Nebraska boys state basketball rewind

Video: Aguek Arop's highlights vs. Overland
See the Omaha South standout in action.

Basketball is supposed to be fun, and typically it is. But according to Elmwood-Murdock boys basketball coach Matthew Shelsta, life is unenjoyable when two-time defending Class C2 state basketball champion Hastings St. Cecilia stands between your team and the basket.

"They're so tough," Shelsta told the Grand Island Independent after his club failed in its quest to dethrone the defending Class C2 state champions at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln Saturday. "Defensively they make you work for everything on offense, and then defensively they are so tough they make it so hard that you have to be efficient. That's hard. Tonight they were better on both sides of the floor.

"They're not fun to play. They're really not fun to play. They're hard to scout, they're hard to defend and it was hard."

St. Cecilia won its first state basketball title, a year ago, since winning Class C1 championships in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Last weekend the Bluehawks were the only 2015 state champion to successfully defend their title.

Omaha South (Class A) and Humphrey St. Francis (Class D2) did move up a rung and won championships after falling short in their respective state finals a year ago. The Packers were the Class A runner-up in 2015, while the Flyers moved down to Class D2 after finishing second to High Plains in the Class D1 state championship game a year ago.

In all, 48 boys basketball teams convened upon Lincoln in hopes of taking home the champion's hardware in the Cornhusker State's six classifications, and besides the Packers, Bluehawks and the Flyers – Gretna (B), Bishop Neumann (C1) and Lourdes Central Catholic (D1) survived three games in three days to capture gold for their respective schools.

Class A – Omaha South 59, Fremont 50
Omaha South (28-1) came close to winning it all in seasons past, only to fall short. But 2015-16 was the year of the Packer. In fact, Bruce Chubick's club didn't lose a game – to a Nebraska opponent – and posted a 28-1 mark with the only blemish coming against Aurora (Colorado) 59-55 in mid-February. A 7-0 run to end the third period put Omaha South in charge 43-34 going into the fourth period of the championship win over Fremont. Aguek Arop's layup gave Omaha South its largest lead of the game, 52-38, with 2:44 left in the contest. Caleal Walker poured in 20 points for the champs, while Makoor Arop and Monte McGary tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively. Matt Hahn led the way for the Tigers (25-3) with 11 points and Christian Harmon added nine points for the runners-up.

Class B – Gretna 52, Scottsbluff 33
Holding on to a slim 15-13 advantage after a period of play, the Dragons (27-1) took off in the second period, outscoring Scottsbluff 12-3 to go up by 11 at the intermission. The Dragons extended their advantage to 19 in the second half before claiming their first state basketball championship since winning Class B in 1982. The champions were led by Jared Samuelson's 17 points and 12 points by Zach Imig. Landon Walker scored 10 points for Scottsbluff (24-4).

Class C1 – Bishop Neumann (Wahoo) 63, Adams Central (Hastings) 54
With two boys basketball teams set to play for state championships Saturday, some in the Hastings community were hoping Saturday would go down in history as the greatest day in Hastings sports history. Bishop Neumann (26-2), however, may have put a damper on those reflections with a nine-point triumph over Adams Central (24-5). Noah Vedral drilled a 3-pointer to give the champions the lead for good, 48-46, going into the final eight minutes, and the champions gradually pulled away from there. Vedral led all scorers for the Cavaliers with 19 points. Jaxon Simons added 18 points for the champions, while Ben Simons and Reid Jurgensmeier tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively. David Bohlen and Luke Goldenstein paced the runners-up with 15 points each, while Cale Pleak added 14 points.

Class C2 – St. Cecilia (Hastings) 57, Elmwood-Murdock 38
Solid free throw shooting and marksmanship from beyond the arc allowed Elmwood-Murdock (24-5) to crawl back into the championship game at halftime, after falling behind 19-9 after a period of play. St. Cecilia (24-4), however, took over in the second half, outscoring the Knights 30-13. St. Cecilia's Zach Kitten led all scorers with 16 points, while Brooks Asher and Derek Boyd added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Nick Goudie paced the Knights with 13 points.

