The Nebraska Boys Basketball State Championships continued on Thursday with quarterfinals in Class D1, Class B and Class C1.
The Hurrdat Sports team posted up at Pinnacle Bank Arena and the Devaney Center to bring you coverage of the day’s action.
CLASS D1
No. 8 Guardian Angels Central Catholic 42, No. 1 North Platte St. Patrick’s 40
The first game of the day at Pinnacle Bank Arena produced the biggest upset yet as Guardian Angels Central Catholic, who entered the tournament with a .500 record, knocked off last year’s runner-up and this year’s top seed at the buzzer.
With the game tied and 9.9 on the clock, the Bluejays ran a play to get the ball inside to forward Myles Dinslage, and the senior delivered, muscling up a shot that fell through the net as time expired.
GACC trailed by five at halftime and by four at the end of the third but held the Irish to eight points in the fourth quarter to set up the game-winner.
Junior Konner Kralik led the Bluejays with 19 points including 11 in the fourth quarter. Dinslage’s winner gave him eight points for the game.
Senior Brecken Erickson was the only player in double figures for St. Pat’s. finishing with 16 points.
No. 4 Ainsworth 62, No. 5 Dundy County-Stratton 55
Ainsworth advanced to the semifinals for the first time since finishing as state runner-up in 2014 with the victory over last year’s third-place finisher.
The Bulldogs built a five-point lead at halftime then held on despite a big second half from Dundy County-Stratton’s star forward, Jackson Kerchal. The Tigers rallied to tie it up with less than two minutes to play, but the Bulldogs finished strong to earn the victory.
Senior Trey Appelt led everyone with 21 points, Nebraska football commit Carter Nelson added 16 and senior Traegen McNally chipped in 13 for Ainsworth.
Kerchal scored 15 of his team-high 19 points after halftime. Sophomore Lane Bybee chipped in 11 points.
Devaney Center Results
>> No. 2 Johnson-Brock 54, No. 7 Riverside 34: The reigning champs returned to the semis with a 20-point win behind 19 points from Camden Dalinghuas and 14 from Brody Koehler.
>> No.6 Plainview 47, No. 3 Ansley-Litchfield 43: A big third quarter was enough for Plainview to pull off the upset as Karter Lingenfelter and Jacson King led the way with 12 points apiece.
CLASS C1
No. 1 Omaha Concordia 72, No. 8 Malcolm 36
The Mustangs scored on their first nine trips down the floor to race out to a 22-4 lead and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way at the Devaney Center to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year.
The Mustangs shot nearly 60% from the field as four starters scored in double figures while the fifth, Jackson Shepherd, dished out six assists. Quientan McCafferty, a 6-foot-10 Division-II Truman State commit, opened the game with back-to-back 3s and finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Sophomore Drew Kulus put up 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting (1-of-2) from 3 with an and-one. Senior Carter Sunde scored 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 form the line while grabbing four rebounds and two steals. Junior Jack Thrasher chipped in 11 points on 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line.
Malcolm showed some signs of life to start the second quarter, opening the period on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit down to 13, but Concordia responded with a 9-2 run to close out the half. Kulus’s three-point play with a couple seconds left pushed the lead to 20 and Concordia cruised through the second half despite some foul trouble for McCafferty.
Junior Carson Frank led Malcolm with 12 points and senior Maddox Meyer added 11.
No. 5 Wahoo 46, No. 4 Ogallala 33
Wahoo’s stifling defensive performance earned the Warriors a trip to the semifinals as they built a big lead early, weathered an Ogallala rally featuring a flurry of 3s then stretched it back out late.
Wahoo senior Marcus Glock closed out the first half with a personal 9-0 run to stretch a three-point lead into a 23-11 advantage at halftime. The Warriors held Ogallala to 3-for-22 from the field and forced 11 turnovers in the first half.
Glock scored the first bucket of the second half as well, but Ogallala finally got into a rhythm, hitting four 3s during a 15-5 run to trim the deficit down to four late in the third. Wahoo closed the period strong to take a 35-28 lead into the fourth, but sophomore Jase Kaminski scored three straight transition layups early in the fourth to push the lead back to 11 and Ogallala ran out of juice.
Glock finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two steals. Dylan Simons added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals. Kaminski chipped in 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting with eight of those points coming in the fourth.
