura graduate has missed the past six games. The Lopers return to action Friday with a 7 p.m. game at Colorado Mines.

NEB.-KEARNEY 80, CHADRON ST. 52

CHADRON ST. (6-15, 4-10)

Gruber 6-10 2-3 18, Arkulari 3-9 2-2 8, DeHaven 1-3 0-1 2, Busch 3-6 0-0 7, Kesterson 0-9 0-0 0, Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0, Slowman 0-2 2-2 2, Segelke 1-3 1-2 3, Long 0-3 0-0 0, Lyman 4-8 2-2- 12. Totals 18-53 9-12 52.

NEB.-KEARNEY (19-5, 12-2)

Schuppe 3-7 2-2 8, Mathis 3-10 5-6 12, Hinkley 7-13 3-6 17, Meads 7-12 3-5 17, Becker 3-5 1-2 7, Peterson 0-2 0-0 0, Petri 5-7 1-1 13, Nelsen 1-3 0-0 2, Mildenberger 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 31-61 15-22 80.

Halftime UNK 35, Chadron St. 20. 3-point goals Chadron St. 7-15 (Gruber 4-6, Busch 1-1, Slowman 0-2, Segelke 0-1, Long 0-1, Lyman 2-4), UNK 3-6 (Mathis 1-2, Hinkley 0-1, Meads 0-1, Petri 2-2). Fouled out Busch. Rebounds Chadron St. 31 (Kesterson 7), UNK 41 (Mathis, Meads, Becker 8). Assists Chadron St. 8 (DeHaven, Segelke 2), UNK 19 (Schuppe, Meads 5). Turnovers Chadron St. 24, UNK 16. Total fouls Chadron St. 16, UNK 15. Technicals None. A 627.

* MEN

UNK 72, Chadron St. 66

KEARNEY Nebraska-Kearney stormed back from a 21-point first-half deficit to beat Chadron State 72-66 Tuesday night in RMAC play at the UNK Health and Sports Center.

Jeff Martin scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as the Lopers (12-10, 10-4) outscored the Eagles 45-27 over the final 20 minutes. UNK won its fifth straight game, despite allowing a 21-0 run by Chadron State and shooting 33.3 percent in the first half.

Ravenna sophomore Drake Beranek and Josiah Parker each added 14 points and nine rebounds for UNK and Parker's seven blocked shots were one shy of the single-game school record. St. Edward freshman Jeremy Cruise added nine points for the Lopers, who shot 50 percent in the second half and 41.7 percent for the game.

Kyle Cotton had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Chadron State (7-15, 6-8). Andrew Gabellieri finished with 14 points all in the first half and Tim McLaurin had 13 points for the Eagles, who shot 37.5 percent, but outrebounded UNK 51-25.

The Lopers where whistled for just eight personal fouls. UNK outscored the Eagles 16-5 at the free-throw line.

With the score tied at 16-16, Chadron State went on a 21-0 scoring spree to lead 37-16 on a layup by Stacy McAlister with 6:34 left in the first half. The Lopers responded with an 11-2 run, cutting their deficit to 39-27 at halftime.

UNK finally retook the lead at 49-48 on a Cruise 3-pointer with 9:50 to play. The Lopers broke a 62-62 tie and took the lead for good on a Parker basket with 2:07 remaining and Cruise added a 3-pointer with 1:31 left for a 67-62 advantage.

Martin and Beranek combined to hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal the victory for UNK, which swept the regular-season series. The Lopers previously defeated the Eagles 85-77 back on Jan. 22 at Chadron.

NEB.-KEARNEY 72, CHADRON ST. 66

CHADRON ST. (7-15, 6-8)

Gabellieri 5-8 0-0 14, Curry 1-4 2-2 4, Cotton 6-15 2-2 15, McLaurin 6-14 0-0 13, McAlister 3-7 0-0 6, Gant 0-3 0-0 0, DeSouza 1-6 0-0 3, Cecilio 1-3 0-0 2, Coffman 3-8 1-2 7, Wright 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 27-72 5-6 66.

NEB.-KEARNEY (12-10, 10-4)

Lever 4-6 0-6 8, Cruise 3-9 0-0 9, Martin 7-14 8-10 25, Beranek 4-16 6-6 14, Parker 6-13 2-2 14, Cooney 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-60 16-24 72.

Halftime Chadron St. 39, UNK 27. 3-point goals Chadron St. 7-20 (Gabellieri 4-7, Curry 0-1, Cotton 1-4, McLaurin 1-2, Gant 0-1, DeSouza 1-5), UNK 6-16 (Cruise 3-7, Martin 3-7, Beranek 0-2). Fouled out McLaurin. Rebounds Chadron St. 51 (Cotton, McLaurin 8), UNK 35 (Beranek, Parker 9). Assists Chadron St. 11 (Gant 5), UNK 12 (Beranek 4). Turnovers Chadron St. 25, UNK 19. Total fouls Chadron St. 18, UNK 8. Technicals None. A 878.