Nebraska boys high school basketball state championship recap

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The Nebraska boys took their turn at center court last weekend and crowned six state champions to conclude the Cornhusker State's basketball season. And while many of the same programs were back in the hunt, not all of them took home the champion's hardware.

Wahoo kicked off championship Saturday with a thrilling 70-66 overtime win over fellow Class C1 power Winnebago. Then, following a Lourdes Central Catholic (Nebraska City) 32-25 Class D1 state champion win over Kenesaw, York did in Skutt Catholic (Omaha) 61-56 in double overtime to claim the Class B title.

Ponca claimed another Class C2 state basketball title with a 50-40 win over St. Cecilia (Hastings) to start the night session. Creighton Prep (Omaha) then bettered Bellevue West 56-46 in the Class A final before Sacred Heart (Falls City) bumped Riverside (Cedar Rapids) from state championship contention with a 59-42 triumph to conclude the day's festivities.

Repeat champions
Four state champions from a year ago returned to defend their titles in 2018. Only Class C2 state champion Ponca and Class D1 king Lourdes Central Catholic, who won its third straight boys basketball championship, were successful. Norfolk and Bishop Neumann did not qualify in Classes A and C1 respectively, while defending Class B champion Gretna lost 57-47 to Omaha Skutt Catholic in the semifinals and defending Class D2 champion Mullen edged Giltner 57-51 in the Class D2 consolation championship.



Beyond regulation
If you enjoy close, on the edge of your seat basketball games, the 2018 boys state basketball tournament played into your round ball desires. Only 53 points separated the state champions and runners-up in the six state championship contests collectively and seven of the 46 basketball games decided in the three-day state tournament went beyond regulation. Twelve overtime periods were required to decide those seven contests. Class A state champion Omaha Creighton Prep needed three overtimes to get by Lincoln Pius X 83-80 in the quarterfinals. York survived a pair of two overtime contests on its way to the Class B title and Broken Bow broke through to the semifinals with a 66-64 two overtime thriller over Boone Central/Newman Grove in the Class C1 quarterfinals.

Double champions
York and Falls City Sacred Heart swept their way to state championships last weekend — only in different ways. After shutting out Omaha Skutt Catholic 31-0 in the Class B state title football game last November, York needed a couple of overtimes to dispatch the Skyhawks 61-56 in the boys state basketball championship to earn the football-basketball sweep. The Irish, on the other hand, join Sacred Heart's girls as state basketball champions after upending Riverside 59-42 in the Class D2 final.

Dominant Programs
The legacy of senior classes is discussed quite often this time of year, so here at MaxPreps we decided to delve into the data to see just how many schools have played their way into Nebraska's boys state basketball tournament in each of the past four basketball seasons. The answer? 5. Gretna, Hastings St. Cecilia, Omaha Creighton Prep, Riverside and Winnebago. Although they didn't all win state titles, it is an obnoxious feat just the same. Another 17 schools qualified for the boys state basketball tournament in three of the last four seasons and just 110 different boys basketball programs have competed at Nebraska's March Madness since 2015.

Championship coaches
Class A – Josh Luedtke, Omaha Creighton Prep
Class B – Scott Lamberty, York
Class C1 – Kevin Scheef, Wahoo
Class C2 – Adam Poulosky, Ponca
Class D1 – Joe Tynon, Lourdes Central Catholic
Class D2 – Doug Goltz, Falls City Sacred Heart

Consolation champions
Consolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Lincoln Christian, Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast, Johnson-Brock and Mullen all ended the season on winning notes Saturday after coming up short in semifinal games Friday.

