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2025 Boys Basketball State Championship Wednesday Roundup

by Mar 12, 2025Preps Boys Basketball

2025 Boys Basketball State Championship Wednesday Roundup

The 2025 NSAA Boys Basketball State Championship tipped off on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena and the Devaney Center with the Class D1, Class C1 and Class A quarterfinals.

Class C1

No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran 64, No. 8 Fillmore Central 26

Lincoln Lutheran’s senior star Jacob Duitsman shook off a slow start at the Devaney Center to outscore Fillmore Central on his own and send the Warriors back to the C1 semifinals.

The 6-foot-5 Concordia-Nebraska commit missed six of his first seven shots then made 10 of his last 12 to finish with 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Duitsman shot 4-for-10 from 3 while everyone else in the game combined for 2-of-35.

“Jacob’s done it all year long,” Lutheran coach Jesse Bouwens said. “He’s the most prolific shooter we’ve had and he’s two away from being the all-time scorer at Lincoln Lutheran. You just trust him; he’s going to get it going. We’ve seen this before. I wasn’t too nervous, but I was ready for that one to fall and I knew the floodgates would open up.”

Senior Ryan Hager added 13 points and three steals while senior Grant Stowell added nine points, 11 rebounds and two steals for the Warriors.

Lincoln Lutheran held Fillmore Central to 1-for-8 shooting with four turnovers in the first quarter, grinding out an 8-2 lead. The only bucket for the Panthers came on an uncontested breakaway layup.

The Warriors settled in offensively in the second period, pushing the pace for easy buckets and pounding the paint to take a 28-10 lead into halftime. The teams combined to shoot 2-for-25 from 3, missing their first 23 attempts before each team hit their final one of the half.

Duitsman outscored Fillmore Central 14-7 by himself in the third quarter and the Warriors rolled to victory.

Lutheran held the Panthers to 23.3% from the field and forced 18 turnovers, outscoring them 44-16 in the paint, 19-4 off turnovers and 14-4 on fast breaks.

“I thought the rebounding was excellent, I thought team defense was great,” Bouwens said. “We were helping each other out. We wanted to run, especially more than we have in the past this year. I think them getting geared up to run on offense — we knew we had to do it on the defensive end to get those opportunities.”

The Warriors advance to Friday’s semifinals, where they will look to earn a spot in the C1 championship for the second straight year.

No. 5 Ashland-Greenwood 60, No. 4 Noah Shoemaker 45

The Bluejays pulled away from the Haymakers in the second half to earn their fourth straight trip to the state semifinals.

Three players scored in double figures for Ashland-Greenwood as the Bluejays held Cozad to 30.4% shooting in the second half and 37.8% for the game.

“I thought we were going to have to dig in,” Concordia coach Jacob Mohs said. “Obviously they’re a good team, they’re athletic, they play hard. They won a lot of the loose balls early on and that first half was back and forth. I thought our guys just did a good job of responding … I thought our kids dug in and in the second half really started to lock in defensively and we then knocked down shots and were able to stretch the lead and get a little bit more comfortable.”

Junior Derek Tonjes led everyone with 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Junior Cal Kissinger added 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field (3-of-4 from 3) and 1-of-2 from the line, five rebounds and four assists. Junior Cooper Westerhold finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and two steals. The Bluejays shot 50% from the field including 5-of-8 from 3.

The first half saw five ties and eight lead changes as the teams were within one possession of each other for all but 60 seconds when Ashland-Greenwood briefly took a six-point lead.

However, the Bluejays held the Haymakers to 2-for-10 from the field and just seven points in the third quarter to build an 11-point leading heading into the fourth. Junior Landon Mohs knocked down a pair of 3s in the period to give Ashland-Greenwood a spark.

Cozad senior Noah Shoemaker, the team’s leading scorer on the season, scored his first bucket 30 seconds into the fourth then knocked down a 3 from the volleyball line to pull the Haymakers within seven, triggering a Bluejay timeout with just under five minutes to play.

“We took a timeout and said, ‘Play like you have the previous X amount of minutes, what got you here; don’t panic and play unaggressive,’” Coach Mohs said. “The aggressor wins, and we wanted to keep that mentality.”

The timeout worked, triggering a 10-4 Bluejay run to put the game to bed.

Junior Chayden Hoffmaster led the haymakers with 12 points on 5-of-8 form the field and 2-of-3 from the line. Junior Olliver Davis and sophomore Kellen Shoemaker chipped in 10 points apiece, with Davis adding eight rebounds.

