The Lincoln North Star Gators went 1-for-2 in championship games on Saturday as the host school for the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Gator girls avenged a loss to Lincoln Southwest in dominant fashion while the North Star boys fell to Lincoln Northeast in a thriller.
GBB: No. 3 Lincoln North Star 50, No. 1 Lincoln Southwest 27
The Silver Hawks, ranked fifth in the NEBPreps Coaches Poll, beat the No. 9 Gators on their own floor 47-40 on Jan. 2.
One month later, North Star completely turned the tables, smothering the Silver Hawks to earn a blowout victory.
“The difference today was we had to go back to the basics,” North Star coach Tommy Johnson said. “We had to go and do what we’re good at and be who we are. I think at one point in season, we were listening to a lot of outside noise, and then we started trying to fit in, like, ‘Oh, the top-five teams play this way; let’s try to play like them.’ At the end of the day, we don’t want to be that. We want to stand down and be our own identity.”
Their identity led to a 23-point victory on Saturday and the program’s first HAC Tournament title.
“It means a lot,” Johnson said. “This team, this group right here, they’ve been breaking milestones ever since my second year here coaching them. So it’s just one of those things where you could just feel it coming, you can feel it in the air … Coming in the season, the HAC championship was one of our main goals.”
North Star’s aggressive 1-3-1 zone caused problems for Southwest all game, resulting in as many turnovers as shot attempts (26 of each) and a 34.6 field goal percentage. The Gators held the Silver Hawks to single-digit points in the first three quarters before they reached 10 in the fourth. They made three shots inside the arc all game.
“Our girls took it personally,” Johnson said. “There were shots thrown at us that we are not a defensive minded team. In our stretch we’ve been doing really well, we’ve actually held teams these last three games to an average of 20 points.”
The start of the game was North Star senior Sarah Gatwech, who finished with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and broke the school’s career scoring record in the process. Gatwech closed out both the second and third quarters with impressive buckets and scored all of her points in the first three periods.
“She’s my girl freshman year that was just hiding in the hallway, scared to come in and didn’t know if she wanted to play, because she knew that first year was going to be rough,” Johnson said. “Coach [Steve] Bartek actually talked her into coming in and getting out here and playing, and then the rest is history. Sarah puts in work; I don’t think people know how much work Sarah really puts in.”
Junior Ani Leu added 12 points on 50% shooting, five rebounds and four steals. The Gators recorded 18 steals as part of those 26 turnovers, fueling transition play.
BBB: No. 2 Lincoln Northeast 71, No. 1 Lincoln North Star 69
While the girls game was never in doubt in the second half, the boys game went down to the final possession despite the Rockets building a 15-point lead at halftime and taking a 13-point edge into the fourth quarter.
However, the Gators came storming back behind Jordan Castor’s 14 fourth-quarter points, tying it up on a deep 3 from the sophomore guard with 15 seconds to go.
Instead of calling a timeout to set something up, however, Northeast coach Monte Ritchie let his senior point guard Lazerek Houston — the state’s leading scorer — push it up himself. With the seconds winding down, he attacked, drew three defenders and dropped the ball off to junior Grant Fredericks cutting along the baseline for the go-ahead reverse layup.
Jordan Castor for the tie, the Grant Fredericks on the pass from Lazerek Houston to put Northeast back in front.
3.1 left. #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/AT35r5nXgt
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) February 2, 2025
“We’ve had that conversation,” Ritchie said. “Last time we played North Star, we kind of had a similar situation. I let Lazerek go, and he goes in and gets a layup, and we tie it and go to overtime. I know when he has the ball with a full head of steam and they’re kind of unorganized, good things are going to happen. And then credit to Zerek, he makes that play to throw it to Grant and get that layup.”
North Star had 5.1 seconds to work with after a timeout, but Castor’s deep 3-point attempt didn’t go down, giving the No. 9 Rockets and upset win over the fifth-ranked Gators.
“I think that’s two really good teams playing for a championship,” Ritchie said. “We had a good lead and it kind of slipped away a little bit, but they made some big plays. Luckily, we made some big plays too, and it was fun. It was fun.”
The Gators won the first meeting between the teams, 84-83 in double overtime on Dec. 17. Houston went off for 36 points and six assists, but Castor nearly matched him with 34 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Round two went the other way.
“We are a completely different team than when we played them earlier in the year,” Ritchie said. “I feel really good about where we’re at, but we certainly have a long ways to go in order to get to where we want to go.”
Houston finished with 26 points. The other hero of the game, Fredricks, added 20 points on 8-of-14 from the field (1-of-1 from 3) and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line plus 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
“Grant’s been good all year,” Ritchie said. “He’s a kid that really steps up when we need it most a lot of times, like Southeast and today. I’m really proud of him and his progress and excited for his future.”
Senior Mo Abdalla, who dropped 21 points and 11 rebounds in Northeast’s HAC semifinal win over Lincoln Southeast, chipped in 10 points while junior Easton Switzer added nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
Castor finished with 25 points — all in the second half — plus six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Senior Sam Schaefer notched his first career double-double with 17 points on 6-of-8 from the field (1-of-1 from deep) and 4-of-8 from the foul line and 12 rebounds (seven offensive). William Schafer and J’Shawn Afuh chipped in 10 points apiece.
New Home for the HAC
Traditionally, the HAC Tournament has taken place in December and January around the holidays, at the same time as the Metro Conference Tournament. This year, the conference pushed it back to the end of January, and Ritchie is a fan.
“We won it, so I love it,” Ritchie quipped. “It’s good. The over break was always funny. You don’t get to practice right before, and this one felt more natural. You’ve played most of the teams already, then you see them a second time as like a true conference tournament should be.”
Ritchie said he thought the new place on the calendar did and will produce better games for the tournament.
“I think teams are more organized, and they have a better feel of who they are and what they want to do,” Ritchie said. “So you get, probably, better games and more competition.”
