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Kearney needed something, anything, to provide a spark.

Who would have thought a missed dunk could be the answer? But that was exactly the case for the Kearney boys basketball team in a Class 4 District 15 semifinal game against the Westport Tigers.

When Nate Bitner blew a fast-break dunk early in the second half, it could have been the momentum swing Westport needed. Instead, it was the turning point that allowed the Bulldogs to turn a tightly contested game into an eventual, 70-51 blowout Thursday, Feb. 25, at Staley.

"We needed something to get us going," senior guard Alex Klonowski said. "We were down and flat."

That was until Klonowski came to the rescue. After Bitner missed his dunk, Klonowski gathered the miss and converted a three-point play by popping in the putback and hitting the ensuing free throw. A minute and a half later, Klonowski bettered himself with a four-point play, draining a 3-pointer while being fouled and again hitting the free throw.

By the midway point of the third quarter, the Bulldogs had outscored Westport 16-2, expanding a 27-21 halftime lead to a 43-23 bulge. Kearney led by as many as 26 before the end of the third quarter and never looked back.

"We had to have a little emotional gut check," Kearney coach Gary Belcher said of his halftime speech. "We asked the guys, ‘Is this the way you want it to end up? Or are you going to go out and play like you’re capable of playing?’ I think they realized it was going to take a little more of an intense effort, and they came out and did a good job of that in the second half."

Grant Cozad poured in a career-high 24 points. Dillon Starzl added 11 points.

Kearney jumped out to a quick start, opening up a 17-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. It looked as if the rout might be on, but the Bulldogs mustered only 10 points — and only two field goals — in the entire second quarter, which kept things interesting.

"Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to do that again," Belcher said. "I hope we gather something from this experience and benefit from it. If we play flat like that again, we’re not going to be talking about moving on. We’re going to be talking about being done."

On the positive side, the Bulldogs recorded their first-ever win in three tries during the past two seasons at the Falcon Fieldhouse.

"To finally get a win here is huge," Klonowski said. "It gives us confidence that we can play here and win."

Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .