LINCOLN – It took Class C-1 No. 3-rated Wahoo Neumann a half to knock off the rust that accumulated due to an unwanted 12-day layoff.

But once the Cavaliers heated up offensively in the second half, they returned to form to beat No. 7 Hastings St. Cecilia 52-39 Thursday in the first round of the state tournament at Pershing Center.

After shooting 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) in the first half, Wahoo Neumann (21-2) scored on its first three possessions to open the third period.

The Cavaliers made 8 of 12 shots in the quarter to extend a one-point halftime advantage to 37-27 entering the fourth.

“I felt that we showed that we hadn’t played in a while in the first half,” Bishop Neumann coach Rick Ahrens said. “We struggled, but a lot of that was St. Cecilia. In the second half we made adjustments and I think we attacked the basket better and got some easy things in transition.”

Junior forward Lexi Schmidt scored 12 points in the first half to keep the No. 7 Hawkettes close, but she was held without a shot after halftime.

“They took away our 3-point shooting a little bit and things opened up inside and we did a nice job attacking,” St. Cecilia coach Jahn Kile said of the first half. “We got fouled a few times and we went into halftime pretty happy. But we knew they were going to make a run in the third quarter.”

Alyssa Stanek scored eight of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter to spark Neumann’s offense, and McKenzie Fujan added nine points and four assists after going 0-for-7 from the floor in the first half.

Ahrens felt much of the improvement in the second half was due to getting used to game competition again after sitting out since a Feb. 19 subdistrict final loss to Wahoo.

“We haven’t seen (game competition) since we haven’t played in two weeks,” he said. “You can do so much in practice, but it’s not game like enough. In the second half (Fujan) stepped up and made plays.”

Wahoo Neumann was responsible for three of the losses for St. Cecilia (15-8).

Hastings SC (15-8)...............................9 9 9 12–39
Wahoo Neumann (21-2)........................13 6 18 15–52

• HSC: Tessa Chalupa 2, Abby Jackson 3, Charise Farmer 5, Lexi Schmidt 12, Kaitlyn Ernst 9, Libby Kissinger 3, Audrey Gaspers 5.

• BN: Alexis Woita 2, Holly Fujan 4, Kelsey Morrissey 7, McKenzie Fujan 9, Alyssa Stanek 20, Tessa Klein 4, Morgan Maly 6.

Officials: Shane Alexander, Thomas Johnson, Jeffrey Moore.

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