Ashland-Greenwood will face No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran in Friday’s semifinals with tipoff set for 9 a.m. CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

No. 7 Doniphan-Trumbull 57, Ogallala 45

Doniphan-Trumbull took down a short-handed Ogallala team to earn its first victory at state since taking third place in C2 in 2014.

Ogallala was without NEBPreps Class C1 Player of the Year finalist Sawyer Smith (22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 3.9 steals per game) because of an ankle injury suffered in practice on Tuesday.

“To acknowledge that, I feel very bad for him,” Doniphan-Trumbull coach Kelan Buhr said. “I know how much time a kid like that has to put in, and for that to happen the day before, my heart breaks for him. We told our kids to come out and play the same way. I thought we were really ready to play and shots going in really helped.

“Outside of Sawyer, they’re a really good team and they were able to close it. Then, just a game of emotions where maybe we got a little tight and we went from being an underdog to feeling like we should win. Lots of emotions, lots of things in that one, and we definitely had to earn it.”

The Cardinals knocked down 10 3-pointers and got a combined 43 points from its two junior stars to secure the victory.

Jack Poppe posted a game-high 23 points on 7-of-16 from the field (4-of-10 from 3) and 5-of-5 from the foul line, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Parker Volk nearly matched him with 20 points on 5-of-9 from the field (4-of-7 from 3) and 6-of-6 from the line, nine rebounds and three assists. Senior Ty Bennett chipped in 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting including 2-of-4 from deep.

The first half saw some wild runs as Doniphan-Trumbull hit its first five shots, four from deep, to jump out to a 14-5 early. Ogallala countered soon after with a 13-2 run to take the lead before the Cardinals tied it up at 20-all from the free-throw line to end the first period. The teams combined to shoot 8-of-16 from 3 in the first eight minutes.

The Cardinals put together a 13-2 run including eight straight from Volk to build a nine-point lead, but Doniphan-Trumbull didn’t make another field goal for just over nine minutes of game time. The Indians scored 12 of the next 14 points to take a 36-35 lead late in the third.

However, Poppe scored the last five points of the period to put Doniphan-Trumbull back in front then the Cardinals knocked down a couple of 3s early in the fourth to widen the gap. Every time Ogallala made a push the Cardinals had an answer to close out the game and avenge a 42-point loss to the Indians from early in the season.

“Our guys went and made plays,” Buhr said. “I thought Jack made some huge plays there in the fourth. Ultimately, that’s what you need this time of year, you need your best players to go make plays.”

Junior Edan Cain led Ogallala with 16 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Junior Rylan Gilmore and sophomore Tanner DeCastro scored 11 points apiece.

No. 3 Omaha Concordia 49, No. 6 Sidney 45

The final C1 quarterfinal saw 12 lead changes, the last coming on an 8-0 Mustang run to secure a come-from-behind victory.

Junior Drew Kulus led Concordia with 18 points on 50% shooting and seven rebounds. He scored eight of those points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3. Senior Jack Thrasher added 14 points on 4-of-7 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line.

Concordia only scored four points in the first quarter, but the Mustangs found their offense in the second quarter, using a 9-0 run late to surge ahead at the break. The Red Raiders dropped 20 points in the third to turn the tables again, shooting 7-for-11 from the field including 4-of-5 from deep to take a four-point lead into the final period.

The teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the fourth, then after a couple empty possessions, Thrasher earned a trip to the line, hitting both free throws to start the closing run. Thrasher found Kulus on the next possession for the go-ahead 3, then the Mustangs tacked on a few more free throws to seal it.

The Mustangs held the Red Raiders to 0-for-5 from the field with a turnover in the last three minutes to advance to the semifinals.

Junior Alek Doty led Sidney with 15 points while junior Keian Kaiser added 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

The Mustangs will take on No. 7 Doniphan-Trumbull in Friday’s semifinals. Tipoff is set fro 10:45 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Class D1

No. 1 Johnson-Brock 73, No. 8 Elmwood-Murdock 32

The two-time reigning champions opened their campaign for a third straight title in Lincoln with a dominant showing to start the action at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Eagles held to the Knights to single-digit points in the first three quarters, limited them to 27.9% shooting overall and outscored them 42-20 in the paint to advance to the semifinals.

Senior Camden Dalinghaus led the way with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (3-of-6 from 3) and 2-of-2 from the foul line, seven rebounds and five assists. Junior Brody Koehler added 8 points on 9-of-11 shooting (including a poster dunk in transition), seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. He also surpassed 1,000 career points in the game. Senior Austin Meyer notched a double-double with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 12 rebounds and two steals.

