The Nebraska Boys Basketball State Championships tipped off on Wednesday with quarterfinals in Class D2, Class A and Class C2.
The Hurrdat Sports team posted up at Pinnacle Bank Arena to bring you coverage of all six day-one quarterfinals.
CLASS D2
No. 1 Shelton 65, No. 8 Humphrey St. Francis 59
Shelton’s stars took over in the clutch to slam the door shut on the St. Francis upset bid and send the Bulldogs to the semifinals.
Shelton doubled up St. Francis in the second quarter to take a 10-point lead into halftime, but the Flyers rallied to tie it up heading into the fourth. The final period saw five lead changes before Shelton’s decisive run.
With the Bulldogs trailing by one, seniors Riley Bombeck and Ashton Simmons ran a give-and-go for a Bombeck layup, then Bombeck took the ball away on defense and threw it ahead to Ben Myers for a fast-break layup to put the Bulldogs up by three. Shelton got another stop via a Luke Gilming steal and the Bulldogs went 5-of-6 from the foul line to seal it.
Bombeck finished with 30 points on 12-of-8 from the field (2-of-5 from 3) and 4-of-8 from the free-throw line, eight rebounds (four offensive), five assists, five steals and three blocks. Simmons chipped in 12 points, four assists and three steals while hitting four straight free throws to end the game. Myers, a junior, added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Freshman Ethan Wieseler led the Flyers with 19 points, 10 rebounds (six offensive) and two steals. Sophomore Carson Wessel nearly matched him with 18 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists.
The teams combined for 49 turnovers including 13 steals apiece in an up-and-down, helter-skelter game.
No. 4 Wynot 53, No. 5 O’Neill St. Mary’s 21
The Blue Devils punched their ticket to the semifinals with a dominant defensive effort.
Wynot held St. Mary’s to six field goals and 12.5% shooting and forced 20 turnovers in the game to offset a cold shooting game of its own. St. Mary’s went 1-for-24 from 3.
The Blue Devils displayed terrific late-clock execution in the game by closing out each of the first three quarters with buckets. Senior Dylan Heine popped from in the corner against St. Mary’s zone for a 3 at the end of the first then flew in for a buzzer-beating put-back at the end of the second. Senior Carson Wieseler joined the party at the end of the third with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
Heine was the only double-digit scorer in the game, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Wieseler chipped in nine points on 3-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line while senior Chase Schroeder corralled 10 rebounds, five on each end, to go with his four points and two blocks.
The Blue Devils will take on No. 1 Shelton in Friday’s semifinals with tipoff set for 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center.
Devaney Center Results
>> No. 2 Maywood-Hayes Center 58, No. 7 Elm Creek 50: Senior Jeremiah Ingison dropped 31 points — including 19 of his team’s 20 in the fourth quarter — to send the Wolves to the semifinals.
>> No. 6 Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 70, No. 3 Walthill 49: Senior Jace Rosentreader dropped 25 points while sophomore Chance Daake added 19 as the Mustangs upset the Bluejays in the nightcap.
CLASS A
No. 1 Bellevue West 41, No. 8 Omaha Creighton Prep 35
The Juniors Jays had the reigning champions on the ropes in the fourth quarter, until senior Jaden Jackson stepped up for the Thunderbirds.
Down 35-31 late in the fourth, the South Dakota State commit knocked down back-to-back 3s — the first field goals of the period for either side — to put the Thunderbirds in front by two with 52 seconds to play.
The best #nebpreps player in the 2024 class putting the team in his back. His second three in a row.
Bellevue West 37 Prep 35, :41 left in the fourth quarter. pic.twitter.com/GiyZBAaJW1
— Mike Sautter (@MikeSautter_) March 6, 2024
The Junior Jays turned the ball over and Eldon Turner hit a pair of free-throws with 23.4 to go, then Isaiah McMorris slammed the door shut with a steal and score to create the final margin.
Neither side scored for the first six and a half minutes of the fourth, but Bellevue West closed the game on a 10-0 run while holding the Junior Jays to one point and 0-for-7 shooting with seven turnovers.
The Prep frontcourt of senior Dillon Claussen and junior Trinell Parker took over in the third quarter, scoring 13 of Prep’s 16 to turn a two-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead heading into the fourth, and the Junior jays held it until Jackson’s 3s.
Claussen finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds while Parker added 11 points on 5-of-6 from the field and 1-of-2 from the line, six rebounds and two blocks. Prep shot 50% inside the arc but just 3-of-18 from 3.
Jackson led Bellevue West with 14 points, shooting 3-of-5 from deep and 5-of-6 from the line. The Junior Jays held the Thunderbirds to 5-of-24 inside the arc, but they went 6-of-14 from three and were plus-four at the free-throw line to offset their struggles.
Omaha Central senior Daleron Thomas celebrates with sophomore DaShawn Prince (No. 35) during the Eagles’ win over Omaha North. Photo by Mac Johnson.
