The NSAA Boys Basketball State Championship continued Friday with all six semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena and the Devaney Center.
Quarterfinals coverage: Wednesday | Thursday
Class C1
No. 5 Ashland-Greenwood 54, No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran 47
Ashland-Greenwood coach Jacob Mohs said his team was a different squad than the one who lost to Lincoln Lutheran 47-28 back on Jan. 16, and the Bluejays proved it on Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Ashland-Greenwood matched its point total from the first meeting at halftime to earn a four-point lead then maintained the advantage throughout the second half to earn a spot in the final.
Junior Derek Tonjes led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow junior Cooper Westerhold added 14 points on 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-6 from the line. The Bluejays forced 14 turnovers and converted them into a 16-4 points-off-turnovers edge.
Ashland-Greenwood closed the first quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 17-10 lead thanks to a breakaway layup from Westerhold before the buzzer. Sophomore Barrett Kitrell gave the Bluejays a big spark with eight points including a four-point play.
Seniors Grant Stowell and Trenton Ernst got the Warriors back into the game by combining for a 12-4 to tie it up at 24-all late in the half, but Ashland-Greenwood scored the last two buckets including a transition bucket from Tonjes just before the buzzer to take the four-point lead into halftime.
Lutheran pulled within one at one point in the third, but Ashland-Greenwood scored the last five points including a Tonjes put-back at the buzzer to take a 40-33 lead into the fourth.
The Bluejays maintained at least a two-possession lead throughout the fourth, pushing it as high as eight three different times. Every time the Warriors tried to make a push, the Bluejays had an answer.
Senior Jacob Duitsman surpassed 1,000 career points and broke Lutheran’s career scoring record with his first bucket 80 seconds into the game and finished with a team-high 13 points and 10 rebounds. He ends his career with 1,012 points in a Warrior uniform. Stowell added 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
“I don’t think it was Xs and Os. I think it was execution.”
Ashland-Greenwood coach Jacob Mohs joined @Austin2Jacobsen after the Bluejays clinched a spot in the Class C1 championship following their 54-47 win over No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/ZVjmj52WWz
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 14, 2025
No. 3 Omaha Concordia 54, No. 7 Doniphan-Trumbull 45
The Mustangs exploited their size and physicality advantage to break through to their first championship appearance after falling in the semifinals in three of the previous four years.
Concordia outscored Doniphan-Trumbull 34-16 in the paint and 16-4 in second-chance points while grabbing 14 offensive rebounds, and the Cardinals didn’t shoot nearly well enough from the perimeter to make up that gap.
Senior Jack Thrasher led everyone with 19 points and grabbed six rebounds, four on the offensive end. Senior Jackson Shepherd added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting (1-of-2 from deep) and 2-of-4 from the line, five rebounds and three steals. Junior Drew Kulus chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinals knocked down a couple of 3s early and led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter, but Concordia used a 10-0 run in the second quarter to surge ahead — the only lead change of the game.
Concordia led by four at halftime before four points in 30 seconds from Kulus to open the third quarter doubled the advantage. The Cardinals continued to battle, preventing the Mustangs from pulling away.
Doniphan-Trumbull had a chance to tie the game up with a corner 3 midway through the fourth, but the shot didn’t fall and the Mustangs responded with a 6-0 run, all at the rim, to take their largest lead yet with two minutes to go, and Concordia hit enough free throws down the stretch to close it out.
Senior Ty Bennett led the Cardinals with 17 points while junior Jack Poppe added 12.
The Mustangs will face No. 5 Ashland-Greenwood in Saturday’s C1 final set for 11 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
“If there’s something this group has shown, it’s the ability to rise to the occasion.”
Omaha Concordia’s coach @ken_kulus joined @Austin2Jacobsen following the Mustangs’ 54-45 win over No. 7 Doniphan-Trumbull in the Class C1 semifinals.#nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/5yqL2QxlXs
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 14, 2025
Class A
No. 1 Papillion-La Vista South 61, No. 4 Millard North 57
Bryson Bahl put the Titans on his back and carried them to the championship game for the first time in school history.
