Omaha Sports Academy hosted the annual River Cities Hoops Summer Tipoff over the weekend with more than 300 teams taking part in various divisions and age groups.
Many of Nebraska’s best teams competed in the tournament, though All Iowa Attack Elite Red took home the title in the 15U and 16U divisions while another Iowa team, Kingdom Hoops Elite, was the only team to go undefeated in 17U Platinum Pool Play at 3-0.
I tried to see as many Nebraska teams as I could. Here are some highlights and standouts from the tournament, broken into two parts.
First up, the Platinum Showcase and 17U Divisions.
Platinum Showcase Games
ETG Midwest, Nebraska’s Adidas 3SSB program, decided to play two showcase games at each grade level instead of competing in the bracket portion of the tournament with a trip to Rock Hill, South Carolina, for the Adidas 3SSB Final Chapter upcoming.
ETG 17U split its games. First, ETG fell 63-62 in overtime to Kingdom Hoops Elite in a rematch from the first weekend of the spring. ETG shot 11-of-25 from 3 but couldn’t come up with the buckets inside the arc at the end of regulation and overtime.
Despite the loss, Bellevue West guard Jaden Jackson was terrific. He finished with 22 points on 6-of-10 from the field (5-of-8 from 3) and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Jackson played incredibly well in the second game as well, a 61-45 win over in-state foe NBDA that saw ETG hold NBDA under 28% from the field. Jackson led the way with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting including 5-of-8 from 3, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
ETG 16U went 2-0 with one shootout and one defensive battle.
First, ETG outlasted Kingdom Hoops Elite 81-80 in overtime thanks to a spectacular performance from Papillion-La Vista South wing Bryson Bahl. Bahl put up 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting including 7-of-11 from 3 plus seven rebounds. He hit the go-ahead 3 in overtime the blocked Kingdom’s answer on the other end a the buzzer.
ETG shot over 50% from the field and hit 14 3-pointers, assisting on 21 of their 31 field goals in a terrific team offensive display. Lincoln Southwest wing Braden Frager (12 points, nine rebounds, four assists), Omaha Skutt forward Brock Scholl (11 points, seven rebounds), Lincoln North Star guard Lazerek Houston (11 points, three assists) and Bellevue West forward Robby Garcia (10 points, seven rebounds, three assists) all joined Bahl in double figures.
ETG beat Kingdom Hoops Elite 53-42 in game two despite shots not falling at nearly the same rate. Millard North forward Derek Rollins led the way with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting (2-o-3 from 3) and 5-of-6 from the foul line and eight rebounds (four offensive). Houston added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting including 2-of-4 from 3.
ETG 15U also went 1-1. After falling to eventual 15U bracket champion All Iowa Attack Elite Red 73-49, ETG bounced back to beat Kingdom Hoops Elite 84-64 as the team shot over 60% from the field with 13 3-pointers and 21 assists.
Millard North forward Sutton Piatkowski was perfect, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting with three triples. Papillion-La Vista South guard Montae Geddings added 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-of-4 from 3) plus 2-of-2 from the line. Elkhorn North guard Nike Orgilbold chipped in 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting including 3-of-3 from deep and an and-one.
Omaha Central dual-sport athlete DaShawn Prince has joined the team for the summer and finished with 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.
17U Platinum Division
Nebraska Supreme PRO16 went 2-1 in pool play, falling to Kingdom Hoops Elite (81-72) but beating NBDA (69-61) and Nebraska Hoops Elite Black (76-60).
Wahoo wing Marcus Glock shot the lights out all weekend. He scored 16 points and went 4-of-4 from deep against NBDA. Against Nebraska Hoops Elite, he scored 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting including 6-of-8 from deep. Gretna point guard Landon Pokorski was solid in both wins as well, finishing with 10 points and three assists in each.
NBDA went 1-3 while playing short-handed. Lincoln Pius X forward and North Dakota State commit Treyson Anderson was still sidelined by an ankle injury suffered in June, and the team’s bench looked different for every game.
Omaha Creighton Prep forward Dillon Claussen (17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) and Gretna wing Kade Cook (14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists) both posted double-doubles in a 69-61 loss to Nebraska Supreme PRO16. They both played well in a 74-64 win against OSA Elite Travis as well as Claussen finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Cook added 13 points, nine boards and four assists. Millard North guard Grant Urbanek also scored 18 points against OSA Travis while leading the team in scoring in losses to ETG Midwest 3SSB (61-45) and All Iowa Attack Elite Red (57-52. Urbanek averaged 13.5 points and knocked down 13 3-pointers on the weekend.
Nebraska Hoops Elite Black also went 1-3, but Lincoln Southeast point guard Taye Moore had a great weekend. He scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting 2-of-4 from 3) and 5-of-5 free-throw shooting with five loads and four assists in the loss to Nebraska Supreme PRO16, then hit a game-winning layup at the buzzer to lift Nebraska Hoops Elite past All Iowa Attack Elite Red 64-63.
17U Bluejays Division
The second division featured several talented teams and some crossover with the Platinum Division.
OSA Elite Klein was the only team to go 4-0 including 3-0 against other Nebraska teams. The Crusaders opened the weekend with a 65-60 win over Nebraska Hoops Elite Black Friday night then beat Lincoln Supreme National 2 62-50 behind an efficient 12 points apiece from Elkhorn forward Cole Petersen and Bellevue West guard Steven Poulicek. Petersen added seven boards and two blocks to his stat line. OSA Klein smacked All Iowa Attack Elite Red 71-51 and Lincoln Supreme National 1 86-67 to close out the weekend.
Lincoln Supreme National 2 also had a strong showing, finishing 3-1 with the only loss to OSA Klein. Lincoln Pius X guard Kellan Humm led the way with 22 points with four 3-pointers in the loss then followed that up with 18 points, six boards and two steals as Supreme rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat Kingdom Hoops Navy 62-59. Lincoln Pius X forward Aiden Brass added 16 points on 4-of-4 from the field and 8-of-13 from the line plus six rebounds while Seward forward Hank Hughes chipped in 12 points on 4-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line and seven rebounds.
Supreme beat Southwest Iowa Impact Gold 87-77 then closed out the weekend with an incredible shooting display, shooting 12-of-19 from 3 as a team in a 75-46 win against OSA Elite Travis. Hughes led the way with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting including 4-of-5 from 3 and an and-one plus nine rebounds. Lincoln East forward Jang Dak added 13 points (3-of-5 from 3), eight rebounds and three blocks.
Fremont D-League went 3-1 as well. In the first game of the weekend, Fremont beat Norfolk D-League 78-50 behind a big game from Wahoo Neumann forward Connor Schutt. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-10 showing and six rebounds. DC West wing Ryker Wohlers added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 4-of-6 free-throw shooting while Fort Calhoun guard Grayson Bouwman chipped in 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Schutt led the way in an 83-78 win over Iowa Hoop Dreams to close out the weekend as well as he finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 from the field (1-of-2 from 3) and 4-of-8 from the line plus four boards. Conestoga guard Noah Simones added 18 points on 5-of-7 from the field (3-of-3 from 3) and 5-of-6 from the line. Blair guard Crayton Macholan chipped in 16 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from the line, six steals and four rebounds.
OSA Elite Travis finished 2-2 with wins against Norfolk D-League (73-47) and Lincoln Supreme National 1 (81-77) plus the losses to NBDA and Lincoln Supreme National 2. Lincoln Southwest guard Preston Marshall led the team with 14 points on 100% shooting against NBFA while Millard West guard Jordan Gassen scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting concluding 2-of-4 from 3 against Supreme 2.
