Nebraska crowned six state champions at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday as the 2026 high school basketball season concluded with the final day of the NSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.
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Previous roundups: Wednesday | Thursday | Semifinals
Class D2
Archangels Catholic Defenders Ethan Wieseler (20), Brenden Johannes (21), Kellan Mundil (24) and Tucker Czarnick (32) await their medals after cutting down the nets. Photo by Braden Cochran.
No. 2 Archangels Catholic 50, No. 1 Elgin Public/Pope John 30
The Defenders lived up to their moniker, putting on a 1-3-1 clinic to blow out the top seed and add another trophy to the case for the school formerly known as Humphrey St. Francis.
Senior Brendan Johannes led Archangels with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting (2-of-5 from 3) and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, four rebounds and two steals. Junior Gavin Geilenkirchen added 12 points, six steals and three assists. Senior Tucker Czarnick chipped in nine points, eight steals and six rebounds while junior Ethan Wieseler recorded his third straight double-digit rebounding effort at state with 13 caroms.
Archangels forced 23 EPPJ turnovers, including 18 steals, to earn a 27-10 advantage in points off turnovers. The Defenders held the Wolfpack to 26.7% shooting to end the season at 27-2.
“I’m super proud of our kids,” Archangels Catholic coach Eric Kessler said. “I thought early, our defense tremendous. You could tell this morning we were ready to play. I was very confident we would play well. I didn’t know if we’d win, but I thought we’d play well. These guys, the last three days, how they’ve played defensively — you’re playing the best teams, and I think on Wednesday, we held Sacred Heart to six points in the second half, we had a six-point effort today. Their effort has been great and was great in practice all year.
“We have six seniors, so extremely proud to end it this way.”
Archangels’ zone seemed to confound the Wolfpack early, helping create an 8-0 run before Karson Kallhoff scored in the lane at the 1:37 mark. EPPJ didn’t make another field goal until the 2:03 mark of the third quarter.
“Our defense is a little bit unique and not a lot of people probably run it,” Kessler said. “You can only run it if you’ve got guys that are working their rear end off all the time. You just have to be relentless all the time, and luckily I’ve got guys that are. It’s hard work; I think these guys would probably agree. I’m blessed with some very good athletes that work hard, and that’s a pretty good combination for what we do.”
The Defenders led 13-5 after the first quarter and 19-6 at halftime. The lead swelled to 35-8 before Max Henn scored inside, and the 6-foot-6 sophomore scored eight more points to close out the period. However, that only narrowed the gap to 19, and the Defenders maintained a comfortable lead throughout the fourth.
Henn was the lone member of the Wolfpack in double figures with 16 points. Senior Jarek Erickson added nine points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
>> Third-Place Game: No. 3 St. Mary’s 57, No. 5 Guardian Angels Central Catholic 47
NebPreps All-Tournament Team
>> MOP — Archangels Catholic SR Brenden Johannes: 15.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.3 SPG
>> Archangels Catholic SR Tucker Czarnick: 9.0 PPG, 47.6% FG, 100% FT, 4.7 RPG, 3.7 SPG
>> Elgin Public/Pope John SR Jarek Erickson: 14.3 PPG, 48.3% FG, 86.7% FT, 10.3 RPG, 2.7 APG
>> St. Mary’s SR Gage Hedstrom: 19.0 PPG
>> Guardian Angels Central Catholic JR Luke Guenther: 15.7 PPG
Class C1
The Bluejays hoist the Class C1 trophy. Photo by Jackson Hathaway.
No. 2 Ashland-Greenwood 42, No. 4 Douglas County West 39
The Ashland-Greenwood dynasty continues as its senior class lead the Bluejays to their fourth title in the past five seasons.
The back-to-back champs fell behind by nine in the second half then nearly blew their own nine-point lead, surviving three looks from the Falcons in the final 15 seconds to secure the two-point victory.
Ashland-Greenwood coach Jacob Mohs said “talented kids” has been the constant through their four title runs, but each team has fed off the previous winner.
