***William Ly is a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.

For the second-to-last home game of the season, the Kewanee Boilermakers faced off against the Newman Central Catholic Comets on Friday, Feb. 14. The Boilermakers fought hard but suffered a tough defeat to the visitors.

The Boilermakers started the game strong by taking a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

The Comets fired back with a run of their own, only trailing by one point with two minutes left of the first quarter.

Striving to maintain their lead, the Boilermakers played some tough defense to give them the ball with 30 seconds left in the first. Senior Greyden Lewis drained a three off a pass from senior Colson Welgat. With that shot, the Boilermakers ended the first quarter 12-8 against the Comets.

In the second quarter, the Boilermakers tried to pull away from the Comets. The Comets rallied and scored on three consecutive possessions to tie the game up 17-17 with fewer than six minutes left in the half.

The Comets took their first lead after a three from an out-of-bounds play. The Boilermakers quickly took back their lead with a layup from senior Brayden Conley and another layup from senior Kashen Ellerbrock. 

The Comets rallied once again to pull away to a lead in the second quarter. The half ended 28-23 in the Comets’ favor.

Welgat (7) and Conley (6) led the Boilermakers in scoring before the break.

Early in the third quarter, the Boilermakers took back their lead with a pair of threes coming from Ellerbrock and Welgat. 

The Boilermakers and Comets went back and forth through the third quarter, with eight different lead changes in six minutes. 

With one minute left in the third, the Boilermakers found themselves down 42-41. 

The Boilermakers charged down the court, hoping to take back the lead. On a missed shot attempt, Lewis pulled down a rebound to send it to Welgat for an open three. Welgat sank it, and the Boilermakers were up 44-42. The Comets fired back with a successful possession to make the game tied with 8 minutes remaining.

The Boilermakers began their fourth quarter with two quick layups. The first came from senior Catrelle Reed; the other, from junior Abram Hicks.

The Comets slowly started to pull away after they made shot after shot. They went on a 16-3 run to take a lead over the Boilermakers. The Boilermakers lost 61-51.

The Boilermakers were led by Welgat (16), Conley (11) and Ellerbrock (7).

The Boilermakers will return to Brockman this Tuesday, Feb. 18, for their last home game of the season to face the Mendota Trojans.