The South Dakota State signee went off for 33 points and hit the game-sealing free throws with 2.4 to go before signaling “night-night” to the Mustangs.
The NEBPreps Class A Player of the Year finalist finished 11-for-19 from the field (4-for-9 from 3) and 7-for-7 from the foul line with eight rebounds and two steals. The Titans weathered a couple big runs from the Mustangs and made enough plays in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Senior Reece Kircher added 11 points and six rebounds while sophomore Levi Webb chipped in 10 points and five boards. Papio South won despite Millard North shooting 54.3% from the field by outscoring the Mustangs 22-11 in points from offensive rebounds or turnovers.
Millard North raced out to a 10-2 lead as the Titans missed their first five shots, four of which were 3s. Bahl finally took the lid off the rim with a put-back four minutes in and the Titans trimmed the deficit to one at the end of the period.
Bahl opened the second quarter with a 3 and a three-point play to make it a 10-0 run and give the Titans a five-point lead, which they extended to nine with an 8-0 run to end the half.
The Titans struck first in the second half, but Millard North picked it up on defense from there, putting together a 16-2 run and holding the Titans without a field goal for more than five minutes. The Mustangs hit seven straight shots to take a 41-38 lead before Bahl converted a layup.
After a Mustang free throw, Webb beat the buzzer with a put-back to tie it up at 42-all heading into the fourth.
The teams traded buckets throughout the fourth. Bahl hit a 3 then found senior Jayden Herrera for another 3 on the next possession to put the Titans ahead by five, but junior Coriahnn Gallatin answered with a 3 of his own from the corner. The teams traded turnovers, chewing up some clock, then Kircher got to the basket for a layup with about 30 seconds to go to make it a four-point game.
The Mustangs scored inside the cut the deficit in half with 6.6 to go, but Bahl hit the free throws to seal it.
Senior Deacon Courtney led the Mustangs with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and five rebounds. Seniors Amari Rahaman and Derek Rollins scored 11 points apiece, as did Gallatin. The loss snapped a streak of six straight title-game appearances for Millard North.
“It’s about who we’ve become in the process.”
Papillion-La Vista South’s @coachhueser joined @Austin2Jacobsen following the Titans’ 61-57 win over No. 4 Millard North to secure a spot in the Class A championship game. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/IvnQcG9Nfe
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 14, 2025
No. 2 Omaha Westside 56, No. 6 Lincoln Southeast 52
A career-high performance from a Westside senior catapulted the Warriors into the final.
Trell Snoddy had only scored in double figures once in his varsity career — 10 points in Westside’s district final loss to Lincoln Southwest. On Friday, he scored a team-high 14 while shooting 3-for-3 from deep to send the Warriors to the championship for the first time in a decade.
Freshman Lee Robinson, who checked out with an injury midway through the second quarter and didn’t return until the start of the fourth quarter, added 11 points, five assists and two steals.
The Warriors went just 3-for-13 from 3 and 13-for-25 from the foul line but made up for it by shooting nearly 60% inside the arc and outscoring the Knights by 14 in the paint.
Westside raced out to an 8-0 lead before missing six of its last seven shots in the first quarter to settle for a 12-7 lead after one. The Warriors extended the lead to 11 late in the second quarter before Southeast senior Mike Ngoyi ended the half with a pair of layups.
Westside stretched the lead back to 11 in the third quarter, then the Knights dug deep and put together a 14-1 run to take a 38-36 lead. The Warriors went more than five minutes without a field goal before Donnie Barfield Jr. scored inside to tie it up at the end of the period.
The teams went back and forth early in the final period until Snoddy hit a 3 to trigger an 8-0 run for Westside. Ngoyi did his best to keep the Knights alive, scoring six of their final 10 points, but Westside managed to hold on.
Ngoyi led Southeast with 23 points, nine rebounds and three steals in his final game as a Knight. Junior Rowan Lambert added 13 points on 5-of-8 from the field (2-of-3 from deep) and 1-of-2 from the line.
