LINCOLN, Neb. - Wahoo standout Sadie Murren had set herself up for a hero's welcome Saturday when she drove into the lane and flipped in a driving lay-up with three seconds remaining in regulation.
However, the the experience Bishop Neumann (Wahoo) was too much in overtime as it pulled out a 58-55 victory in a dramatic Class C-1 girls basketball state title game at Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Neumann, after all, had been down this road before, winning last year's title game over Bennington.
"We just had to forget about it," Cavaliers' guard McKenzie Fujan said of Murren's momentum shifting shot. "It's over. Now its just one shot at a time. It's the next shot now and that's it."
Bishop Neumann bolted to a 51-46 advantage early in the extra frame following Alyssa Stanek's two free throws and a 3-pointer from the corner by Kelsey Morrissey. But the Warriors tied the game on a basket by Morgan Hancock and Mattie Murren's bomb.
Two more free throws by Stanek and a lay-up from McKenzie Fujan gave the Cavaliers a 55-51 advantage in the see-saw battle, before Hancock's long two-point field goal from the corner and Sadie Murren's lay-up with 15 seconds left brought Wahoo back once again.
Fujan then made a pair of free throws with 5.1-seconds remaining and Wahoo couldn't find the bottom of the net from 3-point range in the waning seconds.
Bishop Neumann backers erputed in celebration.
Before entering the state tournament with a wildcard, Bishop Neumann won the first of two meetings between the Cavaliers and the Warriors by a 64-56 count. Wahoo got payback in the C1-3 Subdistrict title game, 55-50.
The Cavaliers, however, won the rubber game and the only one that really mattered.
"We make it a team thing," Fujan said of handling the nerves of a state title game. "We're all very excited and the nerves get to us. But if we all focus together, and one person makes a play, we all get kind of cool.
"And then another person makes a play and we all get more cool and it's kind of a team thing."
Bishop Neumann junior Alyssa Stanek, who posted a game-high 25 points, recalled seeing nothing but team colors scarlet, blue and gold during the contest.
"It was crazy," she said. "But as long as you go out and do what you can as a team, and play as hard as you can as a team - then you have nothing to be ashamed of."
Not this time
As a junior and senior at Battle Creek in 1984 and 1985, Wahoo coach Linda (Schnitzler) Walker led the Bravettes to back-to-back state title wins over Bishop Neumann, beginning a stretch of four straight Battle Creek titles from
1984-1987.
This time around, however, it was the Cavaliers who prevailed.
Champions crowned
Bishop Neumann wasn't the only repeat champion Saturday. Bellevue West (Class A) and Seward (Class B) defended their titles over Millard West (Omaha) (51-38) and Gretna (68-45), respectively.
Sandy Creek (Fairfield) edged Cedar Catholic (Hartington) for the Class C-2 title with a 49-44 win, while fifth-seeded Elkhorn Valley (Tilden) upended East Butler (Brainard) 57-52 for the D-1 crown. Sixth-seeded Lindsay Holy Family held on for a 40-37 win over previously undefeated Wynot in the Class D-2 championship contest.
With Saturday's C-2 title, Sandy Creek coach Russ Ninemire and the Cougars move into a second place tie with Lincoln Southeast after winning the school's ninth girls basketball championship. South Sioux City leads the way with 11 titles.
Consolation winners
Class A - Elkhorn 53, Lincoln Southwest 45
Class B - Alliance 70, Omaha Skutt 59
Class C-1 - Lutheran High Northeast 48, Kearney Catholic 46 OT
Class C-2 - West Point Central Catholic 61, Elmwood-Murdock 39
Class D-1 - Silver Lake 47, Humphrey 38
Class D-2 - Chambers 43, Lawrence-Nelson 40
Undefeated no more
Entering the weekend's tournament, five teams had posted perfect regular season records. Only Class B champion Seward made it through its bracket unblemished.
In Class C-1, Lutheran High Northeast sported a 23-0 mark heading into the semifinals against runner-up Wahoo, and lost 52-49. Elmwood-Murdock saw its perfect season end at the hands of eventual Class C-2 champion Sandy Creek 51-39 in the semifinals.
