Nebraska girls state basketball recap

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It's ladies up first in Nebraska when it comes to putting on the show and deciding which basketball programs will earn state titles. And while many of the same programs were back in the hunt on championship Saturday, not all of them took home the champion's hardware.

Five of six state champions returned from a year ago. But only Falls City Sacred Heart successfully defended its title. The Irish rebounded from a seven-point, third-quarter deficit to runner-up Humphrey St. Francis in the Class D2 state title game. Sacred Heart outscored the Flyers 20-10 in the fourth quarter for a 57-51 win.

McKenzie Witt tied the contest at 48 with about three minutes left in the game before Sara Wertenberger's jumper gave Luke Santo's club the lead for good at the 2:16 mark. Top-seeded Sacred Heart made 7-of-8 charity shots down the stretch in only the second title game of the weekend featuring the top two seeds.

Lauren Parrish led the Irish with a game-high 19 points, while Wertenberger chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds. Logan Wemhoff led St. Francis with 15 points and freshman Allison Weidner was credited with 10 points and 11 assists.

In the other No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, Class A's second-seeded Omaha Westside jumped out to a 29-11 advantage over Millard South on Ella Wedergren's layup to open the third period. Although the Warriors did win comfortably, Millard South cut the deficit to 51-42 with less than a minute remaining before falling to the Warriors 55-44. Quinn Weidemann scored 18 points for the champions, while Wedergren added 10 points. Jayme Horan led all scorers with 19 points for the runner-up Patriots.

Columbus Scotus opened championship Saturday by upending Bishop Neumann 40-37 in overtime in the Class C1 state title game. Bailey Lehr hit a three-pointer with 20-seconds remaining in regulation to send the contest into overtime tied at 34. The Shamrocks made 4-of-6 free throws in the extra period, and Maggie Feehan added a jumper to secure Scotus' fifth girls state basketball title. Feehan and Kendra Wiese led Scotus with 12 and 10 points respectively, while Bishop Neumann's Aspen Jansa scored a game-high 13 points.

Led by Caitlin Orton's 20 points, North Central outscored Bruning-Davenport/Shickley in every period before winning 54-35 in the Class D1 title game. Jadyn Bussinger and Miah Wiebelhaus scored 12 and 10 points for the champions, while Megan Grote led the way for BDS with 12 points.

After trailing 33-26 at intermission, Elkhorn rallied to surprise defending Class B state champion South Sioux City in the title game Saturday. Former Antler football player, Brooke Carlson led the way with 27 points. Payton Jakopovic added 16 points for the champions, while Mckenna Sims led the Cardinals with 19 points.

After holding onto a slim 21-19 halftime advantage over Ravenna in the Class C2 state title contest, Superior found itself trailing 34-27 heading into the game's final eight minutes. The Wildcats, however, outscored Ravenna 15-5 in the fourth period to edge the Bluejays for the title. Teghan Sullivan gave Superior a 38-37 advantage with 2:39 left and Superior didn't trail again after making four of six free throws down the stretch.

Kalynn Meyer led the way for the champions with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Sullivan added 10 points. Megan Miigerl and Jordyn Fiddelke led Ravenna with 14 and 13 points respectively.

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 girls state basketball tournament in each of the past four basketball seasons. The answer? 10. Bishop Neumann, Elkhorn, Elkhorn South, Falls City Sacred Heart, Guardian Angels Central Catholic, Hastings St. Cecilia, Lincoln Christian, Sandhills/Thedford, South Sioux City and York. Although they didn't all win state titles, it is an obnoxious feat just the same. Another 15 schools qualified for the girls state basketball tournament in three of the last four seasons and just 102 different girls basketball programs have competed at Nebraska's March Madness since 2015.

Championship coaches
Class A — Steve Clark, Omaha Westside (Omaha)
Class B — Jennifer Wragge, Elkhorn
Class C1 — Jarrod Ridder, Scotus (Columbus)
Class C2 — Jim Sullivan, Superior (Superior, Neb.
Class D1 — Alex McCleary, North Central (Bassett)
Class D2 — Luke Santo, Sacred Heart (Falls City)

Consolation champions
Consolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Lincoln Christian, Hastings St. Cecilia, Ansley-Litchfield and Exeter-Milligan all ended the season on winning notes Saturday after coming up short in semifinal games Friday.

