MaxPreps 2016 Nebraska girls basketball state tournament wrap

Video: Rebecca Higgins's highlights vs. Lyons-Decatur
See the Sandhills/Thedford player in action earlier this season.

In what proved to be the closest girls state basketball tournament since Nebraska went to a six-class format in 1984, Lincoln East (A), Elkhorn South (B), Kearney Catholic (C1), Crofton (C2), Emerson-Hubbard (D1) and Wynot (D2) all won state basketball titles by a mere 21 points collectively last weekend.

While the other five contests were of the nail-biting variety, the Storm upended Waverly 43-33 in the Class B title game, providing the largest margin of victory Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in the Cornhusker State's 40th annual girls state basketball tournament.

Lincoln East provided plenty of excitement over the weekend, first knocking off top-ranked and unbeaten South Sioux City in the Class A quarterfinals. Then, edging Millard South 57-47 in two overtimes in a big school semifinal before coming from behind in the waning seconds to get by Millard West 48-46 on a last-second shot for the title.

The previous record for closest margin of victory was set in 1991 when Omaha Gross Catholic downed Omaha Marian (36-34) for the Class A title, Lincoln Pius X outscored Lexington (46-36) in Nebraska's second largest classification, Sutton edged Crofton (40-38) in C1, Sandy Creek got by C2 finalist Overton (56-44), Lindsay Holy Family shut down Callaway (51-43) in D1 and Lynch was three points better than D2 foe Shickley (45-42).

Championship recaps
Class A – Lincoln East 48, Millard West (Omaha) 46
Spartan point guard Grace Barry took an inbounds pass and found Alli Roh alone for the winning layup with 5.5 seconds remaining as Lincoln East battled through the big school bracket as the No. 8 seed. KJ Roh and Barry led the champions with 13 points each. Barry also pulled down six rebounds and dished out nine assists. Philomena Lammers ripped the cords for 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for Millard West, while Logan Black was good for 11 points.

Class B – Elkhorn South 43, Waverly 33
Waverly, which knocked off top-ranked and unbeaten Platteview 44-38 in a semifinal Friday, led 8-7 after a period of play in the Class B title game. Elkhorn South, however, took over, earning 12-point leads in both the third (32-20) and the fourth (36-24) periods. Ashley Cook hit a jumper with 72 seconds left to pull the Vikings within 37-30, but Waverly could get no closer. Cook led the runners-up with a game-high 13 points and pulled down 13 boards. Paige Piatkowski tallied 11 points for the champions.

Class C1 – Kearney Catholic 39, Lincoln Christian 37
A layup by Lincoln Christian's Emie Hollenbeck gave the Crusaders the lead late before Kylie Thiele put in a layup with 34 seconds left, and 29 seconds later Michelle Messbarger added a layup of her own as Kearney Catholic added a state basketball title to the string of four straight volleyball championships the Stars have accumulated since 2012. Messbarger and Thiele led the champions with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Crusaders Chloe Dworak and Hollenbeck led the way with 12 and 10 points.

Class C2 – Crofton 46, Guardian Angels Central Catholic (West Point) 43
Crofton took home the champion's hardware and got a little payback in the process. Guardian Angels Central Catholic upended the five-time defending champions 39-35 and 57-44 during the regular season, but not this time. A jumper by Maddie Knobbe and Katey Brown's free throw brought the Bluejays back to within 44-43 with 12 seconds left. But Kelsey Sanger sank two free throws of her own, forcing GACC's Lexis Haase to attempt a last-second 3-pointer that missed its mark. Kate Knobbe and Brown led the way for the Bluejays with nine points each, while Katie Steuter and Haase added seven points apiece. Kelsey Sanger was the scoring champ for the victors with 17 points. Monica Arens and Breanna Allen chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Class D1 – Emerson-Hubbard 41, Howells-Dodge 38
Howells-Dodge rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to pull within 39-37 following Macey Kulhanek's layup, a 3-pointer by Kelly Cech and Sam Brester's jumper in the lane. Following Brester's free throw, Payton Blanke and Abby Drieling each hit free throws to put the champs up 41-38 with nine seconds left. Kalli Brester's 3-point attempt missed its mark, allowing the Pirates to escape with their first state title since 1989. Sam Brester led all scorers with 19 points and 15 rebounds for Howells-Dodge, while Drieling, Ashley Bokemper and Blanke scored 13 points each to lead the champions.

Class D2 – Wynot 41, St. Mary's (O'Neill) 40
Playing in its seventh-straight state basketball championship, Wynot led for most of the second half. But no lead is safe when you are bumping heads with defending Class D1 state champion St. Mary's. St. Mary's took its first fourth-period lead on a Hailey Eiler jumper. Sydney Hupp's free throw put the Cardinals up 40-38 with 14 seconds left. However, Wynot's Cortney Arkfeld stepped up and drilled a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining. It was enough, as Wynot rallied for the championship. Arkfeld's 24 points led all scorers, while Hattie Blumenstock and Hupp led St. Mary's with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Take the No. 2 seed over the No. 1
In 2016, the No. 1 seed portrayed the proverbial target on the back, leaving some of the better teams in the state wondering, "What just happened?" Class A top-seed South Sioux City was dropped from the bracket in the quarterfinals, as was Class D1's Friend. Class B No. 1 seed Platteview (Springfield) survived the quarterfinals, only to fall to Waverly 44-38 in the semifinals, while Lincoln Christian and Guardian Angels Central Catholic did play for state championships – but fell short. Sacred Heart (Falls City) finished third with a 55-36 win over Sandhills/Thedford (Dunning) as Class D2's top seed. In all, the top seeds put together a 7-6 record collectively in the tournament.