Elmwood-Murdock led 7-6 three minutes into the game, but Johnson-Brock closed the first period with a 10-2 run then opened the second with a 20-5 onslaught to turn the game into a rout.

Aidan Schmidt, a 6-foot-8 senior, led Elmwood-Murdock with 19 points, five rebounds and five blocks, accounting for eight of the Knights’s 12 field goals.

No. 4 McCool Junction 65, No. 5 Elm Creek 34

The Mustangs opened the game with an 11-1 run and never looked back to earn a spot in the semifinals.

Junior Carson McDonald finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 from the field (2-of-5 from 3) and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and no turnovers.

Senior center Mapieu Kouchinin, a Missouri Western State football lineman commit and NEBPreps Class D1 Player of the Year finalist, played for the first time since an injury suffered on Feb. 4 sidelined him for McCool Junction’s final seven games leading up to state. He put up 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 20 minutes.

Freshman Jaxon McDonald chipped in 11 points and four steals for the Mustangs, who shot 51.9% from the field with 20 assists on 28 field goals.

McCool Junction led 17-5 at the end of the first period before the Buffaloes cut the deficit to nine at the break with a 16-13 second quarter. However, the Mustangs held Elm Creek to 13 total points in the second half to turn the game into a blowout.

Junior Quin Oberg, another NEBPreps Player of the Year finalist, did what he could to keep the Buffaloes afloat with 20 points and five rebounds, but the rest of the team combined for four field goals as the Buffaloes shot 32.4% for the game.

McCool Junction advances to the semifinals to face No. 1 Johnson-Brock on Friday. Tipoff is set for 9 a.m. at the Devaney Center.

Other Results from the Devaney Center:

>> No. 2 Howells-Dodge 54, No. 7 Dundy County-Stratton 40: Howells-Dodge held the Tigers to four points in the second quarter to build a nine-point halftime lead then closed the game on an 8-0 run to seal it and advance to the semifinals. Juniors Nathan Tomcak (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Hunter Luther (11 points, 11 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles for the Jaguars who outscored Dundy County-Stratton 32-18 in the paint and 13-7 at the foul line.

>> No. 3 Bancroft-Rosalie 59, No. 6 North Platte St. Patrick’s 53: Sophomore Kavian Blackhawk went off and the Panthers knocked down 10 3-pointers as a team to fend off the Irish and advance to the semifinals. Blackhawk finished with 27 points on 9-of-15 from the field (5-of-10 from 3) and 4-of-4 from the line and four assists. He outscored St. Patrick’s by himself in the second quarter. Senior Samuel Dick added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting (2-of-5 from 3) and six rebounds.

No. 3 Bancroft-Rosalie will take on No. 2 Howells-Dodge in the semifinals on Friday with tipoff set for 10:45 a.m. at the Devaney Center.

Class A

No. 1 Papillion-La Vista South 76, No. 8 Papillion-La Vista 58

The Titans used a 16-3 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and avenge a regular-season loss to their Papio rival.

South Dakota State-bound Bryson Bahl led the way with 23 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 7-of-7 from the line, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Fellow senior Jayden Herrera added 18 points while shooting 4-of-7 from 3. Sophomore Levi Webb rounded out the Titans in double figures with 16 on 7-of-9 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line plus seven rebounds and two steals.

The Titans shot 10-for-24 (41.7%) from deep, and the Monarchs couldn’t keep up.

Papio junior DeMarcus McCarty knocked down a 3 90 seconds in to give the Monarchs their only lead of the game at 3-2. The Titans responded with an 8-0 run, led by five at the end of a high-scoring first period then pushed the advantage as high as 12 late in the first half.

The Monarchs managed to hang around in the third and scored the first two buckets of the fourth to pull within four with seven minutes to go, but Bahl converted a three-point play to spark Papio South’s game-sealing run. The Titans made seven straight shots at one point in the fourth.

McCarty led the Monarchs with 16 points on 50% shooting and seven rebounds. Sophomore Bryce Vigness added 10 points on 100% shooting off the bench.

No. 4 Millard North 62, No. 5 Bellevue West 44

Millard North used a 16-0 run in the first half to take control of the game and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half to avenge a loss to the Mustangs from the first week of the season.

Bellevue West caught fire from 3 in the second half of the first meeting to pull off a come-from-behind victory, but the Thunderbirds couldn’t replicate that magic on Wednesday and saw their season end.

