Pender's electric shooting pushes Pendragons to third straight state title

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Pender Pendragon offense came out on fire and shot over 50% from the floor to defeat Elm Creek 74-40, and claim their third consecutive state basketball championship title. 

The three-pointer was Pender's bread and butter as the team made their first six three-pointers in a row in the first quarter alone, plus putting up 28 points in the first quarter. 

Elm Creek's offense struggled to keep up, and the Buffaloes trailed 44-22 going into the halftime break. 

The Pendragons scored 22 more points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. 

Pender's Madalyn Dolliver led the team with 25 points on 9-12 shooting, including 6-9 from three-point range. Hadley Walsh scored 23 points on 9-13 shooting from the floor. 

Elm Creek was led by Halle Knapp with 12 points and Kendall Cavenee with 11 points. 

Pender (28-2) ends its season by claiming its fourth state championship title, while Elm Creek (26-2) finishes as state runner-up for the second time in school history. 

View video highlights and interviews with Coach Jason Dolliver, and players Hadley Walsh, Madalyn Dolliver, and Maya Dolliver in the video player above. 

SCORING BY QUARTER

Pender - 28 16 22 8

Elm Creek - 12 10 10 8