No. 2 Westside will face No. 1 Papillion-La Vista South in Saturday’s final. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Titans went 2-0 against the Warriors during the regular season, winning 60-59 in the Metro Tournament final and 70-52 at Papio South.
“My teammates were just finding me. I just let it fly when I got the chance to.”
Omaha Westside’s @trellsnoddy joined @Austin2Jacobsen after scoring 14 points in the No. 2 Warriors’ 56-52 win over No. 6 Lincoln Southeast. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/bdycgLiFMt
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 14, 2025
Class B
No. 4 Skutt Catholic 51, No. 1 Norris 49
One day after experiencing the elation of one of the more improbable game-winners in state tournament history, the Titans felt the agony of being on the other end in the semifinals.
Sophomore Evan Greenfield crossed up his defender and got to the basket for the tying layup with 90 seconds to go. The Titans forced a turnover but came up empty on the possession, then Skutt missed its ensuing attempt as well.
Junior George Ziebell, a 6-foot-9 center, drew a foul on the rebound with 16.9 to go, giving Skutt another shot. The SkyHawks put the ball in senior Kyle Cannon’s hands, and he got downhill, throwing up a shot in the lane. It bounced hard off the glass — right into Ziebell’s hands for the put-back at the buzzer.
LATE-GAME HEROICS FROM @ziebellgeorge 🤯@SkuttBasketball is back in the Class B state title game after a 51-49 win over Norris.#nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/ykk5zA6oVh
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 15, 2025
Ziebell finished with 10 points and 17 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end. Senior Brock Scholl, an Omaha signee, led Skutt with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Cannon chipped in 13 points.
The Titans missed their first seven shots in the game before Bornschlegl gave them a spark, scoring eight straight points during a 12-0 Norris run. Skutt turned it over seven times in four and a half minutes as Norris took a 14-8 lead after one.
The gap grew to nine before Skutt put together a 9-0 run in two minutes to tie it up, and it turned into a bucket-for-bucket battle the rest of the way. Neither side led my more than two possessions in the final 22 minutes.
The second half saw six ties and 11 lead changes, setting the stage for a thrilling finish.
Junior Chris Garner Jr. led Norris with 16 points and seven rebounds. Senior Josh Bornschlegl added 13 points off the bench, shooting 5-of-9 from the field including 3-of-6 from 3.
With the win, Skutt earns the opportunity to win its third-straight Class B title on Saturday.
“After yesterday, anything could have happened.”
Skutt Catholic’s @ziebellgeorge scored the game-winning basket to send the SkyHawks to the Class B state championship game. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/b7FLBsYsmK
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 15, 2025
No. 2 Scottsbluff 58, No. 6 Elkhorn North 55
The Bearcats made some big plays in the last two and a half minutes to pull out a grinder against the Wolves and advance to the championship for the first time since 2017.
Elkhorn North’s only lead came at 2-0 15 seconds into the game while Scottsbluff led by as much as 10, but the Wolves rallied to tie the game on a Will Farrington 3-pointer with 2:30 to go. Fifteen seconds later, junior point Guard Nate Kelley converted a tough bucket inside to put the Bearcats back in front for good.
The Bearcats forced a miss inside, then the teams traded turnovers, giving Scottsbluff the ball, and Elkhorn North fouled Dez Smith. The senior split a pair of free throws, but junior Wolf Nike Orgilbold earned a trip to the line himself and hit both to make it a one-point game with 45 seconds to go.
Scottsbuff ran the clock ball down and skipped the ball to junior Rylee Meininger off a flare screen. The Wolves forced him to put the ball on the deck with the shot clock winding down, but the defender went for the steal with 3 seconds on the shot clock and committed a foul, putting Meininger at the line with 14.3 to go. He hit both to put Scottsbluff up by three.
Elkhorn North ran good action to spring sophomore Kellen Murphy for a good look that could have tied it, but the shot didn’t go down. Elkhorn North finished 4-for-19 from deep.