Bellevue West shot 4-of-23 from deep while the Mustangs went 7-for-20 and outscored the Thunderbirds 34-20 in the paint.

Junior Major Mosser led the Mustangs with 16 points and five rebounds while shooting 4-for-10 from deep. Senior Amari Rahaman did a bit of everything with 14 points on 5-of-8 from the field (1-of-3 from 3) and 3-of-4 from the line, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals. The Mustangs also had the 6-foot-1 Rahaman defending Bellevue West’s 6-foot-6 senior forward Robby Garcia for much of the game.

Senior Derek Rollins dropped a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Junior Coriahnn Gallatin chipped in 10 points on 3-of-5 from the field (2-of-4 from 3) and 2-of-2 from the line and four assists.

Bellevue West led 6-4 three minutes into the game before Gallatin knocked down a 3 to trigger the 16-0 run that extended into the first minute of the second quarter. The Thunderbirds responded with eight straight, including five from sophomore Bryce Johnson, but Millard North stretched the lead back to 12 at halftime.

The Thunderbirds pulled within 10 three times after halftime but couldn’t get any closer. Back-to-back turnovers — two of their 15 – ended Bellevue West’s final push midway the fourth quarter

Johnson led the Thunderbirds with 16 points, Garcia added 11 points and five rebounds and sophomore Brayden Mauro chipped in 10 points.

No. 2 Omaha Westside 87, No. 7 Lincoln Southwest 49

The rubber match between Westside and Southwest looked a lot more like the first meeting between the two teams than it did the district final when the Silver Hawks punched their ticket to state for the first time since 2009.

The Warriors doubled up the Silver Hawks in the second quarter 16-8, then dropped 25 on them in the second quarter before continuing to extend the lead the rest of the way. Reserve forward Will Preston put the finishing touch on the 38-point victory with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds.

Westside shot 52.2% from the field and outscored Southwest 62-20 in the paint. The Silver Hawks shot 34% including 5-for-19 in the first half.

Junior Emre Gedik finished with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. The highlight of the game was an alley-oop Gedik threw down in the first half, one of four slams for the 6-foot-7 junior.

Senior Carson Healy added 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field (1-of-3 from 3) and 3-of-4 from the line, five rebounds and two steals. Freshman Lee Robinson totaled 15 points, six rebounds and five assists while sophomore London Dada chipped in 12 points and five rebounds off the bench, shooting 3-of-8 from 3 and 3-of-4 from the line.

Junior Uzziah Sanders led Southwest with 12 points while junior Makkiah Sanders and sophomore Dakari Wilson added 11 points apiece.

No. 6 Lincoln Southeast 58, No. 3 Lincoln North Star 57

The Knights survived a hectic final two minutes and outlasted the Gators in an all-Lincoln night cap at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

North Star opened the fourth quarter with a 15-0 run to take a 57-49 lead with just under two minutes to play. To that point, the Knights were 0-for-7 from the field with a turnover. Southeast senior Mike Ngoyi finally ended the run by getting to the foul line with 1:42 to play, sinking both.

Ngoyi proceeded to finish the game on a 9-0 personal run, all from the foul line. North Star turned the ball over five times in 75 seconds, and Ngoyi drew a foul after each one, making eight of his 11 attempts. His last trip to the line came with the game tied and 9.1 to go. He made the first shot to put the Knights in front before missing the second.

A Gator grabbed the rebound, pushed the ball up the court and missed a jumper as the horn sounded, sealing the comeback.

Southeast won without making a shot from the field in the final quarter. Ngoyi led the way with 19 points — 11 coming from the charity stripe — and seven rebounds. Fellow senior Chewy Thoat added 11 points and seven rebounds while junior Prospedi Mukendi chipped in 10 points.

The wild swings began right from the start, Southeast used a 9-0 run to jump ahead 15-7 in the first quarter, then North Star responded with 10 straight to regain the lead in the second quarter. The teams traded buckets for a bit and North Star took a 29-23 lead into halftime.

Southeast put up 23 points in the third quarter with six different players scoring and held North Star to 3-for-14 from the field to take a 49-42 edge into the fourth, but North Star quickly erased the gap to set up the final two minutes.

Senior Sam Schaefer led the Gators with 20 points on 8-of-12 from the field (1-of-2 from 3) and 3-of-4 from the line, 10 rebounds (six offensive) and three assists.

The Knights will take on No. 2 Omaha Westside in the semifinals on Friday. Tipoff is set for 3:15 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

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