Class C1 — Lincoln Christian (Lincoln) 56, Mitchell 34
Class C2 — St. Cecilia (Hastings) 47, Stanton 44
Class D1 — Ansley/Litchfield (Ansley) 52, Pleasanton 48
Class D2 — Exeter-Milligan (Exeter) 46, Hyannis 45

Single-game scoring outbursts
32 — Jordyn Fiddelke, Ravenna, in a 72-58 Class C2 quarterfinal win over North Platte St. Patrick's.
31 — Payton Brotzki, Platteview (Springfield), in a 65-56 Class B quarterfinal loss to runner-up South Sioux City.
30 — Maddie Krull, Millard South (Omaha), in a 64-48 Class A semifinal win over Lincoln East.
30 — Chloe Dworak, Lincoln Christian, in a 56-34 Class C1 consolation championship win over Mitchell.
30 — Kaleigh Kummer, St. Patrick's (North Platte), in a 72-58 Class C2 quarterfinal loss to runner-up Ravenna.
28 — Aspen Jansa, Bishop Neumann (Wahoo), in a 47-36 Class C1 quarterfinal win over Grand Island Central Catholic.
27 — Brooke Carlson, Elkhorn, in a 67-60 Class B state championship win over South Sioux City.
26 — Quinn Weidemann, Omaha Westside, in a 47-41 Class A quarterfinal win over Lincoln Pius X.
26 — Logan Wemhoff, St. Francis (Humphrey, ), in a 68-41 Class D2 quarterfinal win over Riverside.
26 — Megan Miigerl, Ravenna, in a 67-59 Class C2 semifinal win over Hastings St. Cecilia.

Three-game individual scoring outbursts
Quinn Weidemann, Omaha Westside, 66
Chloe Dworak, Lincoln Christian, 66
Aspen Jansa, Bishop Neumann, 60
Jordyn Fiddelke, Ravenna, 60
Logan Wemhoff, Humphrey St. Francis, 57
Kate Jansky, Exeter-Milligan, 55
Megan Miigerl, Ravenna, 53
Kameron Kissinger, Hastings St. Cecilia, 53
Brooke Carlson, Elkhorn, 51
Kalynn Meyer, Superior, 50
Miah Wiebelhaus, North Central (Bassett), 50
Lauren Parrish, Falls City Sacred Heart, 47

They said it
"As a senior, it's really emotional to win the last game I'll ever play at Westside," Quinn Weidemann told the Omaha World Herald after the Warriors knocked off Millard South 55-44 in the Class A state championship game. "It's really special because these girls are my best friends."

"Obviously, we had our hands full with her," South Sioux City coach Molly Hornbeck told the Lincoln Journal Star of Elkhorn's Brooke Carlson, who scored 27 points in a 67-60 win over South Sioux City in the Class B state championship contest. "We had no answers. We tried to do some different things on defense but she did a lot of nice things."

"This is our game," Maggie Feehan told the Columbus Telegram of the Shamrocks' thinking in overtime of their 40-37 Class C1 state title win over Bishop Neumann. "We're going to come out strong. We just played for each other and left it all out on the court and it turned out in our favor."

"They know how to win," Superior coach Jim Sullivan told the Kearney Hub after his girls basketball team rallied from a seven-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter to upend Ravenna 42-39 in the Class C2 state championship game. "This wasn't the first time we've been in this situation this year. For being such a young team, they really keep their composure and don't get too rattled, which I think is a big part of our success."

"You have to give credit to North Central and their coaches. That is a very good basketball team that we played," Bruning-Davenport/Shickley head coach Shana Gerberding told the Hastings Tribune after North Central defeated her club 54-35 in the Class D1 state championship contest. "We had some turnovers that we don't normally have and that changed the flow of the game. I thought our girls came out a little nervous, but I'm proud of how they fought."

"When this happens, I think you're just grateful and thankful for just being able to pull it off," Falls City Sacred Heart coach Luke Santo told the Norfolk Daily News of winning a second straight Class D2 state basketball title with a 57-51 win over Humphrey St. Francis. "As far as how the game went tonight, things didn't look very good in the third quarter and kind of the fourth quarter."