Class C1 – Lincoln Christian 68, Broken Bow 49
Class C2 – Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast 73, Yutan 62
Class D1 – Johnson-Brock 63, Heartland (Henderson) 54
Class D2 – Mullen 57, Giltner 51



Single-game scoring outbursts
31 – Mayra Almayra, Grand Island Central Catholic, in a 69-58 Class C1 quarterfinal loss to Lincoln Christian.
30 – Kyle Perry, Millard South (Omaha), in a 75-65 Class A quarterfinal win over Omaha Central in overtime.
29 – Brady Danielson, York, in a 69-67 Class B quarterfinal win over Crete in double overtime.
29 – Carter Kent, Crete, in a 69-67 Class B quarterfinal loss to York in double overtime.
29 – Ty Hahn, Johnson-Brock, in a 65-56 Class D1 quarterfinal win over West Holt.
29 – Bryce Kerkman, West Holt (Atkinson), in a 65-56 Class D1 quarterfinal loss to Johnson-Brock.
29 – Lane Huebert, Heartland (Henderson), in a 63-54 Class D1 consolation championship loss to Johnson-Brock.
28 – Justin Bubak, Lincoln Christian, in a 69-58 Class C1 quarterfinal win over Grand Island Central Catholic.
28 – Josh Quinn, Mead, in a 58-49 Class D2 quarterfinal loss to Mullen.
27 – Manape Cleveland, Winnebago, in a 69-55 Class C1 semifinal win over Broken Bow.
27 – Kaden Glynn, Johnson-Brock, in a 63-54 Class D1 consolation championship win over Heartland.

Three-game individual scoring outbursts
Tredyn Prososki, Riverside (Cedar Rapids), 70
Brady Danielson, York, 69
Lane Huebert, Heartland, 67
Kyle Luedtke, Creighton Prep (Omaha), 63
Kaden Glynn, Johnson-Brock, 60
Garrett Conrad, Lincoln Christian, 59
Trevor Leach, St. Cecilia (Hastings), 58
D'von LaPointe, Winnebago, 55
Mason Timm, Yutan, 54
Justin Bubak, Lincoln Christian, 53
Manape Cleveland, Winnebago, 52
Brandon Fredrichs, Lourdes Central Catholic (Nebraska City), 52

They said it
"I don't think you can ask any more out of a state final," Wahoo coach Kevin Scheef told the Sioux City Journal of the Class C1 championship game. "Winston got us back in it in the third and fourth quarter with his drives to the hoop and Blake hit two huge 3s. They had us on the ropes and we battled back and found a way to get it done."

"We had to do some things different than we'd done all year long. The kids did a great job and limiting (Lourdes) to the (32) points that they got is quite an accomplishment," Kenesaw coach Jack Einrem told the Hastings Tribune after falling to Lourdes Central Catholic in the Class D1 title game. "We just didn't shoot the ball very well and we turned it over a little bit too much. (Lourdes) did a nice job on us (Saturday)."

"I'm so incredibly proud of these kids. Two double-overtime games here down in Lincoln, that's just an incredible feat," York head coach Scott Lamberty told the York News Times after his basketball team claimed a Class B state championship. "But to be down nine with 1:15 or whatever we were down — just never say die. It's a great group of kids that just refuse to quit.

"Our motto all year was: Believe in yourself and trust in each other. And they did that for 32 minutes every night, and this weekend they did it for 40 minutes a couple times."



"I thought it was a great game," Ponca coach Adam Poulosky told theindependent.com after the Indians claimed the Class C2 state championship. "I thought it was two physical teams that play great defense getting after one another. It was close most of the way.

"My hat's off to St. Cecilia for a great season, and they were tough. They were physical and played great defense."

"We missed a couple really good looks at 3s and they did a nice job squeezing our penetration," Bellevue West coach Doug Woodard told the Omaha World Herald. "Sometimes the ball gets rolling for one team. They hit a good streak when it was important to get a good streak and we went cold when it was important not to go cold."

"Getting here was the goal," Sacred Heart coach Doug Goltz told the Lincoln Journal Star. "Then we just try to preach to them that you've got to put three good games together. Tonight we were better than Riverside. We didn't have to be better than them all year long, we just had to be better tonight."