The Lafayette boys basketball team had its season come to an end Tuesday night in the Class 4 Sectionals at Liberty North High School as they lost to Kearney 82-74.
The Fighting Irish ends its season 15-11 and they had their eight-game winning streak snapped.
Lafayette fell behind 7-2 to start the game and never lead against the Bulldogs. The Irish trailed 15-10 after the first quarter and were down 33-26 at halftime.
The turning point in the game came at the beginning of the second half as Kearney used a 13-0 run to start the third and they extended their lead to 46-26. The Bulldogs eventually led by as any as 21 points and they were ahead 57-43 after three quarters.
Lafayette rallied in the fourth quarter and pulled to within four points, 78-74, with less than a minute to go but that was as close as they’d get.
Caleb Bennett led the Fighting Irish with 30 points, while Diego Bernard finished with 17.
Kearney improves to 20-7 and they advance to the Class 4 Quarterfinals on Saturday against Raytown South inside the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence.