Let’s take one last look back at the winter sports season in Iowa and Nebraska. Here are the MaxPreps individuals and teams of the year from Nebraska. Last week, we covered Iowa.
Nebraska Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Deverell Biggs, Omaha Central
Biggs, a senior whose college basketball plans remain up in the air, had a phenomenal season while leading Omaha Central to its fourth Class A title in five years. The jet-quick 6-foot-1 senior scored 35 points in the Eagles’ state semifinal win against Lincoln Southeast and averaged 21 per game for the season.
Next in line: Mike Gesell, South Sioux City. Only a sophomore, Gesell averaged 20 points and seven rebounds per game while lifting the Cardinals to their first Class B title.
Nebraska Boys Basketball Team of the Year: Omaha Central
With four state championships in five years, Central is the top basketball program in the state right now. This year’s team showed steady improvement throughout the season and crescendoed with a 71-58 defeat of state-No. 2 Norfolk in the Class A final.
Next in line: St. Cecilia (Hastings). This isn’t to say the Bluehawks are necessarily the second-best team in the state, but their accomplishments cannot be ignored. They beat a talented Chadron team to secure their third consecutive C1 state title and ended the year on a 20-game winning streak.
Nebraska Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Jordan Hooper, Alliance
From a statistical perspective, this was an easy choice. Hooper, a 6-2 senior who led the Bulldogs to a second straight third-place finish in Class B, averaged 26 points, 15 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. The University of Nebraska signee will finished as the state’s fifth-leading scorer and second leading rebounder all-time.
Next in line: Emily Cady, Seward. A choice made without regard to statistics here. The 6-2 wing is one of the nation’s top recruits in the junior class and was the top player for arguably the state’s best team. Averaged only nine points along with seven rebounds per game, but was a lynchpin for the 25-0 Class B champs.
Nebraska Girls Basketball Team of the Year: Seward
The Bluejays ended the year with 50 straight wins and repeated as Class B champions. Their average victory margin in the state tournament was 22 points. In fact, only one opponent kept the spread under 10 all season.
Next in line: Bellevue West. Led by all-state junior Alexis Akin-Otiko, the Thunderbirds became the first team to repeat as Class A champion in 10 years.
Nebraska Wrestler of the Year: Ronald Coleman, Omaha North
An absolute no-brainer. The nationally ranked heavyweight pinned Creighton Prep’s Jeffrey Uher to finish the season 34-0 and was individual state champion for the fourth consecutive year. It was the second consecutive undefeated season for this Southeast Missouri football recruit.
Next in line: Ravaughn Perkins, Omaha North. The nationally ranked 152-pounder went 38-0 and won his third consecutive state crown at three different weight classes.
Iowa Wrestling Team of the Year: Grand Island
The nationally ranked Islanders cruised to their second consecutive state championship, winning the Class A team score by 67 points. They had five individual champions and 11 grapplers who made the medal stand.
Next in line: Skutt Catholic. Grand Island’s dominance in Class A is rivaled only by Skutt Catholic’s mastery of Class B, where the SkyHawks picked up their 13th consecutive team state title and crowned three individual champions.
By the numbers
1 – The number of boys basketball teams playing in their state’s largest classification across the nation that have won as many state titles the last five seasons as Omaha Central (Bishop Hendricken in Rhode Island).
7 – The number of years that have passed since the University of Nebraska signed an in-state player for boys basketball. Lincoln High’s Andrew Drevo was the guy in 2003.
380 – The number of rebounds for Alliance’s Jordan Hooper this season. It’s a new state record, breaking her previous mark of 342 set last season.
3 – The number of repeat girls basketball state champions in the state’s six classifications this year.
23 – The total number of Grand Island wrestlers who made the medal stand during the last two state tournaments. Put another way, only five out of 28 Grand Island grapplers failed to win at least fifth place the last two years.
16 – Including Omaha North’s Ronald Coleman, the number of Nebraskans who won four individual state titles in their high school career. Coleman is the first weighing over 200 pounds to do it.
Des Moines-based Jamie DeMoney has covered high school sports and recruiting for more than 15 years. He is editor and founder of PrepNation.com. You can reach him at PrepNation@aol.com.