Last week the Mid Nebraska Actvities Conference (MNAC) met in Broken Bow for the annual conference basketball tournament. On Monday, Jan. 22, the South Loup Bobcats and Brady Eagles met in Callaway for the first-round game.

The fast-paced game favored the Bobcats who were getting a bunch of buckets in transition. The Bobcats would handle business in the first round and get a 66-38 win over the Eagles.

Cache Gracey led the scoring charge against the Eagles, netting 17 points. He also had 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Conner Paulsen contributed 11 points and 2 steals, while Trey Connell managed to steal the ball four times and add 9 points and 4 rebounds. Crew Witthuhn and Carter Wood came up big on the boards for the Bobcats, ripping down 7 rebounds each in the game.

In the second round, held at Broken Bow High School, the Bobcats played the Sandhills Valley Mavericks. The Mavericks jumped ahead of the Bobcats to start off the game. A dominant second quarter would change the trajectory of the game, however.

The Bobcats went into halftime up 12 and would hit a huge third-quarter run as well. They beat the Mavericks 55-33 to move on to the championship game against Sandhills Thedford. Connell had the hot hand against the Mavericks, finishing the game with an impressive 23 points and 5 steals. Gracey added 17 points and 6 assists, while getting 4 steals. Defensively, Rio Remund came down with 5 rebounds for the Bobcats The Bobcats started off the championship game strong, even leading at halftime by 4 points. The cold spell that was soon to come would cause the Bobcats to drop 9 points below the Knights going into the fourth quarter.

The slow pace of the Knights would take too much time off the clock and the Bobcats were unable to mount a comeback. The Bobcats ended up falling to the Knights in the championship, 39-50, to earn the conference runner-up title.

Connell led the scoring for the Bobcats with 13 points. He also had 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He was the only South Loup player to score in double digits. Harper Johnson came off the bench to contribute 5 points for the Bobcats.

Tomorrow night, Feb. 2, the Bobcats will host Mullen in Arnold with tip-off for the boys varsity game set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday the seniors will be honored as the Bobcats host Southern Valley in Callaway. The varsity game will get underway at 5:30 p.m.