By Jeff Motz

Lincoln Prep Sports.com

Lincoln Southwest had an 11-point lead with 4:30 left in the game before Kearney rallied to cut the Silver Hawk lead down to four.  All that was needed was a free throw from Jenna Cunningham to seal the win for Southwest to beat the four-seed Bearcats 52-47 in the opening round of the Class A Girls State Basketball Tournament Thursday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Silver Hawks connected on 8 of 11 free-throws in the came, six of those coming in the final stretch of the game.  Kearney kept closing in on Southwest, with Kristy Rousseau providing a much needed spark with her 11 points in the final period cutting the Silver Hawk lead to 49-45.  

But Faith Fantroy, who scored 14 points to lead the Silver Hawks, hit a pair of Free throws late for a 51-45 lead with over a minute remaining.  

After Shelby Maloley scored to pull Kearney to within four, Cunningham's free throw sealed the win for Southwest.

Southwest sprinted out to a 8-3 lead in the first quarter before the Bearcats roared back to cut the Silver Hawk lead to 11-9.  Southwest connected on three three-pointers from Lauren Works, Paige Traynowicz and Faith Fantroy for a 24-17 halftime advantage.

Works and Tina Fantroy added 13 points apiece for LSW (19-5), while Maloley led all scorers with 18 points for Kearney (20-4) and Nicole Arp finished below her 20 point average with 14 points.