Kelley posted a game-high 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Tre Boswell added 14 points while shooting 4-for-9 from 3. Meininger chipped in 11 points while sophomore Caleb Burda provided a spark off the bench with nine points on 3-of-4 from deep. The Bearcats knocked down nine 3-pointers.
After Elkhorn North struck first, Scottsbluff put together a 15-4 run to build a nine-point lead in the first quarter. The Bearcats led by seven at the end of the first and by eight at halftime, but the Wolves chipped away at the lead throughout the second half until Farrington’s 3 tied it.
Murphy led the Wolves with 15 points and six boards. Junior Sutton Piatkowski finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Orgilbold and fellow junior Jase Reynolds scored 10 points apiece. However, Scottsbluff held the Wolves to 36.7% from the field.
No. 2 Scottsbluff will get another crack at No. 4 Skutt Catholic in the Class B championship on Saturday after falling to the SkyHawks 72-58 at the Doane Holiday Tournament in late December. Tipoff is set for 6:15 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
“It’s a moment we’ve all been waiting for, for a long time.”
Scottsbluff’s @natekelley_5 joined @Austin2Jacobsen after scoring 16 points to get the No. 2 Bearcats into the Class B championship game. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/IuiYbvu2NZ
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) March 15, 2025
Class D1
Results from the Devaney Center:
>> No. 1 Johnson-Brock 53, No. 4 McCool Junction 36: The Eagles opened the second half with a 26-4 run to turn a tied ball game at halftime into a blowout. Senior Camden Dalinghaus led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds, his twin brother Casen added 13 points and junior Brody Koehler notched a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. The Eagles will play for their third-straight state title on Saturday.
>> No. 2 Howells-Dodge 58, No. 3 Bancroft-Rosalie 41: The Jaguars led for all but 40 seconds of the rubber match with Bancroft-Rosalie to make their return to the championship game. Junior Andre martin led the way with 19 points on 8-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from the free-throw line, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Junior Nathan Tomcak added 14 points, seven boards and five assists while junior Dane Martin chipped in 11 points for Howells-Dodge, who shot over 50% from the field and 75% from the line.
The top two teams in D1 will face off in the championship on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Class C2
Results from the Devaney Center:
>> No. 8 Archbishop Bergan 64, No. 4 Summerland 48: After taking out C2’s top seed with a frantic comeback on Friday, the Knights pulled off another seed upset in dominant fashion to reach the final. Sophomore Cale Sheets scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the first quarter as Bergan built a 19-6 lead and never looked back. Junior Gavin Baker added 14 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Knights.
>> No. 3 Cross County 45, No. 7 West Holt 43: After falling behind by five midway through the fourth, Cross County held West Holt scoreless for four minutes and put together a 10-0 run to punch its ticket to the final. Senior Thatcher Hanson and junior Sawyer Anderson led the way with 10 points and five rebounds apiece for the Cougars, who held the Huskies to 29.2% shooting.
No. 3 Cross County will take on No. 8 Archbishop Bergan in the C2 final on Saturday set for 4:15 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Class D2
Results from the Devaney Center:
>> No. 1 O’Neill St. Mary’s 59, No. 4 Archangels Catholic 46: The Cardinals doubled up the Defenders 22-11 in the first quarter then held onto the lead to rest of the way to earn a spot in the championship. St. Mary’s shot 10-of-26 (38.5%) from 3, outscoring Archangels by 21 from the arc. Sophomore Ben Barlow led the way with 19 points and six rebounds, junior Gage Hedstrom finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists and sophomore Logan Brabec added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists while shooting 4-for-8 from deep.
>> No. 3 Wynot 55, No. 2 Wausa 53: The Blue Devils built an eight-point lead late in the fourth then survived a late rally to advance to the final. Wynot knocked down 10 3-pointers at a 37% clip to offset struggles inside the arc and from the foul line. Junior Justin Heimes led the way with 21 points on 7-of-11 from the field (5-of-7 from 3) and 2-of-4 from the line.
No. 3 Wynot will face No. 1 St. Mary’s in the Class D2 final, the last game of the season set to tip off at 8:15 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