Elkhorn Valley spoiled Silver Lake's clean record with a 62-51 Class D-1 semifinal win, despite posting a 15-7 mark during the regular season itself, and Lindsay Holy Family out scrapped undefeated Wynot in the Class D-2 championship contest.
They call her 'Hoop' for a reason
Alliance standout Jordan Hooper reestablished three individual state championship records over the weekend.
The Husker recruit put her name in the record books by posting a Class B state tournament single-game mark of 47 points in a 70-59 consolation win over Omaha Skutt Saturday.
Hooper connected on a single-game best 16 field goals during that third place game performance, which included 4 3-pointers and 11 of 15 shooting from the charity stripe. Entering the contest, Hooper had posted 53 points in two games, giving her 100 points for the tournament, also a Class B record.
The 6-foot-2 forward's marksmanship erased former Raymond Central standout Laura Anderson's name from atop the charts in two categories. Anderson was tied with Gothenburg's Shelly Block with 15 field goals in a game and held the tournament scoring mark of 92 points, set in 1984.
Hooper's single game mark dethroned Lincoln Pius X's Jennifer Charleston, who scored 38 points in a state tournament game in 1989.
Climbing the scoring charts
Hooper's 100-point outburst over the weekend allowed her to move into second place on the state tournament career-scoring chart behind former Chambers great Darcy Stracke, who tallied 366 points from 1993-1996.
Going into the tournament Hooper had amassed a 13th best 171 points from 2007-2009. Hooper bumped Adams' Trudi Veerhusen down to third. Veerhusen scored 261 points in state tournament action from 1984-1987.
Five other players moved onto the chart for the first time over the weekend.
Bellevue West junior Alexis Akin-Otiko surged into 42nd place with 129 tournament points following this weekend's total of 63. McKenzie Fujan of Bishop Neumann scored 41 points in 2010 to tie her with Grand Island Central Catholic's KC Cowgill for 50th place all-time with 122 tournament points.
After scoring 38 points for Class A runner-up Millard West, senior Alison Janecek moves into an 81st place tie with Trisha Plucker of Lincoln Southeast with 109 tournament points each. Seward's Alyssa Kamphaus, who played for Malcolm as a freshman, and East Butler's Marissa Bongers also climbed onto the chart with 101 and 100 state tournament points respectively.
First half drought
Despite going the entire first half without a field goal during Thursday's quarterfinal win over Falls City Sacred Heart, Lawrence-Nelson was able to squeak out a 34-21 win and advance to the semifinals.
A new Bulldog addition
Lindsay Holy Family coach Travis Friesen's wife Pam was in attendance at Saturday's Class D-2 championship game to watch the Bulldogs 40-37 championship win over Wynot after a recent birth of their second child Jaedyn two days before the start of the tournament.
State Tournament Scoring Leaders by Average
Class A
Alexis Akin-Otiko, Bellevue West, 5-10 Jr. 63 (21.0)