“Every year’s kind of a new story,” Mohs said. “I think the first one gave kids confidence, because until you’ve done it you’re just not sure you can do it. We always challenge the guys to dream big, work hard and dream big. After that first one happened, I just felt like the momentum and snowballing and belief when you come play a game, and every year’s been different …
“When we returned this year, the expectations were super high. I don’t know if they felt it. I’ll just be honest, I felt it, because the expectation this year is you’re just going to play perfect and you’re going to win everything and you’re going to do everything perfectly. I tried throughout the season to make sure that we keep things in perspective and keep the joy in basketball, because that’s why they’re here. They’re here because they love to hang out with their buddies, they love to hoop, and it’s been possible because of the kids we have.”
It wasn’t quite perfect, but it’s about as close as a team can get as the Bluejays finished with a 28-1 record. Senior Derek Tonjes, a four-year varsity player who will graduate with three titles, led the Bluejays with 14 points and six rebounds. Fellow seniors Cal Kissinger and Cooper Westerhold added eight points apiece. The Bluejays held DC West to 37.8% shooting.
Ashland-Greenwood senior Derek Tonjes celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Photo by Jackson Luethje.
“It’s been awesome,” Tonjes said after his final game for Ashland-Greenwood. “We’ve been coached by Mohs since third grade, us six seniors have. Just doing the journey together and knowing its’ been 10 or 11 straight years of just having fun with the boys, I’m obviously going to miss it, but it’s been a great journey.”
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Bluejays as the Falcons jumped out to a 6-2 lead and took an 11-4 edge into the second quarter. Ashland-Greenwood missed five of its six shots and turned the ball over four times in the first.
The Bluejays hit their first three shots of the second to get going and tied it up at 13-all, but DC West took a 16-15 lead into halftime. The Falcons stretched it back out with a 9-1 start to the third, holding the Bluejays without a field goal for nearly four minutes to build a 25-16 lead.
Then Tonjes took the lid off the rim with a bunny and opened the floodgates. The Bluejays ripped off an 11-0 run to take the lead before Lane Smith scored at the rim to tie it at 27-all heading into the fourth.
“We talked to the kids earlier before the game about a good start, and that’s not what happened, and so sometimes the story doesn’t go the way you want it,” Mohs said. The first quarter wasn’t great for us, the second quarter wasn’t great, and that was due to DC West and their play and their execution and plan …
“We’ve got a lot of talented kids on our team. To do what they have done over the course of the last several years is not an accident. You have to spend time in the gym, you have to work at it, you have to be open to feedback, and we’re pretty tough on them. We tell them the truth, we challenge them, and that’s exactly what happened at halftime is we just challenged them to be better with their play, because they’re good enough.”
Ashland-Greenwood used a 7-2 run in the fourth to create some separation and slowed things down, chewing up clock before looking scoring opportunities. Tonjes delivered what appeared to be the dagger with just under three minutes remaining. Late in the shot clock, he found himself open with the ball from the left corner and let it fly, burying his first 3-pointer of the tournament to push the lead to eight just before the buzzer sounded.
“It felt really good to see it go in,” Tonjes said. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I shot it, but I shot it and it went in.”
Landon Mohs added a free throw to push the lead to nine 30 seconds later, but the Falcons weren’t done. They upped the pressure and forced three straight turnovers, scoring eight points in a minute to cut it to one and give themselves a chance at the win with 30 seconds to go.
Out of a timeout, the Falcons got Trey Schieber — who hit a 3 on the previous possession — an open look from the corner, but he couldn’t make it two in a row. He rebounded his own miss and put up a floater with eight seconds to play, but that didn’t go either and Logan Fangmeyer secured the board and drew a foul.
The senior knocked down both bonus shots to push the lead to three with 4.1 to go and Trey Olsen’s off-balance 3 at the buzzer didn’t go.
Schieber led DC West with 16 points while shooting 4-for-7 from deep. Olsen added 10 points and five rebounds. The Falcons finish with a program-record 23 wins.