The tournament's No. 2 seeds put together a more impressive resume after Elkhorn South (B), Kearney Catholic (C1), Crofton (C2) and Emerson-Hubbard (D1) all took home championships Saturday. Class A No. 2 seed Fremont did bow out of the tournament in opening-round action, while St. Mary's, the No. 2 seed in D2, fell short in the small school state championship game. As a group the two-seeds finished the tournament with an impressive 14-2 record.

Record breaker
Rebecca Higgins of Sandhills/Thedford broke the Class D2 sharp-shooting record in a 58-50 semifinal loss to eventual state runner-up St. Mary's Friday. Higgins scored a game-high 25 points after burying seven of 13 three-pointers to establish the Class D2 record for 3-pointers in a state tournament game. Higgins is now tied with Axtell's Monica Osborn (1994), Pieper Conard of Lincoln Southeast (1998), Laurel-Concord's Susan Pritchard (2003), Brooke Kissinger of Minden (2012 and 2014) and Minden's Taylor Kissinger (2014) for the all-class mark.

Moving up the list
Wynot (2010-2016) and Crofton (2011-2016) continued historic runs last weekend. While both programs have plenty of work to do before catching South Sioux City's (1995-2005) streak of 11 straight seasons with an appearance in the state championship game, neither showed signs of slowing down. Wynot's one-point decision over defending Class D1 state champion St. Mary's Saturday moved the Blue Devils into a tie for second with Sandy Creek (1995-2001) with seven straight appearances in a title game, while the Warriors sit alone in fourth with six appearances in a row. Guardian Angels Central and Catholic (2002-2006) and Lincoln Pius X (1988-1992) are tied for the No. 5 spot.

Championship coaches
Class A – Dennis Prichard, Lincoln East
Class B – Terry Graver, Elkhorn South
Class C1 – Rick Petri, Kearney Catholic
Class C2 – Aaron Losing, Crofton
Class D1 – Troy Haberman, Emerson-Hubbard
Class D2 – Steve Wieseler, Wynot

Consolation champions
Consolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Pierce, Hastings St. Cecilia, Fullerton and Falls City Sacred Heart all ended the season on winning notes Saturday after coming up short in semifinal games Friday.

Class C1 – Pierce 58, Louisville 46
Class C2 – St. Cecilia (Hastings) 49, Superior 46
Class D1 – Fullerton 56, Kenesaw 36
Class D2 – Sacred Heart (Falls City) 55, Sandhills/Thedford 36

Single-game scoring outbursts
29 - Dacey Nelson, Oakland-Craig, in a 57-44 Class C2 quarterfinal loss to Hastings St. Cecilia
29 - Raeleigh Menke, Friend, in a 54-52 Class D1 quarterfinal loss to Kenesaw
27 - Shandra Farmer, St. Cecilia (Hastings), in a 57-44 Class C2 quarterfinal win over Oakland-Craig
25 - Augusta Thramer, South Sioux City, in a 64-56 Class A quarterfinal loss to Lincoln East
25 - Rebecca Higgins, Sandhills/Thedford, in a 58-50 Class D2 semifinal loss to St. Mary's
25 - Danielle Wieseler, Wynot, in a 56-46 Class D2 quarterfinal win over Chambers/Wheeler Central
24 - Kylie Thiele, Kearney Catholic, in a 70-40 Class C1 semifinal win over Louisville

They said it
"Grace is on the floor pretty much every minute," Lincoln East coach Dennis Prichard told the Omaha World Herald of his star point guard Grace Barry after she found Alli Roh open for the game winning shot. "She has the ball on a string and made the big play."

"It's everything. It starts with her," Elkhorn South coach Terry Graver told the Omaha World Herald of Storm point guard Maddie Hayes' defense. "I think Waverly was playing (in the state championship game) because of their guards. They had great tournaments. We took them out of the game. We'd just get up in their grill and play hard. It's an effort thing, a want-to thing."

"We've been in these tough situations and we trust each other to find a way to win," Michelle Messbarger told the Lincoln Journal Star after Kearney Catholic knocked off Lincoln Christian in the Class C1 championship game. "We play with a lot of heart in games like this."

"I told the kids at halftime that this game is not going to be won by us running set plays, and this game is not going to be won by us executing our offense perfectly in the half-court," Crofton coach Aaron Losing told the Norfolk Daily News after upending Guardian Angels Central Catholic for the C2 title. "This game is going to be won (if we) can get transition baskets. Can we attack the rim? Can we get through their press and their zone, and can we find spots just by playing backyard, open gym basketball, not out of any set plays?"

"I freaked out (when I made that shot)," Wynot's Cortney Arkfeld told the Sioux City Journal after hitting the winning shot with 7.6 seconds remaining in Saturday's Nebraska Class D2 state basketball championship game. "It's an overwhelming feeling, I can't even talk right now. I knew they were coming at our point guard; we didn't have much time so I thought it's now or never. You just have to have confidence and it's great when it works out."

"Coach (Troy) Haberman said that they're leaving you open you need to shoot the ball, you need to step up," Ashley Bokemper told the Sioux City Journal. "Once I made those first two, I knew they were going to keep coming to me. It feels good to end the season on a win, in the state championship, it just feels good."