Wahoo shot just 1-for-13 from 3 but made up for it by holding Ogallala to 3-of-19 inside the arc and forcing 17 turnovers with its mix of man-to-man and 1-3-1 zone.
Sophomore Swayer Smith was the only player in double figures for Ogallala with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Wahoo will take on top-seeded Concordia in the semifinals on Friday with tipoff set for 9 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
No. 2 Ashland-Greenwood 48, No. 7 Doniphan-Trumbull 35
The reigning champions moved on with another stifling defensive performance, holding a skilled Doniphan-Trumbull team to 33.3% shooting and 35 points.
Senior Dane Jacobsen put on a show with his older brother and a few of Cale’s Nebraska teammates in the crowd. Jacobsen scored 10 of Ashland-Greenwood’s first 12 points and assisted the other two as the Bluejays jumped out to a 7-0 start and a 14-7 lead after one.
The Bluejays extended their lead to 10 before a strong finish from the Cardinals cut the deficit to four at the half, 22-18. However, Ashland-Greenwood scored the first eight points of the third as it took roughly four minutes for Doniphan-Trumbull to find the bottom of the bucket.
Ashland Greenwood took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter then extended it out to 15 before cruising to the finish, shooting 8-for-8 at the foul line down the stretch.
Jacobsen finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-11 from the field (4-of-6 from 3) and 6-of-6 from the foul line.
Senior Jaden Williams (nine points, seven rebounds) and sophomore Jack Poppe (nine points, five assists) led the way for the Cardinals.
No. 3 Auburn 52, No. 6 Douglas County West 50
The Bulldogs fended off a late Falcon rally to punch their ticket to the semifinals in the final C1 game of the day.
Auburn built a 21-4 lead early in the second quarter, holding the Falcons to 2-of-8 shooting with five turnovers before DC West settled in and began chipping away at the deficit. The Falcons narrowed it to 10 at halftime then cut it down to five midway through the third, but Auburn responded to push it back to eight at 36-28 thanks to a tough jumper from Mav Binder at the end of the third.
Auburn missed just enough at the foul line to leave the door ajar, and the Falcons nearly forced their way through. They put up 22 points in the fourth, cutting an 11-point lead down to two with less than 25 seconds to play.
However, they traded two for two the rest of the way as Auburn didn’t miss again from the line. Trailing by four with less than 10 seconds to play, Cam Wiese went for the quick 2, but DC West ran out of time as Nolan Asher stole the in-bounds pass but the buzzer sounded before he could get a shot off.
Binder finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-8 from the field (2-of-3 from 3) and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line, five assists and four rebounds. Payton Boden added 13 points on 4-of-5 from the field (2-of-2 from deep) and 3-of-4 from the line.
Ryker Wohlers led DC West with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Asher added 13 points, two steals and two blocks while shooting 5-of-7 from the field (2-of-2 from 2) and 1-of-2 from the stripe. Wiese added 12 points including nine in the fourth.
Auburn will face No. 2 Ashland-Greenwood in Friday’s semifinals with tipoff set for 10:45 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
CLASS B
Crete senior Aidan McDowell (11) celebrates during the Cardinals’ win over Platteview. Photo by Mac Johnson.
No. 1 Crete 44, No. 8 Platteview 30
The Trojans led 10-9 after the first quarter, but it was all Cardinals the rest of the way at Pinnacle Bank Arena as No. 1 Crete turned things around with a 14-4 second quarter then held Platteview to eight points in each of the last two periods.
Seniors Trace Egge (13 points), Aidan McDowell (11) and Kenner Svitak (nine) led the way for the Cardinals in the low-scoring affair.
Junior Jaxon Adams was the lone Trojan in double figures with 10 points.
No. Omaha Skutt Catholic 69, No. 5 Elkhorn 61
Elkhorn led at the end of each of the first three quarters, but the Skyhawks dominated in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory and advance to the semifinals.
Skutt trailed 44-36 late in the third period before closing on a 6-0 run including a Kyle Cannon 3 at the buzzer to trim the deficit to two. Elkhorn pushed it back to five a couple minutes into the fourth before the SkyHawks closed the game on a 25-12 run.