Shelby Maloley, Kearney, 5-9 Sr. 18 (18.0)
Victoria McIntyre, Omaha Marian, 6-6 Sr. 18 (18.0)
Brittney Lynch, Elkhorn, 6-1 Jr. 51 (17.0)
Clarissa Tokheim, Omaha Westside, 5-4 Sr. 16 (16.0)
Nicole Arp, Kearney, 5-8 Sr. 14 (14.0)
Lauren Works, Lincoln Southwest, 5-7 Fr. 41 (13.7)
Sarah Nelson, Omaha Westside, 6-1 Sr. 13 (13.0)
Alison Janecek, Millard West, 6-2 Sr. 38 (12.7)
Tina Fantroy, Lincoln Southwest, 5-7 Jr. 36 (12.0)
Alexa Kastanek, Lincoln Southeast, 5-8 Fr. 12 (12.0)
Hannah Latka, Omaha Marian, 5-8 Sr. 121 (12.0)
Class B
Jordan Hooper, Alliance, 6-2 Sr. 100 (33.3)
Tanasia Uhrig, Sidney, 5-6 Sr. 26 (26.0)
Morgan Hansen, South Sioux City, 5-8 Fr. 19 (19.0)
Brooke Arp, Gretna, 6-0 Jr. 47 (15.7)
Mayme Conroy, Omaha Skutt, 5-9 Jr. 44 (14.7)
Alicia Armstrong, Beatrice, 5-8 So. 14 (14.0)
Alyssa Kamphaus, Seward, 6-4 Sr. 38 (12.7)
Emily Cady, Seward, 6-2 Jr. 36 (12.0)
Rylee Bruhn, Beatrice, 5-7 Sr. 11 (11.0)
Ashley Harry, Omaha Skutt, 6-1 Sr. 30 (10.0)
Jill Faxon, Beatrice, 5-8 Fr. 10 (10.0)
Class C-1
Alyssa Stanek, Wahoo Bishop Neumann, 6-0 Jr. 67 (22.3)
Katie Sokolowski, Kearney Catholic, 6-1 Sr. 59 (19.7)
Sadie Murren, Wahoo, 5-7 So. 52 (17.3)
Mallory Weaver, Lutheran High Northeast, 5-8 Jr. 44 (14.7)
Jessica Murdoch, Southern Valley, 5-8 Sr. 14 (14.0)
Joelle Andersen, Lincoln Christian, 5-10 Jr. 14 (14.0
McKenzie Fujan, Wahoo Bishop Neumann, 5-11 Sr. 41 (13.7)
Bobbi Beckwith, Boone Central, 5-8 Jr. 13 (13.0)
Mattie Murren, Wahoo, 5-6 Jr. 37 (12.3)
Alexis Schmidt, Hastings St. Cecilia, 5-8 Jr. 12 (12.0)
Class C-2
Keriann Shaw, Sandy Creek, 5-9 Jr. 48 (16.0)
Bethany Stratman, West Point Central Catholic, 5-9 Jr. 43 (14.3)
Dana Dickes, Hartington Cedar Catholic, 5-10 Jr. 43 (14.3)
Madison Coffey, Blue Hill, 5-9 Sr. 13 (13.0)
Ashlee Harms, Sandy Creek, 5-11 So. 36 (12.0)
Shelby Zimmerman, Tri County, 5-11 Sr. 12 (12.0)
Stacia Gebers, Superior, 6-0 Sr. 12 (12.0)
Megan Scholting, Elmwood-Murdock, 5-7 Sr. 33 (11.0)
Tracy Peitz, Hartington Cedar Catholic, 5-7 Jr. 31 (10.3)
Jillian Feilmeier, Hartington Cedar Catholic, 5-8 Sr. 31 (10.3)
Class D-1
Marissa Bongers, East Butler, 5-9 Sr. 77 (25.7)
Cami Bruckman, Silver Lake, 5-9 Sr. 56 (18.7)
Amber Burenheide, Howells, 5-8 So. 18 (18.0)
Alyssa Frauendorfer, Humphrey, 5-9 Fr. 45 (15.0)
Megan Polt, Brady, 5-8 So. 15 (15.0)
Leann Osten, Humphrey, 5-5 Sr. 44 (14.7)
Kyleigh Parham, Elkhorn Valley, 6-0 Sr. 36 (12.0)
Deidra Ground, Kenesaw, 5-8 Sr. 11 (11.0)
Chrystina Contreras, Stapleton/McPherson County, 5-9 Sr. 11 (11.0)
Sadie Rich, Elkhorn Valley, 5-8 Sr. 32 (10.7)
Class D-2
Sara Simmons, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller, 5-10 Jr. 21 (21.0)
Laramey Lewis, Hitchcock County, 5-8 So. 19 (19.0)
Laura Tomjack Chambers, 5-8 Jr. 45 (15.0)
Kelsey Owen, Chambers, 5-5 Jr. 41 (13.7)
Stacey Beller, Lindsay Holy Family, 5-7 Jr. 36 (12.0)
Tori Olberding, Falls City Sacred Heart, 5-11 Sr. 12 (12.0)
Kelsey Biltoft, Lawrence-Nelson, 6-1 So. 35 (11.7)
Andrea Weeder, Lindsay Holy Family, 5-8 So. 35 (11.7)
Sarah Schulte, Wynot, 5-9 Sr. 34 (11.3)
Shelby Wieseler, Wynot, 5-3 So. 34 (11.3)