>> Third-Place Game: No. 1 Ogallala 61, No. 3 Auburn 49
NebPreps All-Tournament Team
>> MOP — Ashland-Greenwood SR Derek Tonjes: 19.7 PPG, 63.9% FG, 7.3 RPG
>> Ashland-Greenwood SR Cooper Westerhold: 12.3 PPG, 62.1% FG, 1.3 SPG
>> DC West JR Lane Smith: 9.7 PPG, 54.5% 3FG
>> Ogallala SR Sawyer Smith: 20.3 PPG
>> Auburn SO Ryan Guenther: 13.0 PPG
Class A
No. 4 Lincoln Southwest 57, No. 6 Papillion-La Vista South 53
More to come.
NebPreps All-Tournament Team
>> Lincoln Southwest SR Uzziah Sanders: 20.0 PPG, 88.9% FT, 4.0 RPG, 3.0 SPG
>> Lincoln Southwest JR Dakari Wilson: 21.3 PPG, 45.7% 3FG, 5.0 RPG, 1.3 SPG
>> Papillion-La Vista South JR Levi Webb: 19.7 PPG, 50% FG, 85% FT, 6.0 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.3 SPG
>> Papillion-La Vista South SR Connor Falkinburg: 17.3 PPG, 52.9% FG (52% 3FG), 75% FT, 6.7 RPG, 1.3 BPG
>> Bellevue West JR Bryce Johnson Jr.: 25.0 PPG, 64.5% FG (50% 3FG), 6.5 RPG, 6.0 APG, 3.0 SPG
Class C2
No. 2 Bergan Catholic 59, No. 5 Norfolk Catholic 50
More to come.
>> Third-Place Game: No. 6 Freeman 39, No. 1 Yutan 36
NebPreps All-Tournament Team
>> MOP — Bergan Catholic SR Gavin Baker: 26.0 PPG, 59.3% FG, 66.7% FT, 10.3 RPG (4.7 ORPG), 2.7 APG, 2.3 BPG
>> Bergan Catholic JR Trent Mlnarik: 10.0 PPG, 68.4% FG, 7.0 RPG (2.7 ORPG), 1.7 SPG
>> Norfolk Catholic SR Gavin Schutt: 19.3 PPG, 48.8% FG (38.1% 3FG), 6.7 RPG, 2.7 APG
>> Yutan JR Ryan Maguire: 18.3 PPG
>> Freeman SR Easton Buss: 11.7 PPG
Class B
No. 3 Scottsbluff 68, No. 4 Elkhorn North 56
More to come.
NebPreps All-Tournament Team
>> MOP — Scottsbluff SR Nate Kelley: 23.0 PPG, 55.8% FG (44.4% 3FG), 76.5% FT, 6.7 APG, 6.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG
>> Scottsbluff SR Rylee Meininger: 15.7 PPG, 60.0% FG (46.2% 3FG), 83.3% FT, 4.0 RPG, 1.7 SPG
>> Elkhorn North JR Kellen Murphy: 14.0 PPG, 40.9% 3FG, 84.6% FT, 4.3 RPG, 2.0 APG
>> Norris JR Shane Holen: 19.0 PPG, 59.3% FG, 6.0 RPG
>> Skutt Catholic SR George Ziebell: 16.5 PPG, 55.0% FG, 10.0 RPG (3.5 ORPG), 2.0 BPG
Class D1
No. 1 Howells-Dodge 57, No. 5 McCool Junction 39
More to come.
>> Third-Place Game: No. 2 Lutheran High Northeast 65, No. 4 Elm Creek 50
NebPreps All-Tournament Team
>> MOP — Howells-Dodge SR Andre Martin: 15.3 PPG, 58.8% FG, 100% FT, 8.3 RPG (2.3 ORPG)
>> Howells-Dodge SR Dane Meyer: 6.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.7 SPG
>> McCool Junction SO Jameson Weiss: 11.0 PPG, 55.6% FG (57.1% 3FG), 83.3% FT, 3.0 RPG
>> Elm Creek SR Quin Oberg: 20.0 PPG
>> Lutheran High Northeast SR Cole Lawless: 15.0 PPG
