Warriors regain winning style vs. Vikings

Happy Arapahoe senior Jacob Pruitt (33) accepts congrats from Warrior teammates as his 25 points helped take change of Tuesday’s D1-11 subdistrict semifinal against Bertrand at Cambridge High School.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

CAMBRIDGE, Neb. — Like a well-preserved mullet, the No. 1 Arapahoe Warriors found swaggy fine style can survive just about anything.

Arapahoe was feeling threatened as subdistrict No. 4-seed Bertrand battled them to a 19-19 halftime tie Tuesday night.

The Warriors (18-6) broke away after their break and soon beat No. 4 Bertrand, 49-37.

None played a larger than senior football-tackling machine Jacob Pruitt, who poured in 25 points while pushing his team into Thursday’s D1-11 championship game.

“That was his career best,” Jacob’s dad confirmed after Pruitt buried a trio of huge three-pointers during the game’s most crucial stretch.

Bertrand (8-13 final record) brought momentum into Tuesday following a 19-2 closing surge that knocked out Hitchcock County Monday evening.

Meanwhile, Arapahoe (18-6) was coming off a surprising loss at Alma in Friday’s regular-season finale.

The Vikings kept pace and even made a late great run to force that halftime deadlock.

Yet there were no answers for the mullet “locks” of Pruitt following halftime.

A certain Arapahoe observer lamented about $20 haircuts just to preserve that “business in front, party in the back” classic 1990s hairdew.

Pruitt’s determined to keep it going through basketball season, and would love seeing it on the Lincoln courts during Class D-1 state tournament week.

Arapahoe will play No. 3 Medicine Valley Thursday evening (7 p.m.) to determine who will need just one more win for a state tourney spot.

Others leading Arapahoe’s attack on Tuesday were senior Noah Koller (seven points), junior Carson Schroeder (seven), senior Jacob Eichenberger (five), junior Yordi Gutierrez (four) and senior Spencer Watson (one).