High school girls basketball: Nebraska state tournament recap

With the Big Ten wrestling tournament taking over Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln the first weekend of March, the Nebraska girls state basketball tournament was pushed back a weekend, forcing the boys and girls to play for the Cornhusker State's state champion's hardware all in the same week.

In order for the Nebraska School Activities Association to squeeze in the 92 high school basketball games, a Monday-Saturday schedule was adopted for 2021-22. Monday and Tuesday quarterfinal games were held at several locations throughout Lincoln.

Wednesday and Thursday semifinal contests were moved to the Bob Devaney Sports Center and Pinnacle Bank Arena while the championships were split between Friday and Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Although this year's format is temporary, the NSAA did leave the door open for permanent adoption. Regardless of what happens with the state basketball tournament next winter and beyond, six girls state basketball champions were crowned last weekend.

North Bend Central (North Bend) kicked off championship Friday with a narrow 35-31 win over Lincoln Lutheran (Lincoln) to claim the Class C1 state championship hardware. Then, following Fremont's 37-32 Class A state title win over Lincoln Southwest (Lincoln), Sacred Heart (Falls City) claimed its first girls state basketball title since 2018 by upending defending state champion St. Francis (Humphrey) 43-33 to claim the Class D2 title.

Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family (Humphrey) claimed the Class D1 state basketball title with a 42-34 win over Shelton to kick off Saturday's action. Elkhorn North (Elkhorn) then bettered Skutt Catholic (Omaha) 49-36 to claim the Class B state title before St. Cecilia (Hastings) knocked off Bridgeport 40-38 in the Class C2 state title tilt Saturday afternoon.
Repeat champions
Five of the six state champions from a year ago returned to the state tournament to defend their titles in 2022. Elkhorn North (Class B) and North Bend Central (Class C1) successfully defended their titles while Humphrey St. Francis fell to the Irish in the Class D2 final. Defending Class A champion Lincoln Pius X lost to Fremont 57-41 in the Class A quarterfinals while Crofton settled for fourth place in Class C2. Defending Class D1 state champ Weeping Water did not qualify for the state tournament in 2022.

Record breakers
Elkhorn North's Britt Prince broke the record for free throws made in a Class B state tournament game when she ripped the cords on 17 of 20 free throw attempts in Elkhorn North's 68-52 semifinal win over Norris. Laura Anderson (Raymond Cental, 1984) and McKenzie Brown (Northwest, 2014) shared the previous mark of 15.
Omaha Skutt Catholic's Jesse Trout knocked down six 3-pointers in a 68-50 quarterfinal win over Blair to tie the mark for most 3-Pointers made in a Class B state tournament game. Five other athletes share the record with Trout.

First-time champions
Fremont's 37-32 triumph in the Class A state title contest allowed the school to claim its first girls state basketball championship. Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, on the other hand, took home the champion's hardware for the first time since the school's joined forces. The Lindsay Holy Family girls won state basketball titles in 1991, 1993 and 2010.

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? Thirteen.

Archbishop Bergan, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley, Crofton, Falls City Sacred Heart, Hastings St. Cecilia, Humphrey St. Francis, Lincoln Pius X, Lincoln Southwest, Millard South, North Bend Central, Ponca, Sterling and Wynot. Another 16 schools qualified for the girls state basketball tournament in three of the last four seasons. Twenty-seven schools qualified for Nebraska's version of March Madness twice in the past four years while 38 girls basketball programs played their way into the field of 48 once since 2019.

Humphrey, Lindsay title towns
A lot had been said last week about the communities of Humphrey and Lindsay sending three of their four basketball teams to Lincoln to compete in the state championships. Especially since all three representatives played for state titles with the Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family boys and girls claiming championships in Class C2 and Class D1 respectively and the Humphrey St. Francis girls settling for silver medals in Class D2.

But it's not the first time the two communities teamed up to send multiple basketball teams to the state tournament. In fact, in 2019 and last year all four basketball teams punched their tickets to Nebraska's March Madness. The Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family girls missed out on the fun in 2020 while Humphrey St. Francis' boys fell short in their bid to join the action last week. Both girls teams competed at the state tournament in 2018 with both boys teams failing to make the cut.

