The Nebraska boys took their turn at center court last weekend and crowned six state champions to conclude the Cornhusker State's basketball season. While many of the same programs were back in the hunt, not all of them took home the champion's hardware.
Auburn kicked off championship Saturday with a thrilling 30-29 win over North Bend Central on
Cam Binder's 3-pointer with three seconds left in the Class C1 state title contest. Then, following the
Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family (Humphrey) 61-46 Class D1 state championship win over Archbishop Bergan,
Pius X (Lincoln) did in Omaha Roncalli Catholic 71-59 in double overtime to claim the Class B title.
All six state champions from a year ago returned to defend their state titles in 2019, but none of them walked away with the championship hardware. Omaha Creighton Prep fell to Lincoln North Star 56-43 in the Class A quarterfinals, while Class B York met the same fate after falling to Omaha Skutt Catholic 78-64. Wahoo lost to Ogallala 74-63 in the Class C1 consolation championship contest.
Two-time defending Class C2 state champion Ponca had to settle for the Class C2 consolation championship with its 52-43 triumph over Centennial, while three-time defending Class D1 state champion Lourdes Central Catholic dropped a 52-36 decision to Elm Creek in the Class D1 quarterfinals. Defending Class D2 state champion Falls City Sacred Heart fell to Riverside 59-54 in the consolation championship contest.
First-time champions and double dippersAuburn earned its first state basketball championship with the 30-29 win over North Bend Central Saturday. Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast secured a 53-42 win over Yutan to claim its first state basketball title as a co-op and Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family took care of Archbishop Bergan 61-46 to win its first state title as a co-op after the two schools joined forces six years ago.
Bancroft-Rosalie did capture the Class D2 crown in 2014 with a 62-47 win over High Plains, while Lyons upended Yutan 75-41 in the 1979 Class C state title contest. Humphrey, meanwhile, claimed the Class C2 state basketball title with a 47-37 victory over Nemaha Valley in 1987 and Lindsay Holy Family took home the Class D2 state champion's hardware in 2005 with a 56-53 win over Loomis.
With its 67-54 win over Osmond, Johnson-Brock earned the football-basketball sweep in 2018-19. Last fall, the Eagles tackled Mullen 56-26 in the Class D2 state final.
Auburn wins in a low-scoring thrillerCameron Binder's late 3-pointers in the Class C1 final carried the Bulldogs to a 30-29 triumph over North Bend Central. However, the mere 59 points scored in the championship game does not come close to a state record. Just last March, Lourdes Central Catholic and Kenesaw combined for 57 points in the Knights' 32-25 Class D1 state title triumph, while in 2017 Mullen eeked out a 29-28 Class D2 state championship win over Mead.
However, those small school, low-scoring affairs are the only two state championship scores that equal or come in lower than this year's Class C1 state final since the Nebraska School Activities Association went to the six-class format (Classes A, B, C1, C2, D1and D2) for basketball in 1984.
You have to go all the way back to Chadron Preparatory's 35-24 Class C state championship win over Gibbon in 1952 to find another state championship final score as low as the 59 points. In order to find a title contest that produced fewer points, our research took us back to Weston's 27-24 triumph over Hildreth in the 1948 Class D title game.
Charlie Easley, Pius X
Photo by Rod Adams
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? Six.
Omaha Creighton Prep, Omaha Central, Bennington, Aurora, Lourdes Central Catholic and Riverside. Although none of them won state titles last weekend, it is an impressive feat just the same. Another nine schools qualified for the boys state basketball tournament in three of the last four seasons. Eighteen schools qualified twice in the past four years, while 15 programs played their way into the field of 48 for the first time since 2016.
Championship coachesClass A – Bruce Chubick, Omaha South
Class B – Brian Spicka, Lincoln Pius X
Class C1 – Jim Weeks, Auburn
Class C2 – Cory Meyer, Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast
Class D1 – Joe Hesse, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
Class D2 – Lucus Dalinghaus, Johnson-Brock
Consolation championsConsolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Ogallala, Ponca, Paxton and Riverside all ended the season on winning notes Saturday after coming up short in semifinal games Friday.
