JOHNSON, NE — The No. 7 Johnson-Brock Eagles are off to Lincoln to play in the girls basketball state tournament for the first time in nearly 30 years. 

The Eagles defeated — well, the Eagles — in the D1-7 district final as Johnson-Brock knocked off No. 10 Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (BDS) 48-38. 

This will be Johnson-Brock's first state tournament appearance since 1994. BDS, on the other hand, misses the tournament for the first year since 2017. 

A pair of big runs defined the first half of the contest, held in a packed gym at Johnson-Brock High School. After falling behind 7-4, BDS embarked on a 9-1 run to end the first quarter to lead 13-8 after the first period. 

A three-pointer by Ashley Schlegel gave BDS a 16-8 lead early in the second quarter, but from that point on, Johnson-Brock dominated the rest of the first half. The home team outscored their visitors 16-2 to close out the period and led 24-18 at the half. 

A pair of Taryn Otteman three-pointers in the third quarter helped Johnson-Brock open up an 11-point advantage, its largest of the night, but BDS was not dismayed. The visiting Eagles closed the gap in the closing minutes of the period, but Johnson-Brock still held a 35-30 advantage heading to the fourth. 

Otteman was clutch in the final period, going 6-6 from the free throw line as Johnson-Brock closed out the game to win 48-38. 

Otteman paced Johnson-Brock with 18 points, including 12 of the home team's 24 points they scored in the second half. Halle Rasmussen finished with 13 for Johnson-Brock. 

BDS was led by JessaLynn Hudson who had 12. Hanna Kadel scored 10 points. 

Johnson-Brock moves on to the Class D1 state tournament and await their seed and the brackets to be released. Class D1 starts tournament play on Wednesday, March. 1. 

The other Class D1 teams to make state are: Ravenna, Centura, Hastings St. Cecilia, Hartington Cedar Catholic, Elmwood-Murdock, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller and Elgin Public/Pope John. 

No. 7 Johnson-Brock  8  16  11  13 -  48

No. 10 BDS                  13  5  12  8  -  38