With the Big Ten wrestling tournament moving on to Ann Arbor, Michigan this winter, Nebraska's boys basketball teams once again took over the City of Lincoln on their own while playing for the Cornhusker State's state championship hardware during the second weekend of March.
However, the Nebraska School Activities Association did decide to hold quarterfinal, semifinal and championship contests in either the Devaney Center or Pinnacle Bank Arena, making it necessary to add Wednesday to the schedule in order to get all 46 basketball games in.
Quarterfinal contests in Classes A, B, C1, C2, D1 and D2 were held on Wednesday and Thursday while semifinal contests were once again played solely on Friday. All six championship contests were held at PBA and third place games in Classes C1, C2, D1 and D2 were played at Lincoln Southeast on Saturday.
Johnson-Brock kicked off championship Saturday with a narrow 46-40 win over North Platte St. Patrick's to claim the Class D1 state championship hardware. Then, following Ashland-Greenwood's 54-24 Class C1 state title win over Auburn, Omaha Skutt Catholic claimed the boys state basketball title by upending Platteview 57-50 to claim the Class B title.
Freeman took the Class C2 state basketball title with a 53-35 win over Amherst to kick off the evening session. Bellevue West then bettered Millard North 64-41 to claim the Class A state championship before Parkview Christian knocked off Wynot 52-49 in the Class D2 state title tilt in Saturday's night cap.
Repeat champions Four of the six state champions from a year ago returned to the state tournament to defend their titles in 2023. Ashland-Greenwood (Class C1) and Parkview Christian (Class D2) successfully defended their titles. Defending Class A champion Millard North fell to Bellevue West 64-41 in the big school state title contest while North Platte St. Patrick's failed to repeat after dropping a 46-40 decision to Johnson-Brock in the Class D1 title tilt. Class B's Omaha Roncalli Catholic and last year's C2 King Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family did not qualify for the state tournament in 2023.
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? Seven.
Auburn, Bellevue West, Falls City Sacred Heart, Millard North, North Platte St. Patrick's, Omaha Skutt Catholic and Parkview Christian. Another 23 schools have qualified for the boys state basketball tournament in three of the last four seasons. Twenty-nine schools qualified for Nebraska's version of March Madness twice in the past four years while 37 boys basketball programs played their way into the field of 48 once since 2020.
Championship coaches Class A – Doug Woodard, Bellevue West (28-0)
Class B – Kyle Jurgens, Omaha Skutt Catholic (25-3)
Class C1 – Jacob Mohs, Ashland-Greenwood (27-2)
Class C2 – Jim McLaughlin, Freeman (29-1)
Class D1 – Lucus Dalinghaus, Johnson-Brock (25-4)
Class D2 – Nathan Godwin, Parkview Christian (26-3)
Consolation champions Consolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Ogallala, Hartington Cedar Catholic, Dundy County Stratton and Sumner-Eddyville-Miller all ended the season on winning notes Saturday after coming up short in semifinal games Friday.
Class C1 – Ogallala (28-1) 72, Omaha Concordia (24-5) 63
Class C2 – Hartington Cedar Catholic (24-5) 57, Tri County (24-6) 48
Class D1 – Dundy County-Stratton (24-5) 67, Maywood/Hayes Center (26-4) 59
Class D2 – Sumner-Eddyville-Miller (22-6) 62, Shelton (23-3) 60
Single-game scoring outbursts 37 – Alec Noonan, Elkhorn South in an 81-70 Class A quarterfinal loss to Millard North.
36 – Connor Millikan, Platteview in a 60-50 Class B quarterfinal win over Norris.
31 – Connor Millikan, Platteview in an 80-54 Class B semifinal win over York.
30 – Carter Siems, Tri County in a 56-41 Class C2 quarterfinal win over Doniphan-Trumbull.
29 – Riley Bombeck, Shelton in a 72-68 Class D2 quarterfinal win over Santee.
29 – Viktar Kachalouski, Parkview Christian in an 86-57 Class D2 semifinal win over Shelton.
28 – Brecken Erickson, North Platte St. Patrick's in a 48-37 Class D1 quarterfinal win over Mead.
28 – Hayden Kramer, Maywood/Hayes Center in a 72-35 Class D1 quarterfinal win over Ansley-Litchfield.
27 – Jace Rosentreader, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller in a 62-60 Class D2 Consolation championship win over Shelton.
26 – Antallah Sandlin'el, Lincoln North Star in a 68-46 Class A quarterfinal loss to Bellevue West.
26 – Harry Caskey, Ogallala in a 72-63 Class C1 consolation championship win over Omaha Concordia.
26 – Jackson Kerchal, Dunning County-Stratton in a 67-59 Class D1 consolation championship win over Maywood/Hayes Center.
25 – Isaiah Zelasney, Osceola in a 62-54 Class D2 quarterfinal loss to Sumner-Eddyville-Miller.
25 – Jace Rosentreader, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller in a 62-54 Class D2 quarterfinal win over Osceola.
Three-game scoring outbursts 87 – Connor Millikan, Platteview
73 – Riley Bombeck, Shelton
62 – Jace Rosentreader, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller
58 – Josiah Dotzler, Bellevue West
58 – Jj Ferrin, Omaha Skutt Catholic
57 – Harry Caskey, Ogallala
57 – Carter Siems, Tri County
56 – Viktar Kachalouski, Parkview Christian
53 – Quientan Mccafferty, Omaha Concordia
53 – Brecken Erickson, North Platte St. Patrick's
53 – Alex Englot, Dunning County-Stratton
52 – Jaxson Bernecker, Hartington Cedar Catholic
50 – Jackson Kerchal, Dunning County-Stratton
Reaching the Century markThese athletes have scored 100 points or more at the Nebraska State Basketball Tournament during their high school careers.
171 – Josiah Dotzler, Bellevue West
167 – Connor Millikan, Platteview
109 – Brecken Erickson, North Platte St. Patrick's