The Antlers held Skutt’s leading scorer in check, limiting junior Brock Scholl to eight points, but others picked up the slack. Sophomore George Zeibell led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Cannon finished with 17 including four 3s and senior Will O’Doherty added 14, all in the second half.
Junior Charlie Lamski led Elkhorn with 17 points, senior Luke Howard added 15 and senior Cole Petersen chipped in 11.
The SkyHawks will take on No. 1 Crete in the semifinals, a rematch from the teams’ holiday tournament championship game back in December. The Cardinals took that one 58-52. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
No. 2 Norris 61, No. 7 Bennington 56, OT
The third time was nearly the charm for the Badgers against their Eastern Midlands Conference rival, but the Titans found a way in the end to survive and advance to the semifinals, completing a sweep over Bennington to get there.
A brutally cold start (10 straight misses before the game’s first bucket and an 8-5 first-quarter score) gave way to a second-quarter shootout (39 total points, nearly 62% shooting combined including a 9-for-10 start), resulting in a 27-25 Bennington lead at halftime.
Barret Boesiger got going with seven points in the third quarter to lead Norris to a 41-38 lead heading into the fourth, but Hudson Neuverth keyed a 7-0 Badger run to start the fourth with a bucket and two assists, including one for a Jace Fitzgerald 3.
The teams battled back and forth down the stretch until sophomore Macoy Folkerts hit a 3 to put Norris up two with 45 seconds to play. Junior Austin Kaiser earned a chance to tie the game at the foul line with just under 30 seconds to play but split the free throws. Freshman Evan Greenfield calmly knocked down two at the line to push the lead back to three, but Kaiser made up for his miss with a tough crossover into a pull-up 3 to tie it up and send the game to overtime.
The extra period was tight as well, but Boesiger gave the Titans the lead with a layup at the 1:38 mark and the Titans closed it out from there with their defense and free-throw shooting as sophomore Chris Garner Jr. went 4-for-4 at the line while the Badgers came up empty from the arc.
Kaiser finished with a game-high 25 points plus eight rebounds and four assists for the Badgers. Neuverth had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards but picked up his fifth foul late in the fourth quarter and had to sit the rest of the way.
Garner Jr. had his own double-double for the Titans with 12 points and 11 rebounds while dealing with his own foul trouble and Boesiger led the team with 15 points.
No. 3 Scottsbluff 58, No. 6 Omaha Roncalli 51
The teams traded haymakers throughout the game, but the Bearcats finally delivered the knockout blow with a 23-12 fourth quarter that featured big plays from underclassmen.
Scottsbluff fell behind 9-2 out of the gates but rallied to take a 27-23 lead at halftime with a big second quarter (including an 11-0 run). The Crimson Pride put the clamps down in the third quarter, limiting the Bearcats to eight points as senior Brady McGill scored that many by himself to put Roncalli up 39-35 heading into the fourth. The Crimson Pride put together their own 11-0 run to end the quarter.
Scottsbluff opened the final period with a 6-0 run and the teams went back and forth for a time. With the game tied at 46-all midway through the period, senior Carter Reisig knocked down a corner 3 to put the Bearcats in front. The Crimson Pride tried to go inside for a bucket, but sophomore point guard Nate Kelley blocked the shot, which triggered a fast break that ended in a layup from sophomore Rylee Meininger.
Christian Swift set up McGill for a layup and the Pride forced a miss on defense, but sophomore Keon Delgado grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to freshman Tre Boswell for a 3, his second of the period. That put Scottsbluff up six with less than a minute to play.
Swift answered with a 3 of his own to make it a three-point game again, but Roncalli misfired on the rest of its 3-point attempts while the Bearcats added a pair of layups against Roncalli’s press to seal the victory.
Scottsbluff shot 7-of-10 from the floor including 3-of-4 from 3 in the final period with six assists and just one turnover.
Meininger led Scottsbluff with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting (2-of-4 from 3) and five rebounds. Kelley added 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Boswell chipped in nine points on 3-of-6 from deep while Delgado hit three of his four shots for six points to go with nine rebounds and two blocks.
McGill dropped 23 points on 50% shooting and seven rebounds while X’arion Rankins chipped in 10 points and five boards in their final game with the Pride.
Scottsbluff will face No. 2 Norris in Friday’s semifinals with tipoff set for 7:45 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
