By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

For the Patriots, it was another sickening case of dj vu. After starting the season 12-0, Adams Central lost seven of its last eight games, including six straight.

"It seems like a reoccurring nightmare," Adams Central coach Jim LaMaster said. "We don't do something right down the stretch and leave the door open for somebody and they take advantage of it."

After watching its 11-point, third-quarter advantage evaporate, Adams Central (13-7) rallied in the fourth quarter to lead 47-42 on a Nick Elsberry free throw with 2:58 to play. However, the Patriots never scored again.

The Minutemen (7-14) cut their deficit to 47-46 with 44 seconds left on baskets by Tyler Tingelhoff and Kellen Schroeder. Adams Central was able to run the clock down to 18.6 seconds before Tanner Hohlen was fouled.

Hoehlen missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity, but it appeared the Patriots might catch a break as Todd Smidt pulled down the offensive rebound. However, Adams Central promptly turned the ball over, giving possession back to Lexington with 13.3 seconds remaining.

The Minutemen advanced the ball to half court before calling a timeout with 8.7 seconds to go to set up their final play. Lexington coach Darren Hanson then opted to put the ball in the hands of Bernal, who led his team with 13 points and seven assists.

"We got what we wanted," Hanson said. "We wanted to isolate Bryant down the middle of the lane and you want him to make the play because that's what he does for us is make plays.

"We had a couple of shooters spotted up outside in case he got caught, but he made the play for us."

Bernal proceeded to make his coach's decision pay off, but not without a few anxious seconds for the Minutemen. The speedy, 5-foot-7 guard quickly penetrated into the lane, but was shut off and had to pick up his dribble. After initially looking to pass to a teammate, Bernal turned and lofted a desperation shot that found the bottom of the net.

"You've got to give the little guy credit, he hit a shot," LaMaster said. "We switched our defense to a man-to-man right at the last second, hoping to confuse them, but he attacked the basket, put it up and those are just kind of the shots that have gone down against us in the last couple of weeks instead of rimming out."

Lexington, which defeated Grand Island Northwest 52-47 Saturday night in the first round, will now play for the B-5 district title and a trip to the state tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Minutemen will face McCook (15-10), a 62-60 winner over Holdrege.

The latest loss for Adams Central came on a night when it looked like the Patriots might finally be ready to break out of their funk. After leading 26-21 at halftime, LaMaster's team quickly got an inside bucket from Smidt and a 3-pointer from Hohlen, prompting Lexington to take a timeout just 42 seconds into the third quarter.

But the Minutemen never gave up. Lexington's Stuart Long started an 8-0 run with a driving basket and capped it with a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left in third quarter to cut Adams Central's lead to 37-34 heading into the final quarter.

"We came out of the gate in the third quarter and really played well, but then we lost momentum at the end of the third quarter, turned it over a few times and made a few other mistakes," LaMaster said. "That kind of let the air out of the balloon. We just couldn't afford those kinds of things that let (Lexington) back into the game in the fourth quarter."

LaMaster said an occasional lack of offensive patience and losing 6-3 senior post player Justin Drudik to fouls with 3:55 to play combined to hamper the Patriots down the stretch.

"It's a real sad way to end the season," LaMaster said. "Like I told the kids, I feel, as a coach that I couldn't get something across that we couldn't stay patient in some situations.

"Unfortunately, things just didn't go our way. We just couldn't catch a break at times when we needed one."

Hohlen led Adams Central with 13 points, hitting 4-of-7 shots from 3-point range. Zach Hunt and Smidt added 10 points apiece for the Patriots.

LEXINGTON 48, ADAMS CENTRAL 47

LEXINGTON (7-14)

Bernal 4-8 5-7 13, Dillard 2-6 1-2 6, Tingelhoff 1-2 0-0 2, Schroeder 3-3 0-1 6, Cunningham 3-8 2-2 8, Long 5-7 0-0 11, Araujo 0-0 0-0 0, Seberger 1-3 0-0 2, Sheldon 0-0 0-0 0, Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-37 8-12 48.

ADAMS CENTRAL (13-7)

Hohlen 4-9 1-2 13, Bohlen 0-0 0-0 0, Hunt 4-12 0-0 10, Smidt 5-8 0-1 10, Drudik 0-1 3-6 3, LaMaster 1-2 0-0 3, Alt 0-2 0-0 0, Lyons 1-2 0-0 2, Elsberry 2-2 2-4 6, Lyons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-38 6-13 47.

Lexington 4 17 13 14 48

Adams Central 10 16 11 10 47

3-point goals Lexington 2-9 (Bernal 0-2, Dillard 1-3, Tingelhoff 0-1, Long 1-3), Adams Central 7-18 (Hohlen 4-7, Hunt 2-7, Drudik 0-1, LaMaster 1-2, Alt 0-1). Fouled out Drudik. Rebounds Lexington 24 (Cunningham 7), Adams Central 23 (Smidt 5). Assists Lexington 11 (Bernal 7), Adams Central 15 (Hunt 5). Turnovers Lexington 15, Adams Central 14. Total fouls Lexington 16, Adams Central 13. Technicals None. A 569.