Championship coaches
Class A – Kelly Flynn, Fremont
Class B – Ann Prince, Elkhorn North
Class C1 – Aaron Sterup, North Bend Central
Class C2 – Greg Berndt, Hastings St. Cecilia
Class D1 – Kandee Hanzel, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
Class D2 – Luke Santo, Falls City Sacred Heart

Consolation champions
Consolation titles were awarded in the four smallest divisions. Grand Island Central Catholic, Oakland-Craig, Archbishop Bergan and Sterling all ended the season on winning notes Thursday and Friday after coming up short in semifinal games Wednesday and Thursday.

Class C1 – Grand Island Central Catholic (22-6) 53, Gothenburg (19-9) 46
Class C2 – Oakland-Craig (20-8) 60, Crofton (23-6) 57
Class D1 – Archbishop Bergan (20-7) 60, Hartington Cedar Catholic (14-17) 39
Class D2 – Sterling (21-7) 50, St. Mary‘s (20-8) 40

Single-game scoring outbursts
29 – Britt Prince, Elkhorn North in a 68-52 win over Norris in the Class B semifinals.
29 – Macy Richardson, Sterling in a 50-33 win over Anselmo-Merna in the Class D2 quarterfinals.
28 – Ruthie Loomis-Goltl, Bridgeport in a 69-55 win over Oakland-Craig in the Class C2 semifinals.
27 – Molly Ladwig, Blair in a 68-50 loss to Omaha Skutt Catholic in the Class B quarterfinals.
26 – Kaitlyn Emanuel, North Bend Central in a 61-49 win over Malcolm in the Class C1 quarterfinals.
25 – Makenna Willis, Shelton in a 53-37 win over Hartington Cedar Catholic in the Class D1 semifinals.
24 – Alyssa Fortik, Malcolm in a 61-49 loss to North Bend Central in the Class C1 quarterfinals.
24 – Ruthie Loomis-Goltl, Bridgeport in a 55-35 win over Sutton in the Class C2 quarterfinals.
24 – Macy Richardson, Sterling in a 50-40 win over St. Mary's in the Class D2 consolation championship.

Three-game scoring outbursts
75 – Macy Richardson, Sterling
69 – Britt Prince, Elkhorn North
66 – Ruthie Loomis-Goltl, Bridgeport
62 – Taylor McCabe, Fremont
59 – Sadie Nelson, Oakland-Craig
56 – Peyton McCabe, Omaha Skutt Catholic
55 – Bailey Kissinger, Hastings St. Cecilia
52 – Olivia Loomis-Goltl, Bridgeport
50 – Kaitlyn Emanuel, North Bend Central
50 – Makenna Noecker, Hartington Cedar Catholic

They said it
"We knew that this was it for us seniors," Fremont's Macy Bryant told the Omaha World Herald following the Tiger's Class A state championship win. "We talked about how there's no practice tomorrow and there's no game tomorrow. There's nothing tomorrow."

"We had a lot of motivation for this game," Elkhorn North's Britt Prince told the Omaha World Herald following Elkhorn North's second straight Class B state title. "We wanted to go back to back and we wanted to send out our seniors the right way."

"It's just been absolutely amazing," North Bend senior Sydney Emanuel told the Fremont Tribune after her team won its third straight girls state basketball title. "It's been a true blessing to be able to play with as many good teammates as I've had, and to be able to come down here and make the runs like we have the past three years."

"We all had that nasty taste in our mouth throughout the whole entire year," St. Cecilia's Bailey Kissinger told the Hastings Tribune after the Hawkettes made up for a loss in last year's state title game by claiming their third state title in four years. "The only thing we wanted to do was come back here and end our careers with a gold."

"It's so relieving," Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family senior Lexi Frauendorfer told the Omaha World Herald after the Bulldogs claimed the Class D1 state basketball title with a 42-34 win over Shelton. "We all worked so hard for this and now the weight is off our shoulders."

"I've been waiting for it since freshman year," Falls City Sacred Heart's Erison Vonderschmidt told the Lincoln Journal Star after the Irish knocked off defending state champion Humphrey St. Francis 43-33 for the Class D2 state title. "I think this year was definitely our time to improve. We worked really, really hard to get here."