Bulls fall to Bertrand in OT

SUMNER - The Hi-Line girls basketball team seemed to play the same game three times last week.

While they competed to the end, they dropped each, falling to 2-5 this season.

Tuesday, the Bulls trailed by nine in the fourth quarter against Bertrand, but rallied to force overtime before falling by five.

Friday and Saturday at the SEM Tournament, Hi-Line suffered from slow starts and faced three-possession deficits at halftime and was unable to come back late in losses to SEM and Sandhills/Thedford.

Against the Vikings, Bertrand built a modest lead early and maintained it throughout the game until it began to pull away early in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings, which led by three after one and by four at halftime, pushed a five-point lead through three to a 40-31 advantage with nearly six minutes left.

The lead was still 42-35 with 2:22 remaining, but the Bulls bounced back.

Hi-Line closed the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run to send the game to overtime, tied at 44.

But in the extra session, Bertrand scored on its first two possessions and made enough free throws in the closing minutes to put the game away in a 54-49 victory.

Friday, the Bulls fell down nine after a quarter and held the deficit there to the fourth, but they were unable to close the gap before SEM put the game away late in a 48-35 victory.

Saturday, Sandhills/Thedford used a strong offensive half to build a 28-19 lead at the break.

The Bulls controlled the second half with defense, but were unable to find enough offense to threaten the lead as they dropped a 46-38 decision.

Scoring and statistical information was unavailable at press time.

Hi-Line is next in action January 2, hosting Southwest.