KEARNEY — Omaha Central lived up to its No. 1 ranking.

Taking Kearney completely out of its game, the Eagles (21-0) doubled up the score on the Bearcats, winning 68-34 victory Monday evening at Kearney High School.

"We knew coming in we were going to have to shoot the ball well from the perimeter," Kearney coach Scott Steinbrook said. "We're good enough to play with the elite teams in the state but we have to shoot the ball well."

But 28-percent shooting, including a 4-for-17 efficiency from 3-point range, didn't qualify. It did meet the demarcation line that allowed Central coach Eric Behrens to lessen his fears.

"They shoot the ball fairly well. They're at home. They played Norfolk fairly well," he said. "We did not want them to get a lot of open looks from the 3-point line. We wanted to make sure we played the arc well and make sure they did something else."

Having done that, Kearney (13-7) wasn't left with much to do.

"It's hard to get points in the paint when you have (Akoy) Agua helping over and really affecting a lot of shots. We had them charted for 13 blocked shots and they probably altered 10 more than that," Steinbrook said.

Stymied by the defense, Kearney could only watch Central pull away.

Ten Eagles reached the scoring column led by Kevin Scott and Deandre Hollins-Johnson with 11 points apiece. Six others had at least six points.

"There's not a weak link out there," Steinbrook said.

No Kearney player reached double figures. Nate Stevens scored seven, all in the first half, while reserve Ryan Cervantes scored seven in the game's last 4 ½ minutes.

That stretch of time wasn't as important as the first 4 ½ minutes.

"Right at the start of the game, I don't think we got a shot off. We were down 7-0 and they had turned us over three or four consecutive times," Steinbrook said. "You could just feel the air go out of our kids' confidence."

That was an important part Behrens' plan.

"Probably our biggest strength is our ability to hold people to a low field-goal percentage. So if you can take away confidence early in games that certainly helps," he said. "If guys make a couple shots in the first couple minutes they might get going and feeling pretty good about themselves. Shooters are funny like that. If they make a couple, they'll probably make a couple more."

Kearney, which used its 3-point shooting skills to score 31 points in one quarter against No. 2-ranked Norfolk, couldn't find that magic against the Eagles.

"They make you do things a lot quicker. What's an open shot against a lot of teams is not an open shot against Omaha Central because they close out so quickly," Steinbrook said. "They really challenge the three and force you to put it on the floor, then they're funneling you into the best shot-blocker in the state."

Agau and Tre'Shawn Thurman had four blocks apiece.

OM. CENTRAL (21-0) ............. 20 13 16 19 — 68

KEARNEY (13-7) .......... 6 9 4 15 — 34

OC: Akoy Agua 3-5 1-3 7, Darian Barrientos-Jackson 3-7 0-0 7, Kevin Scott 4-9 1-4 11, Tra-Deon Hollins 6, Deshun Robert 3-5 0-0 6, Michael Welch 2-3 0-0 6, Deandre Hollins-Johnson 4-6 0-0 11, Troy Beaugard 0-0 2-2 2, Cameron Payne 2-3 0-1 4, Tre'Shawn Thurman 3-7 2-2 8. Total 27-51 6-9 68.

K: Damien Austen 2-8 2-2 6, Nate Stevens 3-12 0-1 7, Jake Sheldon 2-8 0-0 6, Thomas Gillen 0-3 0-0 0, Derek Schriner 2-3 0-0 5, Drew Chally 0-1 0-0 0, Luke McNitt 1-2 1-2 3, Trey Andersen 0-4 0-0 0, Peyton Pocock 0-2 0-0 0, Dakota Schriner 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Cervantes 3-3 1-1 7. Total 13-47 4-6 34.

3-point goals — OC 8-17 (Hollins-Johnson 3-4, Scott 2-4, Welch 2-3, Barrientos-Jackson 1-2, Robert 0-1, Thurman 0-1), KHS 4-17 (Sheldon 2-7, Stevens 1-7, De.Schriner 1-2, Austen 0-1, Andersen 0-1, Pocock 0-1). Rebounds — OC 36 (Hollins 8), KHS 25 (Stevens 6). Total fouls — OC 12, KHS 14. Fouled out — None. Assists — OC 14 (Hollins 4), KHS 4 (Austen 2). Turnovers — OC 15, KHS 21. Blocked shots — OC 10 (Agau 4, Thurman 4). KHS 0. Steals — OC 14 (Hollins 5), KHS 6 (Stevens 2).