No. 5 Omaha Central 72, No. 4 Omaha North 62
Daleron Thomas took over in the fourth and carried the Eagles to the finish line against his former team.
Thomas transferred from North to Central for his senior year, and on Wednesday he poured in 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to turn a narrow lead into a 10-point win.
Thomas went 4-for-4 from the field and 7-for-8 form the line in the final period to finish 10-for-20 overall (3-for-8 from 3) and 9-for-10 form the charity stripe. He also dished out four assists.
North raced out to a 9-2 start behind two buckets apiece from sophomore Jerri’on Williams and senior Dekhi Turner, but the Eagles settled in and put together a 20-5 run spanning the first and second quarters to build an eight-point lead.
North trimmed the deficit to two at halftime and to one late in the third quarter, but Central remained in front. The Vikings remained within striking distance until back-to-back athletic layups from Thomas stretched it out and allowed the Eagles to close it out at the foul line. Central shot 7-of-8 from the field and 11-of-13 form the foul line in the final period.
Senior Devin Holmon rolled his ankle, had it retaped and finished the game to pitch in nine points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks for the Eagles.
Mynor Strong led North with 16 points. Turner added 14 points on 5-of-9 form the field (1-of-1 from 3) and 3-of-6 from the line. Senior DeAndre Harper finished with 13 points on 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line and seven rebounds. Williams chipped in 10 points, four boards and two steals.
The Eagles move on to face No. 1 Bellevue West in Friday’s semifinals with tipoff set for 6 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
No. 2 Millard North 61, No. 7 Gretna 54
The Dragons fired everything they had at the Mustangs, but Derek Rollins took over in the fourth quarter to fend off the upset bid and send the Mustangs to the semifinals for the fifth straight year.
Gretna blitzed Millard North from the opening tip, hitting six of its first seven 3s to open up a 26-11 lead 30 seconds into the second quarter. Senior Joey Vieth, a South Dakota State football commit playing in his last basketball game, hit three of those.
However, the Dragons cooled off from there and Millard North got hot, responding with a 17-4 run with four triples of its own to cut the deficit to two. The teams traded buckets from there to send Gretna into the locker room with a 32-30 lead.
Millard North continued its surge into the third quarter with a 9-2 start to take a seven-point lead, but Gretna whittled it down to two at 41-39 Mustangs heading into the fourth.
Gretna cut it to one at 46-45, but the Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run featuring a Camden Monie bucket, a Rollins and-one put-back and a Grant Urbanek dunk. The Dragons kept asserting pressure, but buckets from Rollins and Monie closed the door.
Rollins scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, adding eight rebounds (four offensive) to his line. Mosser finished with 14 points on 4-of-8 from deep and 2-of-2 from the line, six assists and four rebounds. Senior Elijah Gaeth chipped in 12 points, five assists and four boards.
Pokorski closed out his Gretna record-setting career with 19 points on 7-of-12 from the field (2-of-3 from 3) and 3-of-4 from the line, four rebounds and four assists. Fellow senior Alec Wilkins added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting (1-of-1 from 3).
The run that inspired a community and beyond is over, but what the Dragons accomplished this season after losing their coach, Brad Feeken, will not be soon forgotten.
No. 3 Omaha Westside 60, No. 6 Lincoln Southeast 51
The Warriors avenged their early-season loss to the Knights and punched their ticket to the semifinals in a back-and-forth battle featuring several runs by both sides.
After a 10-5 start, Southeast took a one-point lead into the second quarter and pushed that to three a few minutes in. However, senior Rickey Loftin sparked an 8-0 run to put Westside in front, and the Warriors took a 28-23 lead into halftime.
Senior CJ Mitchell took over in the third quarter, leading a 10-3 start to the period for Westside to extend the lead to 12 before the Knights rallied. Deng Giet hit two 3s and Ziah Brown one during a 9-2 Southeast run before Loftin closed out the period with a layup to put Westside up seven heading into the fourth.
The Warriors pushed the lead back to 11 before an 11-2 Southeast run featuring three more 3s — one each by Taye Moore, Giet and Mikey Ngoyi — cut it down to two midway through the period.
The teams continued to battle with Westside taking a 54-51 lead into the final minute. Southeast’s tough defense forced Westside into a contested late-clock 3 that didn’t fall, but Mitchell tracked down the offensive rebound, forcing Southeast to foul with 36.6 to play. Mitchell hit both free throws to push the lead to five and Southeast ran out of steam.
Mitchell and fellow senior Kevin Stubblefield finished with 16 points apiece to lead the Warriors. Loftin added 13 points and eight rebounds while junior Carson Healy just missed out on a double-double with 10 points on 3-of-4 from the field (2-of-2 from 3) and 2-of-2 from the line plus nine rebounds.
Giet led everyone with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Ngoyi, a junior, scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting (1-of-3 from 3) with an and-one. Moore chipped in 10 points.
Westside will take on No. 2 Millard North in Friday’s semifinals with tipoff set for 7:45 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