Class D1 – Lourdes Central Catholic (Nebraska City) 61, Walthill 50
After falling behind 20-15 after a period of play, the champion Knights (25-5) rallied to tie things up, 27-27, at intermission. Lourdes Central Catholic then took over in the third period, building a 44-35 advantage on Hayden Miller's 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the period. Walthill's Jayden Sheridan turned an old fashioned three-point play and Kobe Smith was good on a free throw with 5:17 left in the game to pull the Blujays within 46-42. But the champions outscored Walthill (22-4) 15-8 the rest of the way to secure Central Catholic's first boys state basketball championship. Miller led the way for the champions with 22 points, while Julius Sakinis added 19. Smith and Sheridan tallied 19 and 15 points, respectively, for Walthill.

Class D2 – St. Francis (Humphrey) 33, Mead 31
The Flyers saw plenty of familiar faces on their way to St. Francis' seventh state basketball title in school history. Following a convincing 67-24 triumph over Crawford in the quarterfinals, the Flyers dispatched Riverside, 40-39, for the third time in 2015-16 on Kyle Wemhoff's buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Then, St. Francis (26-2) watched with fingers crossed as Zach Pickworth's 3-point try at the buzzer came up short in the championship contest, allowing the Flyers to even this year's series with Mead at a game apiece. The Raiders took the Flyers 50-39 in the D2-3 subdistrict title game. St. Francis was led in scoring by Cole Wemhoff's 13 points. Tristan Hoover led all scorers for Mead (25-3) with 15 points.

Top seeds come through – for the most part
While upsets almost always throw "March Madness" brackets into an instant tailspin, seedings at last weekend's boys state basketball tournament pretty much held true to form. Collectively, the top two seeds went 28-7 over the weekend with the 2-seeds claiming a 15-2 mark over the competition last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Lincoln, and won four of the six championships. The top seeds claimed the other two titles. Eight of the 12 finalists were either a top seed, or the No. 2 seed. The No. 3 seeds went 8-7 over the weekend and produced a pair of runner-up finishes, while the 4-8 seeds all finished with below-.500 records. Elmwood-Murdock, a No. 5 seed in Class C2, was the lowest seed to play its way into the finals. High Plains (Polk) played it's way to a consolation championship after being tagged with the Class D1 No. 6 seed.

Record breaker
Tucker Pinyan of Parkview Christian (Lincoln) set a couple of new Class D2 state tournament records over the weekend. The sophomore drilled seven 3-pointers in Saturday's 68-49 Class D2 consolation championship loss to Riverside (Cedar Rapids) to re-establish the Nebraska small school record for 3-pointers in a state tournament game. Pinyan's 14 makes from beyond the arc for the tournament also set a D2 record. Greeley's Shawn Harrahill (2002) and Hayes Center's Keifer Messersmith (2010) held the single-game mark of six, while Hays Springs' Lars Backward (2010) held the record of 12 3-pointers made in a tournament.

Moving up the list
Three schools improved their stock over the weekend in regards to the Nebraska School Activities Association's state basketball tourney bests. Both Humphrey St. Francis and Hastings St. Cecilia won their seventh state titles Saturday, tying them for eighth all-time with four other programs. St. Francis also played in its 13th final, tying the Flyers for fifth with Wahoo. Omaha South, meanwhile, played in its 10th championship game, which ties the Packers for 12th all-time with four other programs.

Championship coaches
Class A – Bruce Chubick, Omaha South
Class B – Brad Feeken, Gretna
Class C1 – Mike Weiss, Bishop Neumann
Class C2 – Kevin Asher, Hastings St. Cecilia
Class D1 – Joe Tynon, Lourdes Central Catholic
Class D2 – Eric Kessler, Humphrey St. Francis

Consolation champions
Consolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Columbus Scotus (25-4), Winnebago (31-1), High Plains (23-4) and Riverside (23-4) all ended the season on winning notes Saturday after coming up short in semifinal games Friday.