Class C1 – Ogallala 74, Wahoo 63
Class C2 – Ponca 52, Centennial 43
Class D1 – Paxton 62, Elm Creek 48
Class D2 – Riverside 59, Falls City Sacred Heart 54
Single-game scoring outburstsTyson Gordon, Skutt Catholic (Omaha) 38 in a 78-64 Class B quarterfinal win over York.
Baylor Scheierman, Aurora 37 in a 75-66 double overtime loss to Omaha Roncalli Catholic in the Class B semifinals.
Tredyn Prososki, Riverside (Cedar Rapids) 32 in a 67-48 win over Exeter-Milligan in the Class D2 quarterfinals.
Gabriel Hepburn, Bellevue West (Bellevue) 31 in a 70-59 win over Papillion-LaVista South in the Class A quarterfinals.
Grant Frickenstein, Archbishop Bergan (Fremont) 31 in a 73-64 win over Fullerton in the Class D1 quarterfinals.
Baylor Scheierman, Aurora 30 in a 71-49 win over Alliance in the Class B quarterfinals.
Ty Hahn, Johnson-Brock (Johnson) 28 in a 67-57 win over Humphrey St. Francis in the Class D2 quarterfinals.
Tredyn Prososki, Riverside 28 in a 62-50 loss to Osmond in the Class D2 semifinals.
Nate Mensik, Milford 26 in a 55-54 loss to Ogallala in the Class C1 quarterfinals.
Carter Kingsbury, Ponca 26 in a 54-32 win over Bridgeport in the Class C2 quarterfinals.
Tanner Wietfeld, North Bend Central (North Bend) 26 in a 64-44 win over Ogallala in the Class C1 semifinals.
Jack Dotzler, Roncalli Catholic (Omaha) 26 in a 75-66 double overtime win over Aurora in the Class B semifinals.
Merrix Denn, Osmond 26 in a 62-50 win over Riverside in the Class D2 semifinals.
Three-game scoring outburstsTredyn Prososki, Riverside 80
Carter Brown, Ogallala 71
Grant Frickenstein, Archbishop Bergan 68
Charlie Easley, Lincoln Pius X 65
Drew Bippes, Falls City Sacred Heart 65
Ty Hahn, Johnson-Brock 63
Jack Dotzler, Omaha Roncalli Catholic 60
Carter Kingsbury, Ponca 59
Blake Brewster, Paxton 58
Brady Timm, Yutan 55
Ta'Vion Anderson, Omaha South 51
Tanner Wietfeld, North Bend Central 50
They said it"We haven't been paying attention to it a lot, but it's been a lot of people doubting us," Omaha South senior guard Ta'Vion Anderson told the Omaha World Herald about the lack of respect the Packers had received going into the postseason and the Class A state tournament. "They didn't think we were going to get here. We came out, proved them wrong, played our game and came out with a championship.
"We're going to let the trophy speak."
"It's unreal," Pius X senior Charlie Easley told the Lincoln Journal Star after his team won the Class B state title. "I just thought back to all the early practices and everything we've done to prepare and get ready for this, and this was always the main goal in sight. To finally get it, it's just a gratifying moment."
"I knew I had to take a three," Auburn's Cam Binder told the Beatrice Daily Sun of his game-winning shot in Saturday's Class C1 state championship contest. "I didn't want to give them a chance in overtime with our big guy (Josh Lambert) out with fouls. I've been working on those types of shots for years."
"What is nice is this isn't just for us," Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast coach Cory Meyer told the Norfolk Daily News of the Wolverines Class C2 state championship win. "This is for both schools, all four communities, our fans. It's huge."
"It's awesome. I've never felt anything like it before," Dylan Hanzel told the Columbus Telegram after Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family claimed the Class D1 state basketball title Saturday. "The emotions ... you almost want to cry, want to cry because you're so happy."
"(This season) was hard at first, because we got three practices in before our first game," Johnson-Brock sophomore Kaden Glynn told the Lincoln Journal Star of the Eagles' success in both football and basketball this season. "Our shooting was really rough at the beginning and we went through a lot of adversity. But we won when it counts. It feels really good to get a ‘ship in both football and basketball."