Class C1 – Scotus (Columbus) 61, O'Neill 55
Class C2 – Winnebago 74, Amherst 73 (OT)
Class D1 – High Plains 39, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley 36
Class D2 – Riverside (Cedar Rapids) 68, Parkview Christian 49

Football-basketball sweep
It wasn't easy, but St. Francis completed its first football-basketball sweep over the weekend, avenging earlier losses in both championship games in order to do so. After falling to Chambers/Wheeler Central, 28-6, during regular season action last fall, the Flyers upended the Renegades in the 8-Man 2 championship football game in November despite trailing 20-6 heading into the fourth quarter. Against Mead in Saturday's D2 championship contest, the Flyers rallied from a 26-20 fourth-period deficit to upend the Raiders 33-31 after falling to Mead 50-39 in the D2-3 subdistrict championship game.

Single-game scoring outbursts
37 – Ryan Williams, Fremont in a 71-68 Class A semifinal win over Creighton Prep (Omaha) in overtime
35 – Riley Tegtmeier, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley in a 52-35 Class D1 quarterfinal win over Archbishop Bergan (Fremont)
33 – Dalton Taylor, Columbus Scotus in a 61-55 Class C1 consolation championship win over O'Neill
32 – Cutter O'Connell, Sidney in a 77-74 Class B quarterfinal loss to Aurora in two overtimes
31 – Nate Schimonitz, Omaha Creighton Prep in a 58-57 Class A quarterfinal win over Omaha Central
30 – David Bohlen, Adams Central (Hastings) in a 53-43 Class C1 quarterfinal win over North Bend Central
28 – David Wingett, Winnebago in a 54-49 Class C2 semifinal loss to Elmwood-Murdock
28 – Henry Tanksley, Parkview Christian in a 63-39 Class D2 quarterfinal win over Anselmo-Merna (Merna)
26 – Noah Valasek, Riverside in a 68-49 Class D2 consolation championship win over Parkview Christian
25 – Holden Eckhout, Amherst in an 81-78 Class C2 quarterfinal win over Ainsworth
24 – Trace Tupper, Lincoln Northeast in a 44-40 Class A quarterfinal loss to Papillion-LaVista
24 – Justin Appleby, O'Neill in a 61-55 Class C1 consolation championship loss to Columbus Scotus

They said it
"We stick to what we always do. We know even if we don't get off to a good start, no one can hang with us for that long," Omaha South point guard Monte McGary told the Lincoln Journal Star after Omaha South's Class A championship win over Fremont. "We keep getting after them and eventually they'll fold."

"We were us, we played our game," Jared Samuelson told the Omaha World Herald after Gretna dispatched Scottsbluff 52-33 in the Class B title game. "Our big thing was it's not always about the X's and O's, it's about being us."

"I thought our 1-3-1 made them pretty uncomfortable," Bishop Neumann coach Mike Weiss told the Fremont Tribune after his club won the Class C1 title with a 63-54 triumph over Hastings Adams Central. "The biggest magic to the 1-3-1 is that you better teach your kids how to work every single second. I know coaches think their kids work, but my kids know how to work every single second. Again, its about our work ethic."

"This has been our goal the whole year," Hastings St. Cecilia senior Derek Boyd told the Hastings Tribune following a successful Bluehawk repeat. "We've been breaking down the huddle with ‘State champs' almost every time, and it's just a dream come true to end my career with a two-peat."

"We knew it was a 0-0 game coming into halftime," Lourdes Central Catholic's Hayden Miller told the Sioux City Journal after the Knights rallied to tie the score 27-27 at intermission before securing the Class D1 title with a 61-50 win over Walthill. "You have to leave everything on the court, especially defensively. When we leave everything on the court defensively, that led to offense and we know how great our guards and our defensive posts are."

"It was nerve-racking watching that ball. You don't know what's going to happen. Watching it not go in, that was the best feeling ever," Flyer Damien Baumgart told the Norfolk Daily News after Humphrey St. Francis won its first state basketball title since 2006 when Mead's last second shot came up short. "This is the best feeling ever. It's kind of indescribable right now. I'm not sure how it feels yet, but it's coming